flail mower or rotory brush cutter

[McMXi]

New-ish tractor owner here (approaching 1 year). After much research, I got a Del Morino Centurian 158 (not the 'super') with hydraulic offset and hammer blades. It is quick hitch compatible. The hydraulic offset isn't much of an offset, about 11 inches, but works very very well for grass, brush, small saplings, etc. I love it!
The only reason (besides cost) I didn't get a "super" series like the one posted above, is I have an LX4020, and it would have been too much offset weight for my tractor.

Welcome to the forum! Nice tractor and flail mower.

This year I'm going to test the Del Morino Centurion Super 158 with the QH10 to see if it interferes with the PTO shaft. The literature says that it's not QH compatible, but I see that Speeco QH owners modify they're QHs to run standard rotary cutters but I've never had to do that with a QH10 or QH15 so perhaps it'll work.

 

[Hal9000]

Now I’m curious about max height for a flail. I have to cut our meadow areas where we want native forbs at 8” once a year in the winter, which keeps saplings at bay but allows native pollinators to out compete grasses. 8” is as high as my bush hog cuts, but is also minimum for our forbs. The areas we want grass I cut at 4” a couple times a year because that’s low enough to kill both saplings and our native forbs while remaining friendly to most of our native grasses.

Do flails not have the ability to cut at a height of 8” or more?

I do understand any mower would cut higher by raising the 3 point and not having the guide wheel/roller on the ground but that would not work well anywhere that isn’t flat.

I was looking to purchase a flail mower for my property in the mountains in SW New Mexico. I am rethinking it now since I am like you and need to mow no shorter than 5 inches. I don't want to scalp the native grasses. Every company I have communicated with state their maximum height is 2.5-3 inches. I have heard if you just raise the mower up a bit the cut is not as good and it puts stress on the 3 point attachment of the tractor. Seems like a company could put a larger diameter rear roller or an adjustment to be able to cut higher. With my propery a rotary moter would's be as efficient with some of the pine trees I have and have to mow around.

 

[NCL4701]

I was looking to purchase a flail mower for my property in the mountains in SW New Mexico. I am rethinking it now since I am like you and need to mow no shorter than 5 inches. I don't want to scalp the native grasses. Every company I have communicated with state their maximum height is 2.5-3 inches. I have heard if you just raise the mower up a bit the cut is not as good and it puts stress on the 3 point attachment of the tractor. Seems like a company could put a larger diameter rear roller or an adjustment to be able to cut higher. With my propery a rotary moter would's be as efficient with some of the pine trees I have and have to mow around.

One of the fields I have to bush hog has small trees planted in a 30’x30’ grid with a few random trees mixed in. Thankfully it’s small. It’s one of the reasons HST, independent PTO, and removable loader were a hard requirement when I bought my L. To me, the rotary cutter is a mixed bag with trees. The tail swing is a major downside. The ability to back the mower under low tree limbs without getting the tractor very close is an upside for smaller trees or trees with low limbs.

 

[McMXi]

I was looking to purchase a flail mower for my property in the mountains in SW New Mexico. I am rethinking it now since I am like you and need to mow no shorter than 5 inches. I don't want to scalp the native grasses. Every company I have communicated with state their maximum height is 2.5-3 inches. I have heard if you just raise the mower up a bit the cut is not as good and it puts stress on the 3 point attachment of the tractor. Seems like a company could put a larger diameter rear roller or an adjustment to be able to cut higher. With my propery a rotary moter would's be as efficient with some of the pine trees I have and have to mow around.

If you have an hydraulic top link you can extend it to increase the cut height while keeping the roller on the ground.

 

[Hal9000]

If you have an hydraulic top link you can extend it to increase the cut height while keeping the roller on the ground.

I do have a hydraulic top link. Thank you for your response.

 

[LBZ]

So, I decided to go with a flail. With the roller set to allow the highest cut and using the hydraulic top link I can get the hammer blades from 7 inches above the shop floor to 2.5 to 3 inches above the shop floor while keeping the roller on the floor. I believe I'll be able to keep it at almost any height while mowing over clover as long as I'm not trying to go over saplings or anything that would make the machine bounce on the 3 point.
It arrived with the machine broken through the shipping pallets but undamaged. Making it difficult to unload from the semi. The carriage for the hydraulic side shift was not attached. Pretty self explanatory but no instructions provided. Took a little time for me to figure out exactly where to mount the
hydraulic cylinder. Also the grease zerk for one of the roller bearings is just stupid. Why not put a 45* zerk or rotate the location where it's reachable?
Just got it assembled yesterday and it's too wet to try mowing so have not used it yet.

I

 

[NCL4701]

I know you haven’t used it yet, but when you do…

If you roll it back with the toplink to get the full 7” height, does it run smoothly or do the PTO angles get dissimilar to the point it chatters?

 

[LBZ]

I know you haven’t used it yet, but when you do…

If you roll it back with the toplink to get the full 7” height, does it run smoothly or do the PTO angles get dissimilar to the point it chatters?

So without actually mowing I ran it at 540 rpm pto speed with top link fully extended and shifted completely to the right, roller on the floor with no chatter. Hopefully I'll have a better report as soon as it dries up a little. Really can't complain as we have been in a moderate drought.

 

[McMXi]

I know you haven’t used it yet, but when you do…

If you roll it back with the toplink to get the full 7” height, does it run smoothly or do the PTO angles get dissimilar to the point it chatters?

I've run my Del Morino Centurion Super for four summers and have cut a lot of different types of vegetation with it. The PTO shaft angles are way more severe than they are with the Flipper shown above and I don't get any chattering even with the flail offset all the way over to the right. Greasing with these things is not something to be casual about.

 

[McMXi]

It arrived with the machine broken through the shipping pallets but undamaged. Making it difficult to unload from the semi. The carriage for the hydraulic side shift was not attached. Pretty self explanatory but no instructions provided. Took a little time for me to figure out exactly where to mount the
hydraulic cylinder. Also the grease zerk for one of the roller bearings is just stupid. Why not put a 45* zerk or rotate the location where it's reachable?

I had similar issues with a broken pallet when I received my Del Morino in March of 2023. However, there was also some damage to the rod that the front guards hang off and some damage to the belt guard. I got everything resolved to my satisfaction, and Courtney is a stand up guy and I'd buy from him again. I reached out to Del Morino in Italy to ask how they ship their flails to the US since I wondered if GWTC was removing them from a crate and stuffing them on cheap pallets but I didn't get a response from Del Morino on that. Shipping companies can be brutal so the ideal approach is to make the crate or pallet virtually idiot proof.

Both of the drum bearings on my flail have the zerk fitting orientated at 12 o'clock so not an issue, but I have an OTC grease gun adapter kit to account various zerk orientations. It's worth noting that the roller bearings on my flail are mounted using four bolts so obviously a different part.

 

[NCL4701]

So without actually mowing I ran it at 540 rpm pto speed with top link fully extended and shifted completely to the right, roller on the floor with no chatter. Hopefully I'll have a better report as soon as it dries up a little. Really can't complain as we have been in a moderate drought.

Thanks! It looks like a very nice mower. Just a little jealous, particularly the side shift capability.