Anyone use a flail mower?

[JohnDeereJimOhio]

Anyone use a flail mower? Currently running a brush hog behind a John Deere 2030 diesel to mow horse pastures.. I have been interested in using a flail mower seems to do a much cleaner job. Will it stimulate better growth? Or have any advantage over a regular old brush hog? Also heard they take more hp than a regular brush hog. How many foot can a 2030 diesel or 730 diesel handle?

 

[JD Seller]

A flail mower will spread out material better but they require more horse power to work. The hammers are higher maintenance than the blades on a rotary cutter. Also they do not cut tall stuff very well. If it has a bigger stem then you may just strip the leaves off leaving the stem.

 

[37chief]

I started mowing with a rotary mower. It does a fair job, but in some cases the field looks like a bad hair cut. I found a 7 1/2 flail mower. It does a great job. I like it because it rolls the cut weeds. That may not be good for a horse pasture to roll the grass flat? The flail mowers are high maintenance, at least mine is. They don't like rocks or tree stumps. I pull my flail mower with my JD 401 Industrial and is about 60 hp. I am sure I could use a little less HP, but that is what I have. Stan

 

[Ferd]

To give you a little idea, I mowed my neighbors field on Monday with a flail mower. It just rained so the grass was really wet and it was well over knee-high. If i had mowed with a rotary type (I used to have a Bush Hog) mower, you would see grass sticking up all over.

There are light duty flail mowers and there are heavy duty flail Mowers. I bought this particular mower used which is a heavy duty made by Rears Manufacturing which is about 100 miles from where I live. It had been used hard so I pulled a drum out and had them put all new teeth (or hammers) on and balance the drum which is important. They don't like wire laying on the ground it'll wrap around the drum. They don't like hitting big objects because you can get your drum out of balance. But if you know the field is clean nothing does a nicer job.

 

[kcm.MN]

One more thing to keep in mind - Rotary Cutters are meant and designed for heavier brush with thicker stalks. This includes everything from saplings to cattails. Finish Mowers are designed for lawns, and even moderately tall grasses, but have to watch out here. Too tall or thick and it's very hard on the attachment. Flail mowers are sort of an in-between. They can handle lighter saplings and all the cattails you can throw at them, but can also handle cutting grasses.

If you have a lot of tall grasses that you do not intend to bale, then you can replace the thick brush blades on a rotary mower with thinner blades, which will be much better suited for cutting tall "prairie-like" grasses and such. They will also handle lighter saplings, but stay away from heavy, dense brush and fallen logs or you could bend your blades.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I have a little 4 foot Mott on an A-C G. Does a nice job on lawns. Blade maintenance is the kicker. 120 blades each with two edges. There's enough inertia to push the G around.

 

[BobReeves]

I cut about 7 acres of old pasture with a JD 7 foot flail pulled with a 38HP Ford 3000. Does a great job doesn't leave windrows like the rotary I use to have. If I let the grass get real high I have to drop down into 2nd but normally scoot right along in 3rd.

Don't have allot of issues with the knives but roller bearings seem to only go a couple seasons before needing replaced. Probably because I cut quite often in the mornings with dew still on the grass and between the moisture and dirt the bearings take a beating. Found no reason to ever go back to a rotary.

 

[MarkB_MI]

A fail mower will do a much cleaner job than a brush hog; after all, a brush hog isn't really intended for grass. Yes, they take more power and are more expensive to maintain than rotary mowers. I wouldn't try to run anything wider than an eight foot flail with either of your tractors. If you expect to be cutting a lot of brush stick with the brush hog, but for grass it's hard to beat the finish of a flail mower.

 

[hd6gtom]

I have a 9' Mathews pull type that I pull with a AC d17 I have cut stuff higher than the tractor hood, go slow and you can make your field look like golf course greens. In the past I have had people call me - whose hay fields have been taken over by gophers and cut their hay. Sure you get a dirt bath but do save the hay. Its heavy, the only thing I have replaced is tires and the big double roller chain.

 

[coshoo]

I had to quit using my MC because of the mole hills- it would get so much dirt in the hay that it was unusable. Went back to a disc mower, much better results. Didn't seem to get nearly as much dirt in the hay, not sure why.

 

[Mike M]

I had a Ford that the rear roller bearings were not lasting in it. IIRC I went with sealed ones and then put something in between the roller and bearing like a PVC pipe spacer. I think this helped keep the grass from wrapping up in them and the sealed bearings had better seals.

