I've got a very similar set up, the same Caroni on a L39 TLB w/GST. Make sure you've torqued the heck out of the nuts on the skids and the rollers. One side came loose on me. I heard/felt a clunk and by the time I stopped the roller was dragging behind held on by the right side only and the left was free. I was able to bend it back easily enough but I ended up replacing the nuts on the skids and the roller with nylock nuts from Lowes. Good idea regarding paint for visibility but I wonder how long that will last. The drum, shackles and blades all get blasted pretty hard particularly if you hit any dry dirt (might as well be sand blasting it) but it does make me wonder about powder coating the shackles and blades particularly since my buddy has a powder coating set up.
L3800 HST and Caroni 73" Flail Mower
- Thread starter Who is John Galt
- Start date
Yes Sir!! I lost 3 of 4 bolts holding the left side of the third point (That attaches to the Toplink). I had already adjusted the skids/roller height before taking it out the first time. Found a couple of them that were not as tight as I woulda made them then. So I went over the whole darn thing and torqued everything. I think this is directly the responsibility of whoever assembles these things at the North American distributor; Agri Supply.
I also found most of the 10 x 1.5 bolts that the clevis' hang on were loose, i.e.; the nuts were not tightened up to the tabs on the rotor.. When I reassembled the bolts/shackles/blades I torqued them to where they should have been. They already had nylon insert lock nuts. The ones that were loose had boogered up the threads inboard of the locknut pretty good so I replaced about 10-12 of the bolts..
I am still awaiting replacement blades and Clevis'. Should be here Thursday.
How many hours do you have on your Caroni and have you had any clevis failures??
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gpreuss
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Equipment
L3200DT w/FEL, K650 Backhoe, 5' Rotary, 40" Howard Rotavator, 6' Rhino blade
Before you bought, I'd looked flail mowers up on the internet, and most of the comments were "high maintenance". I posted it in your thread. Maybe this is what high maintenance is.
My cheap Montgomery Ward 60" brush hog went about 30 years and many hundreds of acres before I had to do anything more than sharpen the blades, and that, not very often. About 5 years ago I put new blades on it. Low maintenance.
My cheap Montgomery Ward 60" brush hog went about 30 years and many hundreds of acres before I had to do anything more than sharpen the blades, and that, not very often. About 5 years ago I put new blades on it. Low maintenance.
Dunno GP...
I actually read the owners manual on my LandPride 60" rotary and it expects me to adjust the clutch before start up every season and once every so many hours on the unit. I wondered if any owners actually DO that but reading through the process it looks like a royal pain in the tuckus...
I think all these mowers are high maintenance in some fashion. Although I think you're right, just the sheer amount of blades and moving parts in a flail would make it a problem child for someone that doesn't have time to maintain it.
I almost wonder if a sickle bar wouldn't be better for most 'mowing' of large properties. Those just take sharpening and a squirt of oil...
gpreuss
New member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3200DT w/FEL, K650 Backhoe, 5' Rotary, 40" Howard Rotavator, 6' Rhino blade
Mine uses a shear bolt, and yes, I remember it did shear once, 6-7 years ago. In the time I've been using the brush hog, I've worn out 3 riding lawn mowers, in fewer running hours. So I consider the brush hog to be low maintenance. I also use an old sickle-bar mower to span a ditch and do by the driveway and roadway. It does just OK with thick stemmed plants and small brush, does not do very well with grass - has a tendency to just bend it down and run over it.
I can't see that . . This is a very simple machine. . . A gearbox run by the PTO drives three v-belts turning a rotor that has blades hanging from it. The v-belts and two pulleys are all it has over a rotary cutter for complexity. I was working it harder than I should have been. The bolts that were loose or lost was because some slack jawed drooling moonbarking mongoloid mouth breather at the distributor was not paying attention.
I am remaining optimistic. I will let you know how the next 20 hours goes, all the heavy bush whacking is done!
I will be posting some real good before and after pics soon . .
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I think blue Loctite is a good idea on most machinery. Fasteners stay put and still reasonably easy to disassemble when needed. Can be pretty inconvenient to have your gear rattle apart in the field.
The 1260 I have has both the clutch and the shear bolt. I hit a dirt mound (invisible in 3' high weeds) with it and the clutch did it's job, the unit slowed down and then came back up to speed after shearing off the top of the mound (new dirt distribution technique I guess).
I'm not looking forward to the half hour or so it will take me to tune that clutch up... maybe I should store the unit with the clutch backed off pressure wise then I'd be halfway done with getting it ready to 'start' the next mowing task.
My only concern with a flail was metal fatigue. I mean those chains and mount points are under huge amounts of stress. Eventually they'd have to give, right? I don't know what the lifespan of a flail is or maintenance is like near the end of life.
I know most rotary's die of rusted decks or broken gearboxes, both easily fixable if you have the right welder and/or access to ebay.
I've always liked the concept of a flail for mowing just about any kind of terrain and material, but maybe I'm just scared of all that spinning metal?! What a freakin' wimp I am... LOL!
So far I've got about maybe 25-30 hours on the mower. I haven't had any issues with clevis or blade failures. I had to shorten the PTO shaft about 6" when I first installed it. Aside from the loose bolts previously mentioned one of the red flaps in the front got bent about 10 or 15 degrees. It's a nice straight bend parallel to the hinge tube. I'm pretty sure I can flatten it back into shape with the help of my 20 ton shop press. The first time I mowed the field in front of the vineyard was a nightmare. The trellis work had been replaced before I owned the property and the old trellis posts and wire was piled in the field. I picked it up as best I could but still managed to get trellis wire wound around the drum 3 or 4 times and it was annoying as heck to get that stuff cut off and cleared off the drum.