What is the advantages and disadvantages of these types of mower. Any brands to buy or stay away from. I want it to be used for mowing grass and smaller brush that the mulcher head dont like to do. Any advice or info will be great.
-
Thank you for visiting HeavyEquipmentForums.com! Our objective is to provide industry professionals a place to gather to exchange questions, answers and ideas. We welcome you to register using the "Register" icon at the top of the page. We'd appreciate any help you can offer in spreading the word of our new site. The more members that join, the bigger resource for all to enjoy. Thank you!
rotary vs. fail mower
- Thread starter 05rammer
- Start date
Iron Horse
Senior Member
What is the rotary or flail mower attaching too ? A tractor or a hydraulic excavator ?
I've used both types on three point hitches on tractors.
The flail type is a rough cut mower that won't provide a finished, high-quality cut. But it is capable of working in uneven conditions with rocks and small trees. Some will take on trees of two or three inches in diameter.
A rotary mower will provide a neater finish on grass. It doesn't like rocks or trees.
At least that's the case for the tractors that I've used.
The flail type is a rough cut mower that won't provide a finished, high-quality cut. But it is capable of working in uneven conditions with rocks and small trees. Some will take on trees of two or three inches in diameter.
A rotary mower will provide a neater finish on grass. It doesn't like rocks or trees.
At least that's the case for the tractors that I've used.
Another thing to add with swampdog is that the flail mowers require much more hp to run than the rotary. There are fewer parts to replace/ repair on the rotary. It all comes down to what you need to do with it. The rotary will have a hard time if the brush is too big. If the terrain is uneven/rocky it should be the flail. The flail will be more expensive to maintain.
Jim Davis
Member
Loftness Orchard Shredder
I have a 76" Loftness Shredder (Flail Mower) that I believe is a good attachment for "moderately" brushy terrain if its well matched to the flow and weight of machine. I presently run this one on a non-hyflo Takeuchi TL-150 (23 GPM). I originally bought it for a 40GPM hy-flo TL-150, and to run it on the current machine I had to change out the hydraulic motor on the mower. An additional point that ought to be mentioned: these things are horrific dust and trash generators; make sure you check/change your machine air filter regularly. Some folks even replace the machines stock filter system with a higher performance filter just because they are using the shredders. the rotary is fairly heavy on the machine. I have not experienced any maintenance problems with mine; just grease it regularly and occasionally clean it with press wshr. Mine does great in "woody" brush up to say 1" diameter, but I don't try to force it over 2" - 3" size saplings.
There's a fellow in Punta Gorda, FL who special builds lots of these machines by adding Hy Flo to brand new Cat and Takeuchi machines and fitting them with Fecon mulchers, winches and beefed up air filter systems. I have test-run one and they are impressive with up to about 3" or 4" pine trees. I could give you a link to his company if you wish.
I have a 76" Loftness Shredder (Flail Mower) that I believe is a good attachment for "moderately" brushy terrain if its well matched to the flow and weight of machine. I presently run this one on a non-hyflo Takeuchi TL-150 (23 GPM). I originally bought it for a 40GPM hy-flo TL-150, and to run it on the current machine I had to change out the hydraulic motor on the mower. An additional point that ought to be mentioned: these things are horrific dust and trash generators; make sure you check/change your machine air filter regularly. Some folks even replace the machines stock filter system with a higher performance filter just because they are using the shredders. the rotary is fairly heavy on the machine. I have not experienced any maintenance problems with mine; just grease it regularly and occasionally clean it with press wshr. Mine does great in "woody" brush up to say 1" diameter, but I don't try to force it over 2" - 3" size saplings.
There's a fellow in Punta Gorda, FL who special builds lots of these machines by adding Hy Flo to brand new Cat and Takeuchi machines and fitting them with Fecon mulchers, winches and beefed up air filter systems. I have test-run one and they are impressive with up to about 3" or 4" pine trees. I could give you a link to his company if you wish.
Dieseldeere
Member
rotary vs.flail mower
05 rammer,
Sounds like you have a fixed tooth mulcher already ?
I have demo'ed quite a few brands. The rotary,s mow good but leave long clumps of grass or weeds (whatever length your cutting)
The flails are much more versatile, I run a Rockhound 84 FH. with a triple knive setup. They make a 72" and a 60" also.
I finish mow my irrigated pasture and around the barn where the riding mower cant handle it. It makes kind of a fingered texture to the grass but no wads of grass like the rotary.I prefer it. They come stock with a large steel roller in the back to guide off of.
Dual purpose... I actually use the roller to smooth and compact base rock on driveways after grading with a bucket. It works very well.
I have not found a better attachment for blackberries,wild roses,and most brush. They will shatter manzanita too.
Fair warning.... the 84 is hard to push (horsepower) I will buy the 72 next time.
Good luck.
05 rammer,
Sounds like you have a fixed tooth mulcher already ?
I have demo'ed quite a few brands. The rotary,s mow good but leave long clumps of grass or weeds (whatever length your cutting)
The flails are much more versatile, I run a Rockhound 84 FH. with a triple knive setup. They make a 72" and a 60" also.
I finish mow my irrigated pasture and around the barn where the riding mower cant handle it. It makes kind of a fingered texture to the grass but no wads of grass like the rotary.I prefer it. They come stock with a large steel roller in the back to guide off of.
Dual purpose... I actually use the roller to smooth and compact base rock on driveways after grading with a bucket. It works very well.
