Been thinking about a flail mower long enough so took a ride up to a dealership near I65 in Priceville, AL that I have passed at least a couple thousand times over the course of my career. I had no clue how to get to it, but it turned out to be not so bad. They sell mostly Mahindra tractors but also sell almost anything else for outdoor fun including CanAm On and Off Road machines and boats of various brands and sizes. Odd to see boats at a tractor dealer, but they’re called Fredericks Outdoors. I reckon that opens up the product line a little.
They had FIVE Titan Implements (now Ironcraft) FL-135 (52” with 48” active cut) that had been in their inventory for a bit longer than 30 months, 2022 models. Paint faded a bit, TI logo on them, and basically being ignored by everyone. I asked the price and the first number came back at the full sales price for a new one straight from Ironcraft. Ummm, nope, guess Im going home. But wait! $2500 (current model list price) out the door was the next offer. “Well, the paint is pretty faded and they don’t seem to be selling real fast. They’re 2022 models.” How ‘bout $2250 out the door? That put it in line with the list price of a new shiny IronCraft FL-135 before taxes. The cheaper stuff was gonna cost at least that and comes with one blade type. The FL-135 comes with both hammers and Y blades. “Load it up!” The price was a little higher than I wanted, but I have been looking and shopping for a while. The biggest problem was finding one in stock that I could actually put my hands on. Two dealers told me “they’re just not at popular anymore “. I didn’t realize mowing in tight places was a fad.
Got home with it and went through all the setup checks and adjustments. I used the shaft for my chipper for testing. I’ll have to cut the one for the mower about an inch longer to make me feel better about the length.
The end result is that it does EXACTLY what I needed for where I’m using it. I’m glad I didn’t get a bigger one for now. Bigger would be better in open field cutting but my lot is covered trees. It’s small enough to get between trees with it and sticks out to the right just enough to get close to obstacles without getting hung up. The terrain is so uneven that I have to use 4-wheel drive and low range to creep around back there and I didn’t see a single piece come out from under the hood. It chopped up some pretty big pine knots and deadfall and went through tall weeds like a hot knife through butter. The only place it made the LX complain was a low flat spot that stays covered by water for at least half the year and has thick wire grass on soft muddy soil. It pulled most of that up rather than cut it, but still, mission accomplished. That stuff is tough and the wet dirt was helping choke the mower, but it didn’t slip the belts or stall the tractor. I did have to lift it a couple times to clear the buildup. I accidentally caught a little 2” cedar with the grapple while I was maneuvering. It’s mulch now. It’s not going to help with the ditche banks but I had fun with double the cutting swath and not getting hit in the shins with pine cones and rocks behind the Swisher. I also enjoyed not being bruised from the waist to my armpits by the handlebars on the Swisher nor having sore knees and shoulders from it constantly throwing me around like a rag doll. I cut about a third of the area a lot quicker than I expected and was a little disappointed that it was so easy to do. It used to take me about 6 hours with the Swisher and roughly 8 gallons of water for me a 2 gallons of gasoline for the Swisher. I’m thinking maybe 3 hours with the LX now, and a lot less brutality. I was mostly learning how to best use and maneuver it among the trees and uneven terrain and also checking the cut at maximum height. I think I need to lower it a little for a little cleaner cut, but it was low enough to pick up a couple fist sized rocks (which it destroyed). Gonna take a bit to dial it in. I may get a separate top link so I don’t have to reset it every time I use it.
Now I’m better equipped to manage the back part of the lot and keep it that way without taking a beating. I’ll still have to work the ditch banks with my trimmer, but a hedge trimmer attachment is the cat’s pajamas for that. I don’t have to constantly stop and pick up sticks that are very unfriendly under the Swisher. I will probably still need the Swisher in a few places where the terrain is too dangerous for the tractor but only when absolutely necessary.
The FL-135 gear box is a bit noisy but I think that will get better when some of the new rubs off. It’s noisier unloaded than when cutting, so I’ll assume it’s just gear lash. I’m going to put a couple hours on it and change the oil in it just to make sure it doesn’t have a bunch of water in it. It’s been sitting on their lot outside for two and a half years. The small sample I took looked okay and smelled okay, but I want fresh stuff in the box and drive line. I may have to remove the gear box to thoroughly drain it. That’s perhaps my biggest gripe about it , but the grease zerks are easy to get to without removing any covers. Overall, I give it a B+ for what I use it for. My use is probably more of a factor than any shortcomings of the machine.
