Tractors, Mowers, Chippers, Trailers, Chainsaws, Generators, Driveway Erosion Control, ETC.

I’ve never used a flail mower, see the state using them on the sides of the road and they do a good job though.

 

Annual maintenance. Little late but it’s done.
Engine oil, fuel filter, air filter, that (insert all words) 2320 drive line u-bolt grease fitting.

 

I'm working on my new used 3205's liquid cooled Kawasaki. Leaking front oil seal and left valve cover. Pretty easy to get to but waiting on the seal. Checked the valves while I was at it and they were way out of spec. .016" on a .010 spec.

 

They do a nice job if you’ve got the power to spin them. Both these pics the weeds were over 5’ tall. Pretty sure both these pics were taken before I sharpened the knives.



The brown section was about 5’ tall. We had a wet summer in 2018 (VERY wet) and I just couldn’t get the mower on it so I let it go all summer.

 

I’ve got some expanded steel mesh I was thinking of doing just this, when I run my brush hog at PTO RPM, I get hit with some serious bits sometimes. It’s rather painful.

If I ever find a good long length of “junk” chain, I’ll make chain guards for it, but until then...

 

I have some chin link fence top rail and some chain link. May whip something up before cutting sumac again. I hate getting hit in the back. My rubber guard on the front of my hog keeps stuff low but I do have rocks and sticks pass me occasionally--always at ground level. Got any rubber mat?

 

I nixed the rubber mat idea when I was working for a friend of mine a few years back. I was running his tractor(40ish hp Mahindra) with a 5’ brush hog. The brush hog was brand new, after one field the rubber mat started cracking. One season and it was toast, but this was more than just average homeowner use, which is all I’m doing now.

Maybe I could mount the rubber mat to a bracket supported by a few chain links. That would allow it to flex a whole lot more.

 

I bet a piece of 3/4" stall mat would outlast the cutter.

 

Good idea, definitely worth checking out.

 

You could always try one of these screens:

 

Some of the stuff I've had whiz past my head could likely make it through a net. My machine is pushing around 35hp at the PTO. I've thrown fist size rocks about 50 feet, luckly they went out the back of the brush hog. Running the flail mower is fine, I just get dusty, it doesn't throw things like a brush hog does. I'd use it right next to my house or vehicles with little concern.

Not that anyone really cares that much, but here's a short video of my success with tightening up the power steering on my MF35 Utility. I had 6" of play in the steering wheel before any movement at the front tires. The linkages are all tight. I tightened up the steering box and fixed that leak I posted about earlier. You can follow the front left tire in the background compared to the input from the steering wheel. Now I won't look like a dirt-track racer chasing the wheel while just driving around or mowing lol!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXo81KnFcDU

Need to clean up the wiring now that I've got the dash all apart. It'll be easy, now.

 

Did a little tractor work this weekend, although it was mostly chainsaw & splitter work. But lifting the bigger rounds (some from the base were almost 36" in diameter) onto the splitter with the bucket and a chain is WAY easier on the back than just deadlifting them

 

How does it work on hills? Such a long tongue makes me think it would be limited to where it can go.

 

Is that a 160 or a 180? My Father in law had a 160 diesel that he bought new just before wife and I got hitched in 1968. He was proud as piss with his new wheels

 

My entire property is a hill. I think the B&S engine on it is NOT pressure lubed so I try to limit extreme angles on it. I do pull it down a 25deg slope to get to my field every time I mow and it does drag the back of the deck at the bottom. My hitch is hydraulic so I change the angle on it when I remember but most of the time I forget and it drags briefly when transitioning from the slope to flat ground but it's NBD.

Below are a couple pics of my place and the angle it's fine with. I actually took my level and angle finder out and measured that slope as best as I could and conservatively measured it at 25deg.

I have plans to add 4 wheels to the deck to allow it to follow ground contour better but really that's on the back burner as I don't have any trouble using it as it is right now. Hope this helps. How much angle do you need it to mow at?

 

I have not measured the angle but it looks similar to yours if not a tad steeper in some places.
Its about 8 acres of mostly wire grass, briars, and autumn olive shrubs. We got the previous owner to bush hog it as part of the deal, but will have to pay to have it cut in the future.
A full sized tractor and rotary cutter are not in the budget for at least 2 years unfortunately.

 

It's hard to say if the Swisher would take care of your property w/o seeing it but you may be able to get a good idea of what it will do by looking at Swisher's PDF files for the Rugged/Rough cut mowers. Their terminology can be confusing. When they say "trail mower" they mean a mower that trails behind the tow vehicle--NOT a brush hog per se' so some of their finish mowers are labeled 'trail mower" Look for a square deck, not rectangular as the brush hog only has 1 spindle and blade set while the finish mowers have 3 blades.

I bought mine off of FB marketplace used for $400 and it needed a $10 carb kit. It runs great and I think it can perform at least as well as a SCUT 4ft PTO driven brush hog if the tow rig is capable of pulling 400lbs. Any limitation is the motor tolerance of angle due to being non-pressure lubed.

 

Yes. The finish mowers are much more common than the rough cut. There is a Swisher Rough cut on FB marketplace with a 14hp Kawasaki for $1k. It's a bit far for that kind of price though.
I'd tow it with a JD 425. So no problem there.

 

It's a 160 diesel. Tough old tractor. Need to replace some worn lift parts. Gotta spend some time and figure out which way to go. Not much available for it that I see.