I have not found a better attachment for blackberries,wild roses,and most brush. They will shatter manzanita too.
Fair warning.... the 84 is hard to push (horsepower) I will buy the 72 next time.
Good luck.
CRAFT
Senior Member
What machine exactly are you putting it on ?
CRAFT
Senior Member
So what you are saying is you have 2 machines and either one will use the attachment ? ..... I was currious ...a have used both styles of mulchers or chippers or mowers ??? I guess what I am saying is what ever you are using it for is what we will call it today ...LOL .... I own a rotary disc with flailing knives (4) on the outer edge of the discs which are 4' in diameter +2' for knives (6' dia tot) ..... the knives are about 20# ea. the whole disc assembley is about 1100 #'s ... now when this thing starts to spin, virtually nothing will stop it except over feeding it (to fast) it takes alot of hyd hp to keep it going. I happen to use it on both my A-300 and on my Cat 312 excavator ...... this thing I have called "The Destroyer" has the ability to take down 8" dia. trees .... (I also do this for a living) ...... when you hit Rocks with a fixed tooth or flail toothed drum type something has to give ? ....usually the teeth shatter or break, and not just one at a time, the one job I was on a year ago I used one of these $42,000.00 units on my Cat 320clu (65gpm) and went thru $3,000.00 worth of teeth in 10 days due to the rocks camo'd in the growth ...... I just finished a contract, with the rotary, and did 35 acres on an Airport of 35 yr old growth of willow, fir, bug kill pine, aspen, fire weed grass crap and old fencing too, and never wore out the knives but having said that tho, we did have alot of growing pains along the way, mainly I now have my knives custom made, (not the OEM AR-400) am now using a grade of Swedish HARDOX steel. ...... these rotary units are about half to a third of the cost to buy and a way lot cheaper to maintain ..... its just my opinion about these attachments that I back with experience .... if I am wrong about this simply prove it to me, Show me where the BEAR Craps in the Bush .....Good Luck and hope this helps ...... GK
CRAFT
Senior Member
*** ......?????
Last edited by a moderator:
RTSmith
Senior Member
Come on guys. I'm trying to get some good mower info here, and your bickering isn't doing anything but hijacking what could be a good thread. Lighten up and let's play nice, or somebody needs to go stand in the corner for a while.:thumbsup
Last edited:
Senator215i
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2005
- Messages
- 33
- Location
- Lismore NSW/ Brisbane QLD
- Occupation
- operator/maintainer for QLD rail
Thought i would add my opinion on both as there seems to be a bit of dribble going on and not much dicussion on the topic. Anyway i have used both types of equipment in twin and single rotor, swinging Y blades T hammers and fixed hammers on tractors, skid steers, excavators and reach mowers. Personally i prefer flail type for grass and small brush set up with T hammers as they cut everything up much smaller and leave a better finish a lot less clumping, almost leaves a lawn like finish in most case when cutting grass. If using a rotary slasher i prefer a twin rotor haven't found to much difference between single and twin, i don't like rotary slashes on skidsteers no real reason spent 6 months on a ASV SR70 with a twin rotor don't realy like it that much. Thats all i can think of at this early hour of the morning. if you have any question dont hesitate to ask and ill try and answer them.
CRAFT
Senior Member
YES exactly ! ..... I only have the single rotary for the skid and also is used on my ex. .... but as it is EVERYTHING has its place, there is no one attachment that is perfect for everything ..... thats why i'm listening to everybodies opinion and why I want to also own a drum stlye for the exact reasons you stated ... but have not made up my mind yet which one ..... the FAE is looking really good to me at the moment, and they offer so many configurations, fixed ,flail,carbide, double tooth, ect. and we have service here for them ..... the biggest down fall I find with my rotary is when this thing hits a loose object them suckers are still gaining altitude 50 meters away but having said that its way cheaper for up-keep ..... if only there was a way to patent this weapon .... the terrorists wouldn't stand a chance ... cause its not predictable .... lol .... what brands do you have Senator?
Senator215i
Active Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2005
- Messages
- 33
- Location
- Lismore NSW/ Brisbane QLD
- Occupation
- operator/maintainer for QLD rail
How ya going CRAFT i don't own any myself just the companys i worked for. I have used FAE Berti MCconnel and howard mulchers most are flail except the FAE which was fixed hammer. The FAE uml/ex100 was good at chewing trees pretty average on grass very heavy duty made machine hit a bit of rail and punch a 6"x3" hole in the inner casing and then jammed the rotor pulled it out and kept going and its still going to this day 4yrs later. Berti cut grass very nice had T hammers on it good on smaller saplings too but found it to be very light duty and was rebuilt a couple of times and had extra steel add, in saying that the other operator was pretty rough but can't say much when their the owner. The Mcconnel was a reach mower and had T hammers on it was good would cut up to about 2/3 inchs but I wouldn't do that all the time. If had a Mini ex i would try and modify one of the heads to fit. The howards are tractor mounted mulchers 2 had hydraulic off set and tilt and had T hammers the was just fixed offset with Y blades all very good the 2 with T hammers cut almost like lawn were the other had the wavey effect but couldn't kill it just keep cutting even hit a few ground level rocks and all it did was carve grooves in the rock sounds a bit unbelievable but if i had photos i would put them up. Anyway this post is getting a bit long winded so ill do the rotarys later.