When I was young I worked for our school district mowing baseball fields. That was my experience with a flail mower. We mowed them at about 2". Flail mower did a really nice job. I agree not as nice as a finish mower but I really did like them.
Great Video Tim 👍 I have a 5 foot flail mower with the Y blades and I set the roller and blades for a 2 inch cut. Mine was doing the same thing leaving stubble. I found out that 2 of the 3 belts where slipping. I Re-adjusted the belt Tension the mower cuts great now.
Hi Tim, I have a six foot flail mower with Y shaped blades I use as a finish mower. I also run into a small issue of uncut grass due to the tractor tires tramping down the grass. Thanks for showing us the many options we have to tackle a particular problem. God bless you both.
We bought a 48" offset flail mower, the Titan "Offset Flail Ditch Bank Mower", to use behind our 1025R and noticed the exact same issue when run behind the tractor and mowing at a "Canadian" high grass setting. Mowing using the stock cutting height this problem goes away but the grass is cut almost right down to the ground. A solution that I found works well is to run the mower at the fully offset position all the time. This also solves the plugging up of the radiator issue I was having because the tractor can be driven in mowed grass, while the mower is riding beside the tractor in untouched grass. I really like the offset mower. Some reviews suggested it might be a bit too much for the 1025R but we haven't had any issues after about 100 of hours of use (all 4 tires are filled and we have so many trees down after the spring storm I've left the grapple on to move the 100's of downed trees). It has also been dealing with all of the smaller branches left behind from the downed trees and it just grinds them up and shoots them out the rear. With my 1800 psi hydraulic system (I'd like to adjust it to 2200 psi one day) it is a bit slow to raise using the 3-point hitch. A work around that raises it quickly is to use our adjustable hydraulic top link on the 3-point hitch to raise/lower instead of the 3-point itself. I did need to purchase a pair of hydraulic flow restrictors for the offset function, as well as install 0.125" diameter flow restrictors for the rotation function and I'd recommend anyone planning to run this mower behind a 1025R do the same (or even get 4 flow restrictors if you want more control). One extra bonus with the offset function is it works well at trimming brush along the side of my laneways when run in the 90° vertical position (note I spoke to a similar gearbox manufacturer and they recommend ensuring the oil has been changed at least once so any metal filings don't get into the bearings when operated at 90°). The offset flail option is more expensive than a fixed flail because you also need a minimum of 6 rear hydraulic ports (3-spool, including 2 for the upper 3-point link). I went with the 4-spool Summit Hydraulics rear kit, with front 3rd function for our grapple (using 1-spool or 2 of the ports for the 3rd function). The complete hydraulics install took a lot of time but it works well (although bleeds down cylinders faster than I'd like so I might add a cylinder hold block for the 3-point link).
@@TractorTimewithTim Tim, I don't know what happened to my reply but it was deleted. I tried you ask about the type of leak down improvement Summit Hydraulics is planning to release. Is it an improved, tighter tolerance and tighter clearance spool valve or is it an add on dual pilot releasing dual check valve? I noticed that Summit Hydraulics does already sell a "Double Pilot Operated Hydraulic Check Valve, ½” NPT Ports, 11 GPM" specifically for the purpose of holding cylinders in position once the spool valve hydraulic pressure is released. In my case this part could be installed somewhere between the current 8-port spool valve assembly and the hydraulic top link on my 3-point hitch. It would be a bit messy as far as hose routing is concerned, but should work.
Look man, you did great I wouldn’t worry about the audio one bit. You showed me what I wanted to see and that was that flail mower working in high growth. I’ve been looking to see how a subcompact and Flail worked and stuff that high because that’s what mine is like right now. M y hayfield and my pastures since I had to get rid of my cattle. Very informative. Keep up the good work. Be safe.
I have a self-powered Flail mower (23 hp Brig twin engine) on a British made Wessex AFR160 professional flail mower for towing behind an ATV. I use a Honda 520 Rubicon foot shift quad bike , as people in the USA call it. Here in Ireland we have much toucher weeds than the ones you are battling. They call it "Rushes". And when the land is neglected for years, it is very thick especially at the base. I am doing the first cut "high" at about 8 inches to get the main stuff cut and mulched. A month later I will go over it in the opposite direction or a 90 degree angle and close to the ground. Works a treat. The next year it is a lot thinner and easier to cut.
