woodmaxx flail mower?

IslandTractor · Oct 12, 2016

I've been following and contributing to this thread since about day one. I honestly don't recall anyone who didn't like the flail they acquired whether it was a classic Alamo/Mott or OEM badged green or Italian or Chinese brand. You do get what you pay for and there is little doubt in my mind that if my life depended on it I'd want an Alamo/Mott but I'm very happy with my medium duty Caroni and I know a lot of guys have been pleased with their Chinese made flails. It really all boils down to what the marketing department orders from the factory. If the Chinese can put a man in space they can certainly build a flail to the specs of the Alamo/Mott but the market they are targeting is private owners not commercial agriculture or municipal/State highway departments. I'd say that the evidence so far is that the Chinese flails are holding up pretty well. If I recall correctly Sodamo even upgraded to a second larger Chinese flail. That says a lot about the ownership experience.

sidecarist · Oct 14, 2016

Well it's on a truck in Nashville scheduled for delivery on monday. Sadly I'll be on a plane by then. It will be a week or so before I can pick it up...

sidecarist · Oct 26, 2016

bgruss75 said:
Enjoying the thread. I have as well ordered a Woodmaxx, FM-88H, that should be here within a week according to my dealer. It'll be put to use right away day or night. Hopefully I can contribute positively to this thread after putting it to use.

Did you get your mower? I'll pick kine up tomorrow at lunch time. Not sure if I'll get it mounted or not... busy times for me.

Did you gave any assembly issues, tips etc?

bgruss75 · Oct 26, 2016

Too funny, mine is getting delivered tomorrow. I believe my dealer prepped it, so I should be able to get home, adjust the height and begin to mow. That's how I see happening anyways, more to follow....

DieselBound · Oct 27, 2016

Had to chuckle when I realized that both you guys (sidecarist & bgruss75) are in TN. Years ago I was in TN (I think it was in Cocke county) looking to buy property. And here I am with an interest in the WoodMaxx flail. Kindred spirits?:laughing:

sidecarist · Oct 27, 2016

I picked it up and didn't get to touch it until almost dark.

First impressions...

Shipped in a very secure bolted together angle iron frame/pallet. I have quite a bit of 1-1/4" angle for projects now.

Paint could be better, it's glossy, but there are a few runs and drips, not a big deal to me but some may not like it.

Spares that I ordered were shipped with the mower in sturdy wood boxes. I got a full set of side slicers, and 8 spare hammers. (I ordered the mower with hammers) all appear reasonably sharp and consistent in the ground edges. New bolts and lock nuts were provided as well.

PTO shaft was 3" too long but that's better than too short. The u-jounts needed grease. It has a slip clutch. I backed off the tension and we will see what it takes to slip it, rather than the belts. This may be more of a pain and I may just tighten it up, we will see.

Gearbox was full and it was tagged as filled. The gearbox has an overrunning clutch. All bearing zerks had fresh grease on them, but I added 5-6 pumps just to be safe.

Belts are gates (I need to get a spare set) pulleys are in alignment and nicely machined.

The hydraulic lines for the offset are 1/2"npt, no fittings were supplied, I wish this had been called out so I could have had the correct fittings for my remotes on hand...

I set the roller and the skids as low as possible this looks to be about 4in height. Trash door is closed.

I ran it for just a minute, and mowed about 50ft of lawn with it, no vibration to speak of, and the grass got a nice haircut as near as I can tell in the dark...

Fittings and pics tomorrow as well as some light field mowing.

So far do good, it sure sounds cool, like a 40hp 7ft wide Hoover!

bgruss75 · Oct 28, 2016

Mine got delivered and set up by the delivery man. Once I got home (after dark) I attempted to mount it, but had problems with the top link. The one I had was cat 1 for my SpeeCo QH. Quick trip to TSC for the right top link, just find out it was about 1/8" to wide to mate to the tractor. Little grind down and presto, it's hooked up. Did a function check to find out that fitting weren't tightened down, so corrected this hurdle and went for a spin. Ran it at 2200 rpm and stayed at a moderate slow pace. Turned 16-20" high grass into extra fine clippings. So far, I'm pleased.

sidecarist · Oct 28, 2016

bgruss75 said:
Mine got delivered and set up by the delivery man. Once I got home (after dark) I attempted to mount it, but had problems with the top link. The one I had was cat 1 for my SpeeCo QH. Quick trip to TSC for the right top link, just find out it was about 1/8" to wide to mate to the tractor. Little grind down and presto, it's hooked up. Did a function check to find out that fitting weren't tightened down, so corrected this hurdle and went for a spin. Ran it at 2200 rpm and stayed at a moderate slow pace. Turned 16-20" high grass into extra fine clippings. So far, I'm pleased.
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Interesting your is quite different than mine. You have the removable shredder bars, my 78" does not. I'll run to TSC to get my fittings at lunch and see how things go from there.

leonz · Oct 28, 2016

sidecarist said:
Interesting your is quite different than mine. You have the removable shredder bars, my 78" does not. I'll run to TSC to get my fittings at lunch and see how things go from there.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hello Big Russ75,

I want to welcome you as the newest Resident Member of the Flail Mower Nations.

About your new toy er mower;

I would strongly suggest that you either remove the spring cotter pins and use roll pins as replacements or a single piece of rod bar stock with one hole drilled on each end for that size spring cotter pin to hold them in place as these spring pins have a habit of being knocked off due to impacts of hard brush/saplings and the re cutting bars will fall off and hide in the brush.

Happy Mowing

sidecarist · Oct 28, 2016

leonz said:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hello Sidecarist,

I want to welcome you as the newest Resident Member of the Flail Mower Nations.

About your new toy er mower;

I would strongly suggest that you either remove the spring cotter pins and use roll pins as replacements or a single piece of rod bar stock with one hole drilled on each end for that size spring cotter pin to hold them in place as these spring pins have a habit of being knocked off due to impacts of hard brush/saplings and the re cutting bars will fall off and hide in the brush.

Happy Mowing

I would strongly recommend that

Leonz, Thanks for the welcome, I think your advice applies to bgruss75 new mower as his is the 88" with the shredder bars. My 78" unit does not have them. It's good advice though as I'm sure it would be easy for them to be lost in thick going...