[AT] Flail mowers

Len Rugen rugenl at yahoo.com
Fri May 15 19:11:05 PDT 2015 

Bush hogs can mow a little better with proper care and feeding.  Blades are often as sharp on the back side as on the front, new blades cut better.  Setting the proper height is important, mowing too low leaves clumps, a little higher the first time may look better.  Set the front edge just a little lower than the back side, you want to cut in front, not drag all the way around.  About 1" is plenty.  Driving slower helps too.  Keep the PTO RPM's up, 540 is spec, I sometimes run about 480, but not much less.  If it's a single blade deck, your travel direction around a plot may matter, I can't remember which is better, clockwise or ccw, I have a 2 spindle deck now and it doesn't matter.  

The tractor I use on my finish mower has too big a gap in ground speed, from 2.5 to nearly 4 mph.  If the grass is very heavy, 4 is too fast.  2.5 seems too slow, but it's the only option.  
 Len Rugen

rugenl at yahoo.com


 


     On Friday, May 15, 2015 7:49 PM, "jtchall at nc.rr.com" <jtchall at nc.rr.com> wrote:
   

 How about a subsoiler? If you’ve got any grade at all you can use them to 
create water channels underground. Be advised that wherever you stop at the 
low end, the water will try to blow out.

Sickle mowers should work fine, but if you let it get too tall, you may have 
to play with the tailboard so it will keep a clean enough streak to make the 
second pass. Also, if there is a bunch of thatch on the ground you may have 
to twist the blade so the guards point up some or they will choke up. Before 
bushhogs, folks used to mount clipping wheels on the end with the tailboard 
to keep from choking the guards.

A good grooming mower is hard to beat. The one we have is made by Lilliston 
and is about 40 years old. It's only on its second deck, which has been 
resheeted with 1/8 steel, had a few sets of belts, countless sets of blades, 
a few U joints, several spindle rebuilds, but the main gearbox is untouched 
as is the tailwheel.  Considering the heavy use it has been through I dare 
say it is one of the toughest pieces of equipment to ever come on this farm.

John Hall


-----Original Message----- 
From: Spencer Yost
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2015 7:34 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Flail mowers

Someone else will have to comment on the grading.  I know zip.  But i'll 
share the only relevant story I know.

In the eastern part of the state (Ahoskie NC) I had an acquaintance who 
decided the only solution was to make his land perfectly flat. He even used 
a surveyor's transit and everything. It improved his situation according to 
him because it would encourage the water to evenly disperse across entire 
property where soak-in and evaporation were both encouraged.  I'd call him 
but he is related to my son's ex-girlfriend. (-:

He had the advantage of access to a bulldozer, no water flowing in and 
fairly sandy soil.  Not like Charlie Hill but definitely sandier than those 
of us on the western side of the state.  Those are all three advantages you 
might not have.

Good luck!

Spencer

> On May 15, 2015, at 15:50, Mike <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>
> Spencer, this is land that we are desperately trying to turn into
> pasture, it's always been wet, and making water go where you want it to
> go is tough when you have the slope of a pool table. The previous owner
> tried to make it work by deepening the ditch that runs through the
> property, thinking that would make it flow. Unfortunately, all that did
> was make it hold more water that now grows algae by the ton and takes
> forever to dry out. My next attempt will be to fill in the ditch and
> only leave a 2" or 3" deep channel for the water to flow through. When I
> walk down the ditch to my neighbors property that's all it is; a little
> trickle. It doesn't need to move large quantities of water.  I know
> there are a lot of guys on the list who have experience with this type
> of thing, so if you're reading this, I'm all ears.
>
> Thanks,
> Mike M
>
>
>> On 5/15/2015 2:20 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>> If it's that bad what about a sickle bar mower?  At least it will lay 
>> flat and not windrow on you.  By pastures do you mean literally, or are 
>> they fallow,  fenced-in fields?  If these are pastures you need more 
>> animals!
>>
>> Seriously though, you might want to see if a neighbor has a sickle bar 
>> mower you can test and see if you like it.
>>
>> Spencer
>>
>>> On May 15, 2015, at 11:34, Mike <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Mowing infrequently is a huge part of the problem Charlie, and it's not
>>> because of not wanting to. The land is wet until around June, and I
>>> can't get on it to mow. I am working on solutions to get it to drain
>>> better, but it's a slow, trial and error process. Now that I have a 4
>>> wheel drive tractor, I could probably mow it sooner, but would make a
>>> mess in the process. Last year I couldn't mow until the grass was 6 feet
>>> high. I think I would have been better off leaving it alone and burning
>>> it off in the Spring.
>>>
>>> Mike M
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 5/15/2015 4:00 AM, charlie hill wrote:
>>>> Mike, if you are cutting it infrequently enough that you have a problem 
>>>> with
>>>> large windrows of grass then a finish mower is NOT going to stand up to 
>>>> the
>>>> task.
>>>> Or at least the ones I've been around will not.  A good bush hog with 
>>>> good,
>>>> sharp
>>>> blades on it will mow a pasture to look almost as good as a finish 
>>>> mower but
>>>> you
>>>> can't let it get so high or mow in wet conditions.  Also some bush hogs 
>>>> have
>>>> removable
>>>> discharge panels so that the grass can blow out the rear or to one 
>>>> side.
>>>>
>>>> I always try to mow pastures in a pattern such that I'm cutting back 
>>>> over
>>>> any windrow
>>>> I leave with the next pass of the mower.  In other words, if my bush 
>>>> hog is
>>>> leaving
>>>> the windrow on the right side I work around the pasture so that the 
>>>> right
>>>> side of the
>>>> bush hog is always toward the uncut grass.  On the next pass I'm 
>>>> re-cutting
>>>> the windrow
>>>> along with the next portion of grass.  If you are getting a lot of 
>>>> windrow
>>>> it's because
>>>> you are cutting more grass than the bush hog is able to disperse, just 
>>>> the
>>>> same as with
>>>> your lawn mower.
>>>>
>>>> I've never used a flail mower but a friend of mine used to use one to 
>>>> mow
>>>> his mobile home park.
>>>> It does a fine job.  However, they are a bit more of a maintenance 
>>>> challenge
>>>> than a bush hog or
>>>> finish mower.  Still even with a flail, if the grass is too high and 
>>>> thick
>>>> it has to go somewhere and
>>>> it will pile up.  The key is to keep the pasture mowed more often.
>>>>
>>>> My two cents worth.
>>>>
>>>> Charlie
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Mike
>>>> Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2015 10:11 PM
>>>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Flail mowers
>>>>
>>>> ?? so yes on the flail or keep the hog, or go with a finish mower?
>>>>
>>>> Mike M
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On 5/14/2015 8:54 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>>>>> A tough finish mower used a few more times a year than I would a bush 
>>>>> hog
>>>>> does great in my 4 acres.
>>>>>
>>>>> Spencer
>>>>>
>>>>>> On May 14, 2015, at 20:11, Mike <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have about 5-7 acres of horse pasture that i mow, and have been 
>>>>>> using
>>>>>> a brush hog, John Deere 513? What I don't care for is how it leaves
>>>>>> windrows and clumps of the taller grass. I would be interested in
>>>>>> getting some opinions on flail mowers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> Mike M
>>>>>>
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