On our farm in Florida we let the cover crop and weeds grow all summer. By September the growth was 8-10 tall. We bolted a 4x7 ft wooden structure (we called it the barn door) to the front of a 3020 to push the growth down with the tractor pulling a stalk chopper. This was 1972-81, no cab. Guess who had the joy of running over 300 acres with that rig. Something solid on the front of the tractor pushes weeds down and lessens the amount of trash flipped up.
Since I started watching your channel, I've been impressed with the audio. How clear your voices are despite the equipment is incredible. Speaks volumes to your skill, dedication, and investment.
Thanks for the kind words. We do work hard to have decent audio. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out. ….and in this type of work, we can’t simply re-shoot it!
Another vote in favor of the flail mower is overall length of tractor and mower. That can mean a lot when putting everything you may want to take on a trailer for transport. Looks like a nice counterbalance for the loader as well for general use.
Agreed, USEFUL ballast close to the rear. I leave my flail on in the winter as a "weight box" for moving snow and loaded firewood racks. More maneuverable than a brush mower and easier to store since it is a fair bit shorter.
I bought a 511 grille guard from Justin and helped pick the design for the 5E series tractors. That’s my tractor on his website, my wife took the photos while I’m away for work. I think they’re great in all aspects other than if I want to hang weights on the front I will have to remove it. The loader will probably stay on just bucket removed while mowing though.
That's an awful lot of material going into that little mower! My Dad had an old farmall cub lo boy with a4 ' Mott flail mower that My brother totally wore out trying to mow the 12 acre fields. I took over the task for My Dad with My NH tc33d with a 72"mid mount finish mower rear discharge. It turned the fields into a groomed lawn look. I found mowing it tree times a summer to be easier on Me tractor and fuel. I picked up an old Woods rm990 for cheap. With only 3 spindles and 2 blades each. It took lees power to run. It was real heavy for a compact tractor.Had to keep loader on tractor to hold the front end down. Power wasn't a problem mowing more often. Old mower required a lot of greasing. The extra 18" was nice for mowing around trees.
Have a new 1025R on order and just got a call from Agfolks letting me know my 61" Maschio was on the way! You're videos have helped a lot.. keep em coming.
@@TractorTimewithTim Thanks for confirming, Tim. I just received my model 155, and it looks bigger than I expected. The manual says the tractor should have min 25 hp PTO, which concerned me. We're you able to engage the PTO at low throttle?
You mean its hard to get good audio quality over a 3000 RPM engine, whining hydraulic system and a mower running at operating speed? who'd a thunk it? Sounds good to me BTW.
The hammer flails are for the rough grass as you were cutting, the Y shaped cutters are for finish cutting lawn grass where you want a pristine look, most of what wasnt cut in this video was operator error. You have to do a bit more of an overlap cut, you have to consider the edge of the machine to edge of first hammer, which on my Winton Flail here in the UK is approx 4".
We have a similar-sized DelMorino flail with hammers, but have ours with hydraulic side shift and tilt. We have about 16 acres, most of which is hay field, and use the flail to maintain a trail around the perimeter for walking (a farmer hays the fields for his dairy cattle). The tilt function is useful for ditch banks along the driveway. The cut from the flail is excellent, and far exceeds what I expected to get from it. With the project in this video, the offset would certainly be a plus.
A few things to make the flail more efficient. 1 use the loader and bucket to push over the scrub. Bucket fully rolled back, bottom of bucket around 1-2 foot of the ground. 2. Remove the hard top link and replace with a 1 ton soft sling or eye sling around the same length. 3. With soft top link, place the front skids so they just touch the ground. 4. Off set the flail to the side by 2-6 inches past the rear tire. Ensure the belt drives are not the side extended out.
