Flail Mower Risks of exceeding flail mower gearbox HP rating

[djokes]

Hi all,

I have a Kubota 6040 rated at 56 PTO hp. I am looking for a 6' flail mower for mowing cover crops. I want it to be heavy enough to handle tall, thick vegetation (it's ok if I need to go relatively slowly for the heavy stuff), but do not need to chop any woody material. Based on my budget, an equipment dealer suggested the Maschio Barbi 180. A similar option would be the Befco H40 072. He said that even though it is rated for a 45 hp tractor, he wouldn't have any concerns about putting on my 56 hp tractor. Because they are belt driven, he said, if I push it too hard with my larger tractor, the worst that's going to happen is that the belts slip, in which case I should use common sense and slow down. (By the way, are these HP ratings on PTO-driven implements always referring to the tractor's PTO horsepower, rather than engine HP?)

Does anyone have opinions on this? I have been told to try to size equipment (tillers, mowers) so that gearbox ratings are above my tractor's HP. I don't want to destroy an implement because I push it too hard. However, if I can save a couple thousand dollars by buying a slightly smaller unit, I'd like to do that.

Thanks for your advice.

Dana

 

[leonz]

Hi all,

I have a Kubota 6040 rated at 56 PTO hp. I am looking for a 6' flail mower for mowing cover crops. I want it to be heavy enough to handle tall, thick vegetation (it's ok if I need to go relatively slowly for the heavy stuff), but do not need to chop any woody material. Based on my budget, an equipment dealer suggested the Maschio Barbi 180. A similar option would be the Befco H40 072. He said that even though it is rated for a 45 hp tractor, he wouldn't have any concerns about putting on my 56 hp tractor. Because they are belt driven, he said, if I push it too hard with my larger tractor, the worst that's going to happen is that the belts slip, in which case I should use common sense and slow down. (By the way, are these HP ratings on PTO-driven implements always referring to the tractor's PTO horsepower, rather than engine HP?)

Does anyone have opinions on this? I have been told to try to size equipment (tillers, mowers) so that gearbox ratings are above my tractor's HP. I don't want to destroy an implement because I push it too hard. However, if I can save a couple thousand dollars by buying a slightly smaller unit, I'd like to do that.

Thanks for your advice.

Dana

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The V belt drive is the first line for defense to protect the flail mower and you wil burn up the belts at most.

A rototiller is either protected by the roller chain breaking or a shaft
key shearing in most cases.

I am unsure if a friction slip clutch is applicable with rototiller.


You should be fine with the Maschio Barbi 180 behind your mule as long
as you use it properly. You need to keep the mowing height at 2 inches to allow it to work
well and keep the engine rpm speed at the 540 PTO implement speed for the flail
mower to work well.

 

[motownbrowne]

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The V belt drive is the first line for defense to protect the flail mower and you wil burn up the belts at most.

A rototiller is either protected by the roller chain breaking or a shaft
key shearing in most cases.

I am unsure if a friction slip clutch is applicable with rototiller.


You should be fine with the Maschio Barbi 180 behind your mule as long
as you use it properly. You need to keep the mowing height at 2 inches to allow it to work
well and keep the engine rpm speed at the 540 PTO implement speed for the flail
mower to work well.

Friction slip clutches are used with rototillers. Mine has a shear pin. Been using it for years and never (to my knowledge) sheared a pin. I wouldn't worry about putting a little more HP through a flail mower than it's rated for, like look leonz says, you've got belts that'll slip.

 

[djokes]

===================================================================================



The V belt drive is the first line for defense to protect the flail mower and you wil burn up the belts at most.

A rototiller is either protected by the roller chain breaking or a shaft
key shearing in most cases.

I am unsure if a friction slip clutch is applicable with rototiller.


You should be fine with the Maschio Barbi 180 behind your mule as long
as you use it properly. You need to keep the mowing height at 2 inches to allow it to work
well and keep the engine rpm speed at the 540 PTO implement speed for the flail
mower to work well.

Thanks for the response. That makes sense to me. But one follow-up question: why do you say to keep the mowing height at 2"? Often I would like to mow cover crops as low as possible (potentially down to the 1/2" height they're rated to go) or as high as 5", in cases where I want the cover crop to re-grow. I imagine that 2" would be a pretty common mowing height for general property upkeep, but I'd like to be able to go shorter or taller without worry. Do you see some particular issue with my proposed setup?

 

[kebo]

KingKutter II rototillers also use slip clutches. At least, mine has one on it.

 

[leonz]

A flailmower has to be close to the ground to create a pressure gradient to permit the
flail mower rotor and the flail mower knives to create the suction needed to lift the clippings
up and over the flail mower rotor and back to the ground.

You do not want to be closer than two inches because you will risk blade strikes and
possible rotor damage if the top link is allowed to float where the mower could nose dive
if the mower is not set up properly with the top link and a torpedo level laid on the top of the
gearbox.

A flail mower will not mow very well at a five inch height but it will mow for the reasons I stated above.

Unless your pretty serious about having access to or owning a rock picker with a reel that collects the rocks and carries them to the collection basket I would rather see you leave the height at two inches at all times UNLESS you have a heavy roller you can use BUT sometimes a roller will not keep the rocks down either.