Ordered a flail mower.

[Plant 175]

Looks like a good machine but you can’t ship something that expensive with no protection I think Courtney was filming a new episode and wasn’t watching what his guys were shipping out to the freight company.

 

[mcmxi]

I managed to do a temporary fix on the bent rod. I had to cut it in half while still on the cutter in order to remove the guards from the rod. I bent the damaged section of rod enough to get two of the guards off that were jammed on there.

Then I straightened the bent half as best as I could, beveled the ends in preparation for welding, welded the two halves back together, cleaned up the weld and reassembled the guard system.

 

[mcmxi]

The I used the flail for the first time and there's a learning curve for sure. It did a good job with the cutting height set to maximum which is about 4". There's a lot to think about when running it such as adjusting the head for the terrain, and I kind of wish it had wheels rather than skids. So far so good though and I can only get better at running it based on today's first experience.

 

[mcmxi]

How does that acronym go? RTFM!

I wanted to get out of the cab with the flail mower running but I guess the stationary PTO switch operation wasn't intuitive enough for and idiot like me. I tried pushing it and even holding it down when the PTO was running which didn't work, but what I didn't try is holding the button down for 3 seconds BEFORE engaging the PTO clutch. Like that's obvious!

 

[Russell King]

I would never get out of the cab with a mower running.

 

[mcmxi]

I would never get out of the cab with a mower running.

So you don't run a mower of any type behind an open station tractor either?

 

[mcmxi]

I received the paint code from Good Works Tractors (RAL3020 Traffic Red Semi Gloss Acrylic Enamel) and ordered a 12oz spray can along with 12oz of alkyd industrial primer from Crosslink Paints. That should be enough to fix the issues. Shipping cost more than the paint!

www.crosslinkpaints.com

 

[jyoutz]

So you don't run a mower of any type behind an open station tractor either?

Yes, but I don’t get off the seat until the cutter has stopped running.

 

[mcmxi]

Yes, but I don’t get off the seat until the cutter has stopped running.

... for fear of being sucked into the machine!

 

[jyoutz]

... for fear of being sucked into the machine!

Common sense

 

[mcmxi]

Common sense

Yeah ... because you're so much safer sitting in and open station running a rotary cutter that's kicking crap out in all directions rather than standing on the opposite side of cabbed tractor relative to an offset flail mower that is kicking crap out the front.

I had a career as a commercial diver/welder before being a mechanical engineer. Most days were dangerous whether it was working in zero visibility water around all manner of obstacles, boarding a Chinese freighter in 30 feet seas, at night, climbing a rope ladder lowered over the stern, working under heavy loads and on an on.

Hell, I'm more scared of being stung by a wasp than I am of a flail mower.

 

[mcmxi]

I am LOVING this flail mower. I'm still learning how to run it effectively but was able to cut an area that I've never even tried to cut in the 8 years I've lived at this property. There are 3 large rocks/boulders holding down or protecting one end of the culvert so I couldn't cut the entire bank, but it's so much better now. I also cut a strip on the other side of the driveway as a test and I'm pleased.

The photos don't show how steep the drop off is on both sides but I have to pay attention or else I could easily roll the tractor if I tried to cut too much.

 

[Dieseldonato]

Give it a week or two, you'll be trimming trees and hedge rows with it too lol.

 

[Russell King]

So you don't run a mower of any type behind an open station tractor either?

Yes I run a shredder behind my open cab L185. But I don’t get anywhere near the mower while it is running. I don’t see the need to be near a running mower that can hurt you when you can be near it in a static state and see more.

But you do you

 

[mcmxi]

Yes I run a shredder behind my open cab L185. But I don’t get anywhere near the mower while it is running. I don’t see the need to be near a running mower that can hurt you when you can be near it in a static state and see more.

But you do you

I wanted to hear it up close, that's all, but thanks for the advice. I'll try to think what you would do in any given situation moving forward.

 

[Russell King]

I wanted to hear it up close, that's all, but thanks for the advice. I'll try to think what you would do in any given situation moving forward.

I’ve never given you any advice

 

[hedgerow]

mcmxi Glad to hear you like the fail mower. Guys used to run them around here years ago some folks around here called them stalk cutters. Haven't seen one running around here for years the bat wing mowers have taken over around here.

 

[mcmxi]

mcmxi Glad to hear you like the fail mower. Guys used to run them around here years ago some folks around here called them stalk cutters. Haven't seen one running around here for years the bat wing mowers have taken over around here.

Thanks. It's an impressive implement both in terms of how it performs as well as the build quality. The MX with the cab, ballast and wheel weights has no problem with the the weight of the cutting head at maximum offset.

In the second post in this thread @B737 said in regards to flails vs. rotary cutters "you may end up keeping both, each have their niche" and he's absolutely right. I'm not ready to make that decision yet. I will say that if the flail was 7ft wide rather than 6ft I would see very little use for the RCR1884. Also, if I could only keep one it would without a doubt be the flail mower because it's so much more versatile. There's plenty that a rotary cutter simply can't do vs. an offset flail mower but little that a flail can't do compared to a rotary cutter.

 

[hedgerow]

mcmxi You may find out when you get your bigger tractor home you may be ready to move on up to a bat wing mower. The flex and the off set of a bat wing and difference of maintenance cost between a flail mower and a bat wing is why I went away from the flail type mower. The last flail I had was a fifteen foot one. Back then we were putting around 500 hours a year on a cutter. The bat wing ran cheaper per hour and did a nice job. The flail didn't work well for our fields, ditches and road sides. I do have a smaller seven foot rotary I run on the MX-6000 when I don't want to hook the bat wing up.

 

[mcmxi]

mcmxi You may find out when you get your bigger tractor home you may be ready to move on up to a bat wing mower. The flex and the off set of a bat wing and difference of maintenance cost between a flail mower and a bat wing is why I went away from the flail type mower. The last flail I had was a fifteen foot one. Back then we were putting around 500 hours a year on a cutter. The bat wing ran cheaper per hour and did a nice job. The flail didn't work well for our fields, ditches and road sides. I do have a smaller seven foot rotary I run on the MX-6000 when I don't want to hook the bat wing up.

Thanks very much for the advice. I was thinking that a dual spindle rotary cutter might be in my future if I sell the RCR1884 but I'll look into batwing or flexwing mowers. I really should have done more research before buying the RCR1884. It's a great cutter but given my property it can get high centered fairly easily and maybe a dual spindle would be better suited to my needs.