Morning Tim & Christy, Not only would a front bucket provide counter weight but this could also be adjusted to push the high weeds over some. While I have no need for a flail mower I still have been impressed but the quality of t he cut in such high grass. Two cuttings at a right angle or diagonal would definitely be best…Tom
Thanks guys for the informative video. Tim you don’t seem to have patience for stupid. A quality I share and appreciate. I do have a couple flail mowers, but doubt I will have a reason/excuse to use them. The Mott flail for one of the Cubs and a small 3 pt I bought for super cheap. Both with Y blades. I do at least keep them undercover. Still waving the darned camera!
You might check the fan blades. On some tractors you can flip the blade holder around so they are blowing out in stead of sucking in. I ran a five foot flail mower with hammers in the vineyard I managed. It was great because it sucked the prunings up and chopped them. They looked like they had been through a chipper. Yet it did a nice job on grass.
Oh wow i love watching this setup of Johnny and the flail mower!:) Thanks!:) Please mow with the batwing and the 5E, would love to see the 5E again!:) Yep you are right, they are spinning the other way (i can see it on our 10ft flailmower on our 6115M,it is made in Italy, there is a good chance that it is made by Maschio...so it might be right.)🤪
I like the compact size of the flail mower. For guys like me who don't have a ton of space available to store implements, the flail mower could be a good option.
Tim you made mention to it, front pto. You should do a video about them and if anyone makes kits for them if you haven't yet. God bless and you guys keep up the good work.
I have a 1025R and run a front mount snowblower. The driveshaft runs from the mid PTO to the front. I guess at that point it's technically a front PTO. I have no idea if any other attachments can be used on it though.
I keep meaning to take the loader off when I Bush Hog, but I always end up having a log or 5 across the trail or even at the field edge, that I'd rather move out of the way with the loader than cut up into more pieces and move. The loader Does make the tractor a heck of a lot harder to maneuver between trees, though! (Or rather, a semi-related comment to help with the algorithm)
The only issue I have with using a flail mower is rocks. We have lots of large (basketball size) rocked that heave out of the ground every spring and cost me a handful of hammers the first couple times I mow. Otherwise very happy with how it handles brambles, wild blueberry, etc. Much nicer to have it mulched than just hacked off with a rotary cutter!
Wondering the difference for this material with hammer blades vs Y blades. But then after a belly mower or large zero turn to finish the cut. Well Anyway you could turn that field to a lawn. Not the point but possible. Keep up the great videos. About to buy my first tiller.
One would think as much as these compact tractors cost they would be equipped with a reversible hydraulic radiator cooling fan. Once the tractor temp sensor saw the temperature increase it would reverse the fan flow to blow the radiator and screens free of debris. Kind of like the top brands of forestry equipment. Guess us guys that just need a small tractor will have to keep watching the temp gauge, and cleaning the debris ourselves.
Great, inspirational and well made video! I own a flail mower "Agrimaster KL 190" also an Italian made. These mowers do an amazing job imho. Greetings from Sweden
Watching that flail mower work has me questioning the pros and cons vs the brush mower (aka bush hog). I have never had over heating issues mowing in tall grass and weeds but you definitely have to pay attention to the radiator screen. I believe it is because I run the front loader with the bucket low to feel for rocks and stumps. It also pushes the weeds down. Couple things I have learned cutting tall grass here in Oregon. The turkeys love to nest there so before mowing I tromp around to find them. The mama will not leave the nest so I mark the area and mow around them. Also if mowed early the invasive species weeds don't germinate as quickly. Do you have fire season regulations out where you are? We can't run any power equipment here in Oregon to cut weeds after about mid July. Since we can't cut the weeds they get really high which increases our fire danger. What to do..
I am a bit west of Salem, OR and wonder about the fire regs. I just mowed a big patch of weeds and grass because of the fire danger. Used a brush hog and had lots of trouble with radiator screen plugging. Maybe if the bucket had been on it would have been better. But no turkeys this late in the year :).
Do you ever run into a yellow jacket nest in those high grasses? It seems every time I get into clearing properties like you’re working on here I have yellow jackets or hornets! Makes me want a cab for these type projects!!
Y blades are for grass cutting and the hammers are for brush. In general you will find flails do not like long grass where you will have to reduce speed for the mower to cope, however cutting grass regularily some flails can realy shift, lots of golf courses use them for fairways.
