Flail Mower Titan Flail mower

[kthompson]

Still waiting on parts from Titan, been 6 months now...

Sorry for your problem, but thank you for posting it. Am looking for a offset flail mower and now confirmed it will not be from Titan. Again thank you.

 

[Atchuuu]

Still waiting on parts from Titan, been 6 months now...

Sorry to hear about your issue. You helped me cross Titan off the list though. No parts = no purchase.

 

[lilranch2001]

And there was a recent comparison on EA's thread Titan vs EA, and this is why I would never buy Titan

 

[Guidshir]

I'm on my third seasons of mowing with my Titan, and I am running into problems. The 3-point triangle keeps bending and has split the metal at the seam. I welded it twice so far, but it splits again because the place where the lift arms attach is bending outward (see pics). I have gone through some steps to reduce this, but the fact is, my land has a lot of hills, angles, and bumps. When I turn around to mow the other direction, the whole mower shifts "downhill" to the other side and incrementally bends the upper most plate. When that plate bends, the angles meeting at the upper 3pt arm bend as well. I've added some bent lines to the images to indicate how they are bending.

The inner plate doesn't bend because they're not connected. I guess the metal is too weak or I am beating it up too hard. . I am considering welding a bar to connect the two plates that hold the lift arm pin. (green line on second picture). Alternatively, I am considering bending the upper arm angled pieces to connect to the inner plate instead of the outer plate. At least that way, the constant slamming of that outer plate wouldn't effect the angled pieces.

I am just trying to prolong the mower's life because the hammers and drive train seem to be working fine. For my next purchase, I will have to more closely look at the design of better flail mowers or consider buying an old-school bushhog.

I did just look at the Woodmaxx 62 and it looks like it has the same kind of upper -arm tree connection as the Titan. How can I be sure I won't bend that as well?





On a positive note, I bought a Henschel Aussie hat for mowing in the heat, and man... that is a great hat. It was in around 90 today, and with a sweat band and that hat, I felt pretty good.

 

[troverman]

I'm on my third seasons of mowing with my Titan, and I am running into problems. The 3-point triangle keeps bending and has split the metal at the seam. I welded it twice so far, but it splits again because the place where the lift arms attach is bending outward (see pics). I have gone through some steps to reduce this, but the fact is, my land has a lot of hills, angles, and bumps. When I turn around to mow the other direction, the whole mower shifts "downhill" to the other side and incrementally bends the upper most plate. When that plate bends, the angles meeting at the upper 3pt arm bend as well. I've added some bent lines to the images to indicate how they are bending.

The inner plate doesn't bend because they're not connected. I guess the metal is too weak or I am beating it up too hard. . I am considering welding a bar to connect the two plates that hold the lift arm pin. (green line on second picture). Alternatively, I am considering bending the upper arm angled pieces to connect to the inner plate instead of the outer plate. At least that way, the constant slamming of that outer plate wouldn't effect the angled pieces.

I am just trying to prolong the mower's life because the hammers and drive train seem to be working fine. For my next purchase, I will have to more closely look at the design of better flail mowers or consider buying an old-school bushhog.

I did just look at the Woodmaxx 62 and it looks like it has the same kind of upper -arm tree connection as the Titan. How can I be sure I won't bend that as well?

Your Titan failed in the same way both of mine did, or at least one of the ways mine failed. I operate in similar terrain as you, and my mower also swings to the downhill side, and bounces in the raised position during transport to where I am mowing. I welded additional plate to my top link triangle uprights, and it hasn't broken since. However, I am having other problems with my Titan including the entire roller assembly has "bent" inwards and I think it will likely fail soon. However, I have made this mower my backup mower.

I bought a Woodmaax FM78 at the beginning of this season and it now has about 65 hours of mowing on it, same exact property the Titan mows. So far, so good. The "triangle" is a little different on the Woodmaax. For one thing, there is an arch welded across the back of the triangle which prevents as much flexing. Critically, at the bottom where the metal "bends" to meet the angle and bolt to the mower, they have actually placed a weld where the bend is to a small wraparound piece of metal that should prevent a tear forming along the crease. Finally, there are four bolts per side instead of two.

The Woodmaax has thicker steel in places along the body, but it is still a folded and stamped top like the Titan, which is less strong than a fully fabricated mower like an Alamo or Vrismo. I do like the trash door (which might not be available on the 62) as it is heavy and well made. There is a shredder bar on the inside of the mower housing at the very top to help with mulching. The rear roller is much larger, mounted much more ruggedly, and grass doesn't wrap its way into the roller bearings like it does on the Titan. The Woodmaax also has a slip clutch driveshaft, although I did have to cut mine down to size. The chain guard at the front of the mower is mounted solidly and has not fallen apart like the one on the Titan did almost immediately.