They had FIVE Titan Implements (now Ironcraft) FL-135 (52” with 48” active cut) that had been in their inventory for a bit longer than 30 months, 2022 models. Paint faded a bit, TI logo on them, and basically being ignored by everyone. I asked the price and the first number came back at the full sales price for a new one straight from Ironcraft. Ummm, nope, guess Im going home. But wait! $2500 (current model list price) out the door was the next offer. “Well, the paint is pretty faded and they don’t seem to be selling real fast. They’re 2022 models.” How ‘bout $2250 out the door? That put it in line with the list price of a new shiny IronCraft FL-135 before taxes. The cheaper stuff was gonna cost at least that and comes with one blade type. The FL-135 comes with both hammers and Y blades. “Load it up!” The price was a little higher than I wanted, but I have been looking and shopping for a while. The biggest problem was finding one in stock that I could actually put my hands on. Two dealers told me “they’re just not at popular anymore “. I didn’t realize mowing in tight places was a fad.
Got home with it and went through all the setup checks and adjustments. I used the shaft for my chipper for testing. I’ll have to cut the one for the mower about an inch longer to make me feel better about the length.
The end result is that it does EXACTLY what I needed for where I’m using it. I’m glad I didn’t get a bigger one for now. Bigger would be better in open field cutting but my lot is covered trees. It’s small enough to get between trees with it and sticks out to the right just enough to get close to obstacles without getting hung up. The terrain is so uneven that I have to use 4-wheel drive and low range to creep around back there and I didn’t see a single piece come out from under the hood. It chopped up some pretty big pine knots and deadfall and went through tall weeds like a hot knife through butter. The only place it made the LX complain was a low flat spot that stays covered by water for at least half the year and has thick wire grass on soft muddy soil. It pulled most of that up rather than cut it, but still, mission accomplished. That stuff is tough and the wet dirt was helping choke the mower, but it didn’t slip the belts or stall the tractor. I did have to lift it a couple times to clear the buildup. I accidentally caught a little 2” cedar with the grapple while I was maneuvering. It’s mulch now. It’s not going to help with the ditche banks but I had fun with double the cutting swath and not getting hit in the shins with pine cones and rocks behind the Swisher. I also enjoyed not being bruised from the waist to my armpits by the handlebars on the Swisher nor having sore knees and shoulders from it constantly throwing me around like a rag doll. I cut about a third of the area a lot quicker than I expected and was a little disappointed that it was so easy to do. It used to take me about 6 hours with the Swisher and roughly 8 gallons of water for me a 2 gallons of gasoline for the Swisher. I’m thinking maybe 3 hours with the LX now, and a lot less brutality. I was mostly learning how to best use and maneuver it among the trees and uneven terrain and also checking the cut at maximum height. I think I need to lower it a little for a little cleaner cut, but it was low enough to pick up a couple fist sized rocks (which it destroyed). Gonna take a bit to dial it in. I may get a separate top link so I don’t have to reset it every time I use it.
Now I’m better equipped to manage the back part of the lot and keep it that way without taking a beating. I’ll still have to work the ditch banks with my trimmer, but a hedge trimmer attachment is the cat’s pajamas for that. I don’t have to constantly stop and pick up sticks that are very unfriendly under the Swisher. I will probably still need the Swisher in a few places where the terrain is too dangerous for the tractor but only when absolutely necessary.
The FL-135 gear box is a bit noisy but I think that will get better when some of the new rubs off. It’s noisier unloaded than when cutting, so I’ll assume it’s just gear lash. I’m going to put a couple hours on it and change the oil in it just to make sure it doesn’t have a bunch of water in it. It’s been sitting on their lot outside for two and a half years. The small sample I took looked okay and smelled okay, but I want fresh stuff in the box and drive line. I may have to remove the gear box to thoroughly drain it. That’s perhaps my biggest gripe about it , but the grease zerks are easy to get to without removing any covers. Overall, I give it a B+ for what I use it for. My use is probably more of a factor than any shortcomings of the machine.