..or JD could move the radiator under the dash away from loader dust, weed burrs, dirt, leaves, cotton fuzz, seads, stems, and other filter clogging debris? ..wait someone thought of that. Sorry couldn't resist Tim :) Love your videos man. God Bless!
After watching this, I ended up going back to a video from Top Notch Lawn Care (I think his name is Bryan). He was using what I think was at least a 7' single spindle rotary cutter paired with a Kubota MX. Cut quality looked better from the flail compared to the brush hog. Could have a good compare/contrast with the different blade types on this fixed mount flail, on top of just having fun.
All fun and games until you Need to replace all those tiny flails after you accidentally hit a stump, brick, log, branch, garbage can lid, piece of steel cable, gopher hole, ect ect ect
We planted 5 rows of potatoes this year. We have planted potatoes using grow bags and it hasn't worked at all we got potatoes, but they are small and few. I was so excited when my dad and I harvested our first row of potatoes using our middle buster and 3025E I was 3/4 of the way down the row before I looked back and seen potatoes everywhere. I was so excited off of 2 rows we got 52lbs of potatoes, and we have 3 left to go . I was so excited until I realized we have to peel them all. I know this has nothing to do with the video but I have a bucket full of potatoes a bucket full of water and a garbage can full of peels so it was on my mind
@4:44 - My flail spins the direction you said, not the text that changes your thinking. Clockwise when looking at the mower from the left side. You can tell which way a flail spins if you have hammers, clearly their shape won't cut if they are spinning opposite their design. Presumably hammers are better for thicker stuff, knives for lighter stuff. I think knives are usually sharpened on both edges so they can be reversed for longer life. This would also allow them to cut whichever direction the mower spins.
I like the cut quality of the ventrac Quality here doesn't seem to be the problem As you said it is the wheel marks that gave the unfinished look This has got me sold on the ventrac in so many ways that I wish that ship would come in so that I could afford the ventrac I'd be making alot of side money with it
could you please list the wireless mic you're using ? the audio on this is great, I thought you were only doing voice over narration, but paid attention and noticed your speaking while the tractor and mower are running wide open ! I want that mic!
For this kind of grass ,this flail mower is the optimal choise ( Y blade -grass and maybe few 1-1,5 cm diameter bush ,the hammer blade grass and maybe 3 cm diameter bush ) This one is way better than the normal blade mower and not soo sensible for stone ,metal
Nice job. I would say the ventrac is better in cut and maneuvering around stuff. But for me, I’d rather use a tractor. I wonder which machine uses more fuel.
Audio is very good Tim. Because of a recent health diagnosis I’m in the process of trading my 33R for a 2025R. Mainly for ground clearance in the woods. Looking forward to trying out the smaller tractor and it’s ability.
What a great video. Thanks so much for making it a year ago! I do want to know what you did with the mulched grass? Is there another video showing you harvesting all that grass or did you let it lie to decompose? Thanks and again great video.
Will the cut grass/mulch the flail mower creates kill the grass afterwards or does it stay healthy? Looking to use my flail mower instead of a riding lawn mower to do my maintenance
Hey Tim. . . . . put your front loader on your tractor with its bucket. Not only will that add weight to the front end, but you can curl your bucket all the way up, keep it a few inches off the ground, it will push the grass over out in front of ya, keeping the grass away from the tractors front end, therefore helping to keeping the dust debrie from plugging up the front screen & inner screen. Ive done this several times while cutting with my 54" mid mower deck. Your screens will still have to be cleaned off of course when the job is done, but you'll have less worry. . . . . . .at least it works for me anyways👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Using the loader this way has worked for me, that's all I can tell ya👍🏼. Could be the difference in the type of mowed grass & when its mowed as well, I dunno. You show your front grill guard working for ya, that's okay to. I don't have one so I use the front loader.
I’m getting ready for a similar project. I use my x758 with a 60” flail to clean our trails and field edges. Love the setup. One question. Do you have problems with flat front tires? I use true power r1 on the front but it seems they aren’t as thick as I would like. Do the tires you use on the 1025 do better in small brush?
Tim, I can't seem to find the actual width of the 1025R anywhere, including the Deere website. I was wondering if the flail mower were a little wider, the cut where the wheels are pushing the grass down may be cut more efficiently.
