Flail Mower Thanks Leonz - Flail Mower DANDL

[Lnk]

Jwedd and Ink, thanks for the info, funny thing is that I'm doing just the opposite, switching back to the scoop blades because my field is not that thick, just ordered the standard scoop knives from flail-master should be here next week. The y-knives left a lot of fox tails so I need a closer cut.

View attachment 507694

Running my flail in the blade sweeping forward direction causes a lot of material to be thrown forward. My tensioner is also set up in front of the pulleys which allows it to slip the belts in really heavy lush grass. Switching to Y blades should prevent that. If not, I will just flip to sweeping rearward by flipping gearbox. Not really concerned with missing a blade of grass here and there.

LNK

 

[Lnk]

Update: Did not mow the whole property in April, and just moved permanently. I mowed again with the scoop knives for a couple of passes. Then replaced the scoop knives with Y blades and changed rotation back to tire direction,(didn't like the grass and twigs thrown all over the back of tractor or the belt slipping). She now cuts beautifully. I still need to slowdown in the lush dense 4 foot grasses but am extremely pleased. Once I complete the cleanup of the neglect, upkeep will be easy.

Not quite as fast as a brushhog, but much nicer cut, better safety also. I will try to remember to take some pictures of before and after....

 

[leonz]

I look forward to seeing the pictures after your done with the clearing job Ink.

leonz

 

[Lnk]

I look forward to seeing the pictures after your done with the clearing job Ink.

leonz

Here are some before and after pics. Tractor is 70hp and flail is 9'. Y blades, tire rotation.

 

[leonz]

Is your Duetz mule air cooled? They have always built beautiful two, three, four and six cylinder engines.
I love it when a plan comes together.

 

[Lnk]

Yes. It is 4 cyl air cooled. Runs great. More tractor than I need, but the price was right.

 

[leonz]

Yes. It is 4 cyl air cooled. Runs great. More tractor than I need, but the price was right.

I wish I had a 4 wheel drive Duetz mule for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just remember to use a bucket or two of near boiling water to warm it up by tossing in on the engine cyclinder jugs if the engine is un-cooperative at or below freezing. some days the glow plugs are not enough.
If all else fails a torpedo space heater works wonders for all sorts of machinery. I am on my second 125,000BTU multifuel space heater and they are beautiful machines to warm up vehicles the year round as the engines barely bark to start as the transmissions and the crank case are already warm after about 10 minutes of heating.

 

[Lnk]

Thanks for the tip leonz. So far it has fired right up, but the coldest it has been was 10f here when I started it. Will definitely remember that though should it ever give me trouble. With all the rain we've been getting I should get many chances to mow my pastures. Much to accomplish this summer so I am glad my flail is working well.

 

[skipp025]

Hello again to the Group after some 6 years from my previous posts. Here's a little more about Dandle Fail Mowers, at
least in the History Department. I found an Obit notice for Harold Dandl, he spent some 40 years or so in the Farm
equipment and manufacturing business around Northern California, Chico. It appears Dandl was in operation for at
least some 20 years or so, wrapping up in the mid late 1990's with Harold. Other Dandle postings suggest the company
was sold around 97 when Harold retired... unconfirmed by me but one would hope he had a great retirement.
I've become a bit of a default expert with Dandl fail mowers... there are at least three different widths/models/
types that I know about... and own a few.

The cutters or blades... were available for a time a Tractor Supply, but they seem to be sluggish to want to
restock anything quickly... The cutters are the duck foot type, get the better quality cutters with a ceramic
coating, don't be cheap there... you'll know the difference in quality soon enough. I buy my cutters on line
now, from King Cutters... Email me direct if you need their contact information. The "D-rings" are fairly
common, even the Deere Dealer in my area has them. If you buy a flail missing the cutters, rings and rods,
that' s a fairly common find and relatively easy to obtain. The D-ring holding rods are common steel and
held in with clevis pins that need to be slightly bent and secured with a cotter pin (or equivalent).

Dandl flail mowers are some of the best ever made... you won't be sorry refurbishing a dead
unit. You will need a serious amount of horse power, min 70 if you have the monster long
unit. You can probably use a smaller HP tractor with a 6 to 8 foot wide mower, but you will have to go
slow. And, the triple wide belt is 62 inches, getting more expensive every year. I used to burn them
up in high grass, trying to go fast, but calm down and keep them tight, you'll be fine.

I saw a different post asking about an individual one per cutter/knife & d-ring possibly being a Dandl
unit, which I don't believe it was. However (comma), that mounting scheme was used by RFS flail
mowers. RFS in the two incarnations that I know about, was located just south Winters California. The
company was doing well, sold and the new owner was reported to be less people friendly and the
company went away after a time.

One other thing regarding the cutters on the Dandl flail mowers... keep the "duct foot" type, don't mess around with
other types of blade shapes. When you have the duck foot cutters properly installed, driving down an orchard row o
equivalent... leaves behind a near golf putting green type of clean surface. It really is amazing how the cutters will
cut, mulch and clean down to nearly (and below if you adjust it as such) level. I have also compared the Dandle flail
operation to a high end Howard Rotovator... and they are two different things, both amazing, but quite different in
intent. The Howard Rotivator is more of a tiller type operation, the flail a flush mower.

That's about it for now... maybe see you in another 6 years down the road if I learn anything new
worth sharing.

cheers,

skipp025 at ya hoo dot com

 

[skipp025]

re: DANDL Flail Mower

I replied to my original post some 5 to 6 years later, with a little more information, some triva and factoid stuff... it should be in
this thread or easily located with a Dandl flail mower search here on the Tractor By Net pages.
cheers,
s.

DANDL - Flail Mower

> Thanks for the welcome. Doesn't seem like anyone has any information on
> these flails. I can not even find out about the company. Seems they never
> existed. Found reference tin a thread on another forum that says Alamo
> bought the company, but just speculation on someones part. At least the
> parts are available from Flailmaster

Hello to everyone and the group... didn't need to join in to this thread other
than to reply to the Dandl questions.

Dandl was an equipment manufacturing company located at Chico, CA. Out
near the Airport if you're familiar with that area. There is no information about
what happened to Dandl, they could have been purchased or just plain went
out of business because of economic reasons.

The DANDL Flail Mower is a well constructed unit, all the generic parts are
standard sizes. I buy the triple fan belt from the Bearing Belt and Chain dealer
near my home, there are BBC stores in Chico, Woodland and Yuba City, CA.

The bearings are generic, I bought most all of them from a local supplier,
they are not cheap.

One of our units lost or sustained damage to the triple wide idle wheel, I
had to hunt around, but did find the replacement in 2016.

Getting the gearbox fixed or replaced, might be an exercise, but I've not had
to do that on any of the units we have here now. The underside where the
cutters are... the D-rings and what someone describes as the "duck-foot cutters"
are available at Tractor Supply Stores.

Grease the bearings and U-joints well, it should last you a long time and most
everything is serviceable. Sorry to see Dandl or Dandle no longer in business, but
their high quality flail mowers do live on in regular service.

cheers,

skipp

skipp025 at ya who period com