 

[Mike M]

I ran a 7 1/2 foot Ford behind my JD720 diesel and that was the right power for anything you got into ! I also ran it behind a B in light grass and a 530 which did well too. Had a 5 footer behind the model M jd. I got into some really tall heavy grass and after first pass I had to go about 1/2 width as it was too low on power for heavy stuff.
I like them because when your done it looks good ! They lift up your wheel tracks. They grind up small brush good too. A lot safer when you hit stuff as it is less likely to throw it out from under the mower.

 

[JohnDeereJimOhio]

I would be using this in all native grass pastures upkept no sticks or brush.. my roatarty mower is older and has been abused pretty hard doesn't cut nice and pasture doesn't look that good after. I only have two horses in it and the pasture outgrows what they eat. In the spring I knock it down before weeds bud out and usual mow once or twice throughout summer I figured flail mower would only improve grass conditions by cutting nicer and not leaving the windrow behind.. I'm going to keep my eyes open for one. I also rent some property for the pasture and upkeep the front of it by the road. Figure instead of mowing it with zero turn every week I could just hit it every so often with flail mower and it will still look nice from the road..

 

[john *.?-!.* cub owner]

(quoted from post at 22:31:52 05/19/17) I have a little 4 foot Mott on an A-C G. Does a nice job on lawns. Blade maintenance is the kicker. 120 blades each with two edges. There's enough inertia to push the G around.

ou do not need to sharpen both sides of the blades, only the leading edge. A flail mower cuts moving toward the rear at the bottom, so that is the side you sharpen, unless it is a mulcher, then you sharpen the other side.

 

[Eldon (WA)]

(quoted from post at 18:53:38 05/20/17) I would be using this in all native grass pastures upkept no sticks or brush.. my roatarty mower is older and has been abused pretty hard doesn't cut nice and pasture doesn't look that good after. I only have two horses in it and the pasture outgrows what they eat. In the spring I knock it down before weeds bud out and usual mow once or twice throughout summer I figured flail mower would only improve grass conditions by cutting nicer and not leaving the windrow behind.. I'm going to keep my eyes open for one. I also rent some property for the pasture and upkeep the front of it by the road. Figure instead of mowing it with zero turn every week I could just hit it every so often with flail mower and it will still look nice from the road..

Save yourself the headaches and buy an 8 foot Bush Hog rotary. I do custom cutting with two 3008 models...best mowers for the money. I can cut anything from 3" diameter pine trees to the lawn on my rental across the street. The 8 foot is a twin spindle that picks up the grass that the tires mash down on both sides. The trick is to get your wheels set out close to 8'. I do a lot of rocky fields and still put close to 400 hours on a $140 set of blades last year. Cut is superior compared to single spindle rotary mowers and you can cut at 5 mph instead of 2 with a flail. With what you are cutting, your tractor will handle it well. Check out used ones on Tractorhouse

 

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

There are 2 schools of thought about flail mowers,folks either love them or hate them. There is very little middle ground.
I have a 60" Mott behind my 650 John Deere,(Yanmar) compact diesel. I extended the 3 pt hitch pins 7 inches forward and made a 7" long pivoting connection for the top link also. I also made adjustable castering front gauge wheels so that they set the front height of cut and the rear roller sets the rear height. I mostly use it for a large lawn mower on 2 acres here. I lower it to the ground and it floats along the contour of the ground cutting at the preset height and for gentle turns I don't even have to lift it. Does a real good job this way. I have been running it since 1987 and only replaced the blades once. I have sharpened them a few times and replaced broken ones but basically it cuts everything I ask it to do and does a good job. It will shred limbs and sapling up to 2" in diameter and leaves a nice pile of chips on the ground. I added a vinyl skirt to the front and rear so that it does not sling grass and dust from under it. The skirt on the rear leaves a nice smooth even trail of cut grass behind it as you mow and the short piece on the front keeps the dust from coming out the front as you cut.
It cannot handle ropes, vines and wire or even garden hoses because they wind around the drum and choke it down. I owned on before this one on a Cub 154 Low boy. Good mower but pitiful excuse for a tractor. I had to let the buyer have the mower so I could get rid of the tractor. This one will be here when I am gone most likely.

 

[Eldon (WA)]

120 acre field I did a couple of years ago in 32 hours...can't do that with a flail!