Do you think one day you will get the grass quality to a point you can swath it and roll it into bales? Seems like you are getting a lot of the small brush killed off.
Tim, love your video's, and love how you like to try new things I have something I was wondering if you could try, I'm in the process of buying a JD 1026r and I was thinking can it run a front mounted flail on the rear linkage? I know it wouldn't be ideal or something to run for a long period of time but, for short jobs instead of driving over what is to be cut that I could reverse into it? Would love to see you try this please
We’ve got a Cub Cadet Pr Z 700 60 inch deck striping kit, 31 hp Kawasaki engine. My stepdad always says that he wants to get a tractor like that one or 2038R with a 96 inch deck to get all 10 acres cut
@@TractorTimewithTim thank you so much! Your videos have influenced my 1025R and now my soon to be 2038R. . . You think the 60" offset flail would be too much?
What about a sickle bar mower? Isn't that the best option? You have a cut off to the side and behind the tractor, and the extra benefit of hay. I suppose if you had cut it earlier and more than once you would only need a finish mower. (I know that what you're mowing wouldn't make great hay.) I thought you had a small sickle bar mower that you tried out with the 1025R 2 years ago. Take care and God Bless.
I'm looking for a compact cab tractor that can handle a 6-7 ft flail mower. Any suggestions on the smallest cab tractor that has sufficient hp? Preferably hydrostatic trans.
Curious how thick of brush this flail your running is rated for? I have a sub compact as well and have been looking at Betsco flails. Mashio and del morino flails are 2x the price so I'm curious why its that much more?
The Maschio is built much better. Better gearboxes, attention to detail on hoses, hose routing, etc. overall all, a MUCH nicer unit. 2x nicer? That is for you to decide.
@@TractorTimewithTim Have you compared a 48inch to a 60inch and your working speed with that? Is the weekend warrior rated for 2 inch brush? I'd like to go with a 60 personally incase i get a large tractor in the future.
I’m not sure of the rating. This is the 60” it works fine on 1025r. I would go with larger one on larger tractor. I think you can handle a bit more flail than rotary cutter on a given tractor.
@@TractorTimewithTim I'm considering using the flail as a second mower. We have a ferris zero turn. I recently was looking at upgrading my zero turn to a 72 inch model and the prices now are close to what i paid for my tractor with a backhoe which is insane. Seems like a better option to just have two mowers then one and spend all that extra money.
Not gonna lie, I really want to see that mower mounted to the front of the 1025r. If it does as good as i thank I could easily be in the market for that particular setup.
I have a 2025r and a Cosmo FL 165 flail, only 480 lbs. I have run it around the front yard, it's flat no rocks. Grass is short but ran fine. My inly concern is the shear bolt. It's and M10 which seem a bit large. Do I leave it or should I downsize it? Mower runs quiet.
When I was young I worked for our school district mowing baseball fields.
That was my experience with a flail mower. We mowed them at about 2". Flail mower did a really nice job. I agree not as nice as a finish mower but I really did like them.
Great Video Tim 👍 I have a 5 foot flail mower with the Y blades and I set the roller and blades for a 2 inch cut. Mine was doing the same thing leaving stubble. I found out that 2 of the 3 belts where slipping. I Re-adjusted the belt Tension the mower cuts great now.
Hi Tim, I have a six foot flail mower with Y shaped blades I use as a finish mower. I also run into a small issue of uncut grass due to the tractor tires tramping down the grass. Thanks for showing us the many options we have to tackle a particular problem. God bless you both.
We bought a 48" offset flail mower, the Titan "Offset Flail Ditch Bank Mower", to use behind our 1025R and noticed the exact same issue when run behind the tractor and mowing at a "Canadian" high grass setting. Mowing using the stock cutting height this problem goes away but the grass is cut almost right down to the ground.
A solution that I found works well is to run the mower at the fully offset position all the time. This also solves the plugging up of the radiator issue I was having because the tractor can be driven in mowed grass, while the mower is riding beside the tractor in untouched grass.