I'd recommend a Woodmaax, and parts are readily available. I bought Y-knives this time and they work good, although they dull easily and I have broken a couple (and reordered more).

 

[Guidshir]

Troverman, would you mind showing where you welded the crossbar if you haven't already? I would keep mine as a backup as well most likely.

 

[Guidshir]

Mat, what's the main reason you think? I would think weight, but a comparable 60" rotary weights 300LB+ over my flail. The main reason I chose a flail was for the rough use. I have a lot of debris (sticks, small dead logs, etc) that needs to be shredded. I don't need a finish mower. Due to the size, shape, and design I would think that a rotary blade would have a hard time with that. Rotary mowers are also larger.

 

[troverman]

Mat, what's the main reason you think? I would think weight, but a comparable 60" rotary weights 300LB+ over my flail. The main reason I chose a flail was for the rough use. I have a lot of debris (sticks, small dead logs, etc) that needs to be shredded. I don't need a finish mower. Due to the size, shape, and design I would think that a rotary blade would have a hard time with that. Rotary mowers are also larger.

I'd be surprised if the rotary cutter outweighed the flail mower. They certainly are larger and don't follow terrain quite as well. They don't leave as nice a cut, and don't really mulch. However, if the goal is to knock down rough areas which include small saplings and brush, the rotary is the way to go. They are heavier duty and take more of a beating without breaking as easily.

I have a rotary cutter as well as my now three flail mowers...the rotary cutter is faster and takes the beating better, but leaves not as nice a cut.

Let me see if I have pics of my welded areas. Thought I posted them last year but I'll check.

 

[Guidshir]

Interesting, I thought flails produced a worse cut. Titan says my flail is 570 Lbs. I am looking at the rotaries and they are anywhere from 600-1200lb.
The biggest issue I have is my terrain, brambles (blackberries), and whatever is under the brush (usually branches, sometimes rocks)

 

[troverman]

Hah, got this thread confused with the giant flail thread and posted there.

Here's how I welded my uprights, and also a pic of my two tractors mowing this summer - one with the Titan, and one with the Woodmaax. You can see the warping of the Titan mower housing.

 

[troverman]

Interesting, I thought flails produced a worse cut. Titan says my flail is 570 Lbs. I am looking at the rotaries and they are anywhere from 600-1200lb.
The biggest issue I have is my terrain, brambles (blackberries), and whatever is under the brush (usually branches, sometimes rocks)

Here's a link to one of the better rotary cutters, Land Pride:
https://cdn-assets.greatplainsmfg.com/ari/attach/lp/public/specs/326-047s.pdf

A 5-foot is listed at 478lbs.

 

[Guidshir]

I was thinking about it this morning, and this may be a solution.
The two upright plates attached to the deck have holes to bolt the triangle-side piece. The large pin connects the lift-arms to the two upright plates as well. The outside plate is bending and ruining everything attached.
My idea is to just connect the two plates using the existing holes with some nice grade-8 bolts. This would support the bending plate and allow me to cinch the two plates together. I though I would probably put nuts and spacers in between them as well to prevent any kind of shimmy.

 

[mangler]

I was thinking about it this morning, and this may be a solution.
The two upright plates attached to the deck have holes to bolt the triangle-side piece. The large pin connects the lift-arms to the two upright plates as well. The outside plate is bending and ruining everything attached.
My idea is to just connect the two plates using the existing holes with some nice grade-8 bolts. This would support the bending plate and allow me to cinch the two plates together. I though I would probably put nuts and spacers in between them as well to prevent any kind of shimmy.


View attachment 665303

It will certainly help, but it may not solve the problem long term. The issue seems to be way to much flex in the uprights, leading to bending fatigue failures. The bolts will reduce the the flex some, but if it was my flail mower I would be welding horizontal braces between both uprights, front and back. One set as low as possible, and the other set mid way up. Angle iron or better, square tube.

In conjunction with the bollts I bet that would do it, and solve the a-frame issues at least.

It's not just an implement, it's a hobby

 

[Guidshir]

It's not just an implement, it's a hobby

No kidding!

You're right though, it needs more. I will have to load this thing and carry it an hour to get to a welder, but I may have to do that.

 

[troverman]

My method of adding additional steel as I showed in my upload has survived longer than the original. I don't think it will break. Adding another horizontal cross brace would also likely help and probably be easier than what I did.

 

[lilranch2001]

Running a piece of all thread across the entire length with jamnuts at each up-right and tying all the up-rights together may give a lot of strength. If there is room, I would opt for at least 1/2" diameter all thread