Help with what hydraulic motor for flail

[franklinute]

It is a 72" Loftness flail mower manufactured in MN. It does a great job mowing and a good job mulching things like small brush and leaves.
3/4 throttle is just my personal preference. I rarely run any of my equipment at full throttle unless the task requires it. The way I understand hydraulics the pressure is basically constant through the rpm range and the flow or output is measured at a specific rpm range. None of my skid steers have a rpm guage and I own 3 different brands and each machine has a different gpm output. These specs are listed in the owner's manual. I have 1 skid steer with high flow hydraulics and Loftness said to run the mower with high flow would require a different hyd motor on the mower.

 

[Chief Jim]

Hey Franklinute,

I just got a old SHD88 Alamo flail mower for $500. It is a PTO drive and everything works well. There are a few less than pro welds on the driveline parts. No big deal as I want to convert to hydraulic motor and run it on my Takeuchi TL140. my pump is about 22 GPM and I also like to run equipment at or below 3/4.

We found a Loftness up in Wisconsin for $3500 that is a beauty but only a 6 foot cut. We want to clip pastures on steep hills with the track unit so The 88 may do the job.

Have you had good service with your mower?/ Does it have the gauge wheel on the front and do you get easy level cuts with it? Following this thread, can you get the specs on your drive motor from the Loftness?

Thanks,

Jim Yancy
Pedro, Ohio

 

[lantraxco]

Chief Jim,

Just figure out what rpm you need to turn the mower. If you want to run your TL140 at 75% of max rpm and your rated output at max is 22GPM, then 22 X 231 (cu inches per gallon) is 5,082 and 75% of that is 3,812 (rounded) so divide 3,812 by RPM desired at the mower input, if it's 1,000 rpm then you want a 3.8 cu inch per revolution motor. Just make sure the motor is rated for the same or higher pressure as your auxiliary circuit on the TL140. If the aux circuit does not have port reliefs then you should install a crossover relief valve in the lines to the motor.

 

[Chief Jim]

Chief Jim,

Just figure out what rpm you need to turn the mower. If you want to run your TL140 at 75% of max rpm and your rated output at max is 22GPM, then 22 X 231 (cu inches per gallon) is 5,082 and 75% of that is 3,812 (rounded) so divide 3,812 by RPM desired at the mower input, if it's 1,000 rpm then you want a 3.8 cu inch per revolution motor. Just make sure the motor is rated for the same or higher pressure as your auxiliary circuit on the TL140. If the aux circuit does not have port reliefs then you should install a crossover relief valve in the lines to the motor.

Thank you very much. I was debating searching out the applications charts for motors. You saved me the trouble! Have a greand weekend!

 

[franklinute]

When I ordered my Loftness 72" flail mower the company asked for the hydraulic specs of my machine. They matched the hyd motor on the mower to
my skid steer. When I bought another skid steer it had a little more hydraulic flow and it does operate the mower a little better. I have had great service out
of this mower. I tend to mow small areas eg a steep bank around a pond or a trail thru the woods. It will cut up to 1.5" diameter trees down. It works great on
wild rose bushes it reduces them to fine chips. In the fall I mow all leaves to the perimeter of my property and then use the flail mower to mulch the leaves into very find chips. My mower doesn't have gauge wheels on the front it has rollers on the back and skids on each side.