I really like the offset mower. Some reviews suggested it might be a bit too much for the 1025R but we haven't had any issues after about 100 of hours of use (all 4 tires are filled and we have so many trees down after the spring storm I've left the grapple on to move the 100's of downed trees). It has also been dealing with all of the smaller branches left behind from the downed trees and it just grinds them up and shoots them out the rear.
With my 1800 psi hydraulic system (I'd like to adjust it to 2200 psi one day) it is a bit slow to raise using the 3-point hitch. A work around that raises it quickly is to use our adjustable hydraulic top link on the 3-point hitch to raise/lower instead of the 3-point itself.
I did need to purchase a pair of hydraulic flow restrictors for the offset function, as well as install 0.125" diameter flow restrictors for the rotation function and I'd recommend anyone planning to run this mower behind a 1025R do the same (or even get 4 flow restrictors if you want more control).
One extra bonus with the offset function is it works well at trimming brush along the side of my laneways when run in the 90° vertical position (note I spoke to a similar gearbox manufacturer and they recommend ensuring the oil has been changed at least once so any metal filings don't get into the bearings when operated at 90°).
The offset flail option is more expensive than a fixed flail because you also need a minimum of 6 rear hydraulic ports (3-spool, including 2 for the upper 3-point link).
I went with the 4-spool Summit Hydraulics rear kit, with front 3rd function for our grapple (using 1-spool or 2 of the ports for the 3rd function). The complete hydraulics install took a lot of time but it works well (although bleeds down cylinders faster than I'd like so I might add a cylinder hold block for the 3-point link).
Yes, we are aware of the leak-down issue. Sorry about that. We hope to have a fix available ...by end of year. Unfortunately, it will add to the cost.
@@TractorTimewithTim Tim, I don't know what happened to my reply but it was deleted.
I tried you ask about the type of leak down improvement Summit Hydraulics is planning to release.
Is it an improved, tighter tolerance and tighter clearance spool valve or is it an add on dual pilot releasing dual check valve?
I noticed that Summit Hydraulics does already sell a "Double Pilot Operated Hydraulic Check Valve, ½” NPT Ports, 11 GPM" specifically for the purpose of holding cylinders in position once the spool valve hydraulic pressure is released.
In my case this part could be installed somewhere between the current 8-port spool valve assembly and the hydraulic top link on my 3-point hitch. It would be a bit messy as far as hose routing is concerned, but should work.
@@Slider68 it is a dual piloted check valve. They are not able to get it until December.
Look man, you did great I wouldn’t worry about the audio one bit. You showed me what I wanted to see and that was that flail mower working in high growth. I’ve been looking to see how a subcompact and Flail worked and stuff that high because that’s what mine is like right now. M y hayfield and my pastures since I had to get rid of my cattle. Very informative. Keep up the good work. Be safe.
Living your best life ! Playing with tractors and implementing while sharing your thoughts and knowledge. Great video keep up the good work !
I have a self-powered Flail mower (23 hp Brig twin engine) on a British made Wessex AFR160 professional flail mower for towing behind an ATV. I use a Honda 520 Rubicon foot shift quad bike , as people in the USA call it.
Here in Ireland we have much toucher weeds than the ones you are battling. They call it "Rushes". And when the land is neglected for years, it is very thick especially at the base. I am doing the first cut "high" at about 8 inches to get the main stuff cut and mulched. A month later I will go over it in the opposite direction or a 90 degree angle and close to the ground. Works a treat. The next year it is a lot thinner and easier to cut.
Good afternoon, God bless you all & thank you for sharing today . Have a wonderful & blessed day .
On our farm in Florida we let the cover crop and weeds grow all summer. By September the growth was 8-10 tall. We bolted a 4x7 ft wooden structure (we called it the barn door) to the front of a 3020 to push the growth down with the tractor pulling a stalk chopper. This was 1972-81, no cab. Guess who had the joy of running over 300 acres with that rig. Something solid on the front of the tractor pushes weeds down and lessens the amount of trash flipped up.
Great to see stock 1025r working on your channel again, Thanks
Since I started watching your channel, I've been impressed with the audio. How clear your voices are despite the equipment is incredible. Speaks volumes to your skill, dedication, and investment.
Thanks for the kind words. We do work hard to have decent audio. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out. ….and in this type of work, we can’t simply re-shoot it!
