Mower Question

[Berryville]

Mower Question,

Is it possible to run a Flail Mower on a TE or TO20 Ferguson tractor for finish mowing? (No tall brush)
I read on one site that a Flail mower take less HP to operate than a multiple blade rotary mower and with nicer results.
However on other sites it says that a flail Mower requires more HP than a rotary mower.
I mow 5 acres of lawn and would like to be able to run the largest mower I can on my TE20.
For the past 6 years I have been running a 60” belly mower on a Kubota which takes longer to mow than I would like.

 

[mowr]

I believe the flail takes MORE power to run and, in my experience, it has significantly higher maintenance requirements (all those blades to sharpen, replace, and try to keep balanced, and a bent or out-of-balance rotor is MUCH more expensive to repair/replace than a bent blade or shaft on a regular finish mower). For just keeping a 5 acre lawn groomed with a Ferguson 20, I would want an 84 inch Italian (light weight/excellent strength) finish mower with only 3 blades and spindles to maintain, two-belts (no idler mechanism to waste power and wear out), rear-mounted gearbox (avoids driveshaft shortening problems), four wheels (less scalping), and rear-discharge (less windrowing and allows you to cut in whatever pattern works best on your lot).

 

[Lance J.]

What is your expectation for how neat the mowing must look and how short the grass must be cut? I mow most of my yard with my TO-35 and an ancient Hi-Co brush hog. If the mower is adjusted evenly with the ground, it gives surprisingly nice looking results. In general, the neater you want the grass to look, the longer it takes to mow. I've never heard of flail mowers being used for neat finish-cut type mowing, I always thought they were just a faster alternative to a sickle bar mower for cutting hay.

 

[gshadel]

Flail mower takes more HP that a bush hog or a finish mower. I had a 4 foot wide flail mower for several years that I ran on my TO-20. It would bog down my TO in tall grass if I was trying to cut it at finish height, but for regular lawn mower height, it was fine. A 5 foot flail mower would probably be fine on a TO as long as your doing light cutting. That flail mower made a nice finish mower and also made mince-meat out of brambles & multiflora, and mulched twigs & leaves real nice. It was nice because it threw the cuttings down, instead of out the side like a mower tends to do. It was much higher maint. I ended-up selling mine because I had a riding mower and didn't have much need for the 4 foot flail mower.

George

 

[Gene C]

I mowed my 2 acres with my TO 30 and a rear mount 5foot Woods finish mower for six years. It did a fine job; just had to watch that I slowed down at the end of each pass so the momentum of the mower did not push me foward into my pine trees since I wasn't using an over-riding clutch on the PTO.

 

[Berryville]

I had stumbled across an ad for a flail mower and it said that it took less HP to operate but after further investigation it looks like that’s not really true. They claim that there safer than a rotary mower and I can see that may be. Not sure what the maintenance cost would be on them but I recently spent 200 dollars on parts for the belly mower of my Kubota. I think I’ll end up getting a rotary mower, good thing is that I’m in no rush to get one this time of year…. Thanks for everyones input.

Pete

(quoted from post at 23:17:22 11/01/07) Flail mower takes more HP that a bush hog or a finish mower. I had a 4 foot wide flail mower for several years that I ran on my TO-20. It would bog down my TO in tall grass if I was trying to cut it at finish height, but for regular lawn mower height, it was fine. A 5 foot flail mower would probably be fine on a TO as long as your doing light cutting. That flail mower made a nice finish mower and also made mince-meat out of brambles & multiflora, and mulched twigs & leaves real nice. It was nice because it threw the cuttings down, instead of out the side like a mower tends to do. It was much higher maint. I ended-up selling mine because I had a riding mower and didn't have much need for the 4 foot flail mower.

George

 

[Griz]

I have a tO20 turf tires, Petronic ignition, high output coil, electonic tach and bumped the timing up a couple degrees. The mower is a Woods RD7200 (6ft)rear discharge. I run 1500 to 1550 rpms in 3rd gear and cut 5 acres in about 1.5 to 2 hours. I am amazed how well the lawn looks. It"s a great mowing machine.

 

[Jeff-oh]

Why not use a finish type mower?

 

[Berryville]

(quoted from post at 21:06:57 11/05/07) Why not use a finish type mower?

An ad I read had mentioned that a flail mower took less HP to operate, thought I could use a larger flail mower than a rotary mower thus mowing more acres in less time. The more I read the less this seems so plus the maintainance and the cost of upkeep seems to be more as well. Well on the bright side I have all winter to find a good deal on a mower.....

Pete

 

[Anonymous-0]

A good flail like a Mott(Alamo) uses a little less power but will cost more. Where flail mowers really shine is if you have really tall grass to cut that may have trash in it. You still want to pick up large sticks and rocks and stuff but if you miss some smaller debris the knives will swivel rather than a hit it solidly like a rotary. Flails also lay the cuttings straight down behind the mower and don't throw them like a rotary, which is not as safe. A lot depends on what you intend to cut. Dave