Flail mowers on a BX
- Thread starter Bearcatrp
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Russell King
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Equipment
L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
Why do you think they need to be 90 degrees bend?
Look at the hammer blades and they seem to be what you want. They would all be at the same level as they spin.
I would imagine that a lot of development has gone into the Y-blade design and how they are spaced apart and staggered. There is a lot of aerodynamics going on and you might be surprised at how little changes might have strange consequences. But I am not an expert on that subject so may not be correct at all!
The Y blades do not bend. My experience is grass cut with the Y blades looks like you cut it with a Lawn Boy push mower when the grass is not over a ft tall. Effective cutting with a flail requires to be turning the RPM at 540. Read post #5.
Do not make your own flails, you'll likely wreck something and/or get hurt and it won't work. The forces involved in swinging those around are tremendous, and when they hit something....
I've literally shaved granite rocks flat with a flail mower and didn't even nick a cutting edge, they're designed for "when things happen," and things do happen. BUT, you need to start with good equipment if you want good results.
The balance and weight distribution is critical, engineers have Finite Element Analysis software, years of experience, and they do lots of testing; if there was a better way to do it they'd be doing it.
Your better bet on making an awesomely clean cut is:
1.) Buy an awesome flail mower and at least one extra set of flails and an extra set of bolts&nuts (I have 2 extra flail sets, so three sets total: 1 to run, 1 to swap out when the first set gets dull, 1 to pull replacement flails from for when a flail gets damaged).
2.) Learn how to sharpen the flails.
3.) Buy the sharpening and measuring and weighing equipment and learn how to use it.
4.) Keep your flails sharp and mower clean and serviced.
I've literally shaved granite rocks flat with a flail mower and didn't even nick a cutting edge, they're designed for "when things happen," and things do happen. BUT, you need to start with good equipment if you want good results.The balance and weight distribution is critical, engineers have Finite Element Analysis software, years of experience, and they do lots of testing; if there was a better way to do it they'd be doing it.
Your better bet on making an awesomely clean cut is:
1.) Buy an awesome flail mower and at least one extra set of flails and an extra set of bolts&nuts (I have 2 extra flail sets, so three sets total: 1 to run, 1 to swap out when the first set gets dull, 1 to pull replacement flails from for when a flail gets damaged).
2.) Learn how to sharpen the flails.
3.) Buy the sharpening and measuring and weighing equipment and learn how to use it.
4.) Keep your flails sharp and mower clean and serviced.
They make three types of blades for flail mowers ...
1. Hammer blade
2. "Y" blade (sometimes a double "Y" such as JD)
3. Duck foot blade.
You would need a mower that would take that style of blade ... Such as ...
www.landpride.com
1. Hammer blade
2. "Y" blade (sometimes a double "Y" such as JD)
3. Duck foot blade.
You would need a mower that would take that style of blade ... Such as ...
Land Pride
www.landpride.com
The hammer blades are wider than the duck blades (first time I heard of them). Wish I could find a place to rent one to see how well it would cut. Hate to spend that kind of money to find out it was a bad decision. Been looking on CL and facebook market place for a used one but no luck. Mechmaxx has a 52 inch wide one that I think would work good on my BX. Anything larger could be an issue.They make three types of blades for flail mowers ...
1. Hammer blade
2. "Y" blade (sometimes a double "Y" such as JD)
3. Duck foot blade.
You would need a mower that would take that style of blade ... Such as ...
Land Pride
Here is a place to purchase flails. Made in USA, been at it for years.
Flail Master
Flail-Master - Serving the Mowing Industry for more than 50 years Download Our Catalog View Catalog Online Request a Print Catalog Email for a Custom Quote Download Our Catalog View Catalog Online Request a Print Catalog Email for a Custom Quote About Flail-Master Flail-Master ® has been...
www.flailmaster.com
I have hammer flails, they "cut" grass better than I expected though I'm sure not as good as Y according to what has been said here on OTT. Hammer flails really "smash" the grass into submission, it's not a clean cut like a finish mower.
Hammer: Brush and small trees, withstands "moderate" impacts (rocks, steel)
Duck-Foot: Brush and grass, a middle-ground
Y: Grass, leaves the best finish of the three