Another vote in favor of the flail mower is overall length of tractor and mower. That can mean a lot when putting everything you may want to take on a trailer for transport. Looks like a nice counterbalance for the loader as well for general use.
Good point.
Agreed, USEFUL ballast close to the rear. I leave my flail on in the winter as a "weight box" for moving snow and loaded firewood racks. More maneuverable than a brush mower and easier to store since it is a fair bit shorter.
I bought a 511 grille guard from Justin and helped pick the design for the 5E series tractors. That’s my tractor on his website, my wife took the photos while I’m away for work. I think they’re great in all aspects other than if I want to hang weights on the front I will have to remove it. The loader will probably stay on just bucket removed while mowing though.
Another option is to take a half swath but it will take extra time and fuel. Great video!!! Stay safe and God Bless
That's an awful lot of material going into that little mower! My Dad had an old farmall cub lo boy with a4 ' Mott flail mower that My brother totally wore out trying to mow the 12 acre fields. I took over the task for My Dad with My NH tc33d with a 72"mid mount finish mower rear discharge. It turned the fields into a groomed lawn look. I found mowing it tree times a summer to be easier on Me tractor and fuel. I picked up an old Woods rm990 for cheap. With only 3 spindles and 2 blades each. It took lees power to run. It was real heavy for a compact tractor.Had to keep loader on tractor to hold the front end down. Power wasn't a problem mowing more often. Old mower required a lot of greasing. The extra 18" was nice for mowing around trees.
Have a new 1025R on order and just got a call from Agfolks letting me know my 61" Maschio was on the way! You're videos have helped a lot.. keep em coming.
Hi Larry. Are you running the 61" Maschio with a 1025R? Tim said he "thinks" he's using the 61" model, but I wonder it it's the 53" model.
We are using 61”
@@TractorTimewithTim Thanks for confirming, Tim. I just received my model 155, and it looks bigger than I expected. The manual says the tractor should have min 25 hp PTO, which concerned me. We're you able to engage the PTO at low throttle?
Yea.
@@TractorTimewithTimDo you think a 2025r would do fine with a Maschio 61”?
You mean its hard to get good audio quality over a 3000 RPM engine, whining hydraulic system and a mower running at operating speed? who'd a thunk it? Sounds good to me BTW.
The hammer flails are for the rough grass as you were cutting, the Y shaped cutters are for finish cutting lawn grass where you want a pristine look, most of what wasnt cut in this video was operator error. You have to do a bit more of an overlap cut, you have to consider the edge of the machine to edge of first hammer, which on my Winton Flail here in the UK is approx 4".
We have a similar-sized DelMorino flail with hammers, but have ours with hydraulic side shift and tilt. We have about 16 acres, most of which is hay field, and use the flail to maintain a trail around the perimeter for walking (a farmer hays the fields for his dairy cattle). The tilt function is useful for ditch banks along the driveway. The cut from the flail is excellent, and far exceeds what I expected to get from it. With the project in this video, the offset would certainly be a plus.
Great seeing you working on a project, love it, thanks
A few things to make the flail more efficient. 1 use the loader and bucket to push over the scrub. Bucket fully rolled back, bottom of bucket around 1-2 foot of the ground. 2. Remove the hard top link and replace with a 1 ton soft sling or eye sling around the same length. 3. With soft top link, place the front skids so they just touch the ground. 4. Off set the flail to the side by 2-6 inches past the rear tire. Ensure the belt drives are not the side extended out.
Morning Tim & Christy, Not only would a front bucket provide counter weight but this could also be adjusted to push the high weeds over some. While I have no need for a flail mower I still have been impressed but the quality of t he cut in such high grass. Two cuttings at a right angle or diagonal would definitely be best…Tom
Good to see the drone footage is back!
Welcome back Chris. I suspect you have missed a few episodes. Christy got her drone license.
Thanks guys for the informative video. Tim you don’t seem to have patience for stupid. A quality I share and appreciate. I do have a couple flail mowers, but doubt I will have a reason/excuse to use them. The Mott flail for one of the Cubs and a small 3 pt I bought for super cheap. Both with Y blades. I do at least keep them undercover. Still waving the darned camera!
