NH 918H 8ft flail mower

[chas036]

I looking at a 918H 8ft flail mower that will be comming up at an auction soon and I was wondering what I should look for that would keep me from buying it?

From what I see, it looks like it has been used and not been sitting around for long time? I have heard that bearings are a common thing to go bad on flail mowers, is there any way I can tell that by just looking or moving something?

I am probably assuming that the blades or the belts need to be replaced, but I would think that is a easy thing to do on theses type of mowers.

 

[BBQRealtor]

I need all the blades on my 88" 918H. It's going to cost over $400.00. FYI

 

[BBQRealtor]

I put 20 new blades on mine already, also removing bent blades and pairing up the remaining straight blades from the stations that had only 1 bent one. I sat in front of the mower for an hour and a half unbolting just those 13 or 14 blade locations. My guess is if you change all 64 blade locations it will probably take a good 8 hour day. HOWEVER,
I took it out for the first time yesterday and it purrs like a kitten. I'm cutting grass in my woods and there are hundreds of 1" and smaller branches dropped everywhere. It'll take about 6 hours to cut all the areas in the woods, (2' tall weeds in places), but I think the extra heavy duty nature of the beast will be no worse for the wear. My 917 smaller, 6' flail mower would always loose 4 or 5 blades every time I did this. I have a 50HP Kioti. I wouldn't recommend this for a tractor any smaller. I miss the smaller size or the 917 for maneuverability, but I get much more grass cut with the bigger 918H.

 

[37chief]

I looking at a 918H 8ft flail mower that will be comming up at an auction soon and I was wondering what I should look for that would keep me from buying it?

From what I see, it looks like it has been used and not been sitting around for long time? I have heard that bearings are a common thing to go bad on flail mowers, is there any way I can tell that by just looking or moving something?

I am probably assuming that the blades or the belts need to be replaced, but I would think that is a easy thing to do on theses type of mowers.

I was using a 6 ft rotary mower in my mowing business. I bought a 7 ft flail mower, and am happy with it. It does a great job. Make sure your tractor has enough HP. My JD has 60 HP and is good. If you have rocky fields it will be hard on blades. If you get around wire, it will roll up on the blade drum faster that you can say a bad word. Sometimes very thick green weeds will roll up on the blade drum, just go slow. I sharpen my 90 blades a couple times each season, that helps that from happening. That takes about an hour. My mower had only one belt when I bought it, it would slip in heavy cutting. I installed three belt pulleys, that helped. The bearings on the back roller are right in the dirt, and will fail quick, keep them greased. I buy my bearings, and belts on ebay, which is cheaper. You will like a flail mower. Stan

 

[37chief]

I need all the blades on my 88" 918H. It's going to cost over $400.00. FYI

Check Flail Master. They make blades for most models