You might check the fan blades. On some tractors you can flip the blade holder around so they are blowing out in stead of sucking in. I ran a five foot flail mower with hammers in the vineyard I managed. It was great because it sucked the prunings up and chopped them. They looked like they had been through a chipper. Yet it did a nice job on grass.
Thank you Christy for the Drone coverage you do very well flying it
Oh wow i love watching this setup of Johnny and the flail mower!:) Thanks!:) Please mow with the batwing and the 5E, would love to see the 5E again!:) Yep you are right, they are spinning the other way (i can see it on our 10ft flailmower on our 6115M,it is made in Italy, there is a good chance that it is made by Maschio...so it might be right.)🤪
I like the compact size of the flail mower. For guys like me who don't have a ton of space available to store implements, the flail mower could be a good option.
Yes!
God Bless you Tim, Christy, and Katreil.(sorry if I spelled the last name wrong). Please stay safe out there
Tim you made mention to it, front pto. You should do a video about them and if anyone makes kits for them if you haven't yet. God bless and you guys keep up the good work.
I have a 1025R and run a front mount snowblower. The driveshaft runs from the mid PTO to the front. I guess at that point it's technically a front PTO. I have no idea if any other attachments can be used on it though.
The problem is the non standard speed, and sometimes rotation direction.
One pro to the Massey GC series is having the radiator at the rear of the engine. It certainly helps when mowing taller material.
This should ACTUALLY be renamed "The little Johnny channel"!
I keep meaning to take the loader off when I Bush Hog, but I always end up having a log or 5 across the trail or even at the field edge, that I'd rather move out of the way with the loader than cut up into more pieces and move. The loader Does make the tractor a heck of a lot harder to maneuver between trees, though! (Or rather, a semi-related comment to help with the algorithm)
Thanks!
Fantastic drone cam work Kristy!
Thanks, glad you noticed! Synchronized audio too!
That's really tall grass and weeds Tim, I was afraid you'd get lost in there :)
I took the rubber flaps off mine and changed the Y blades to Hammer blades, now I get twice the thru put and it’s still mulches the grass, etc.
We had a front deck Bolens when I was a teenager. That deck out front made a better looking yard.
The only issue I have with using a flail mower is rocks. We have lots of large (basketball size) rocked that heave out of the ground every spring and cost me a handful of hammers the first couple times I mow. Otherwise very happy with how it handles brambles, wild blueberry, etc. Much nicer to have it mulched than just hacked off with a rotary cutter!
I like the job the flail mower does. Nice unit. Blessings.
Tim, the audio was good. You should share your technique with other you tubers! Keep up the good work.
Competitive advantage :-)
The flail mower does a good job. The 1025R seems to handle it with no problem in heavy material.
Wondering the difference for this material with hammer blades vs Y blades. But then after a belly mower or large zero turn to finish the cut. Well Anyway you could turn that field to a lawn. Not the point but possible. Keep up the great videos. About to buy my first tiller.
sound quality much better.
Set the height to what you feel comfortable with and how you want the finished product to look! But it looks good!
One would think as much as these compact tractors cost they would be equipped with a reversible hydraulic radiator cooling fan. Once the tractor temp sensor saw the temperature increase it would reverse the fan flow to blow the radiator and screens free of debris. Kind of like the top brands of forestry equipment. Guess us guys that just need a small tractor will have to keep watching the temp gauge, and cleaning the debris ourselves.
We need a sweet mowing compilation video 🤘🤘🤘🤘
Great, inspirational and well made video!
I own a flail mower "Agrimaster KL 190" also an Italian made. These mowers do an amazing job imho.
Greetings from Sweden
I see your PTO shaft cover was spinning a bit. Not chained down?
Watching that flail mower work has me questioning the pros and cons vs the brush mower (aka bush hog). I have never had over heating issues mowing in tall grass and weeds but you definitely have to pay attention to the radiator screen. I believe it is because I run the front loader with the bucket low to feel for rocks and stumps. It also pushes the weeds down. Couple things I have learned cutting tall grass here in Oregon. The turkeys love to nest there so before mowing I tromp around to find them. The mama will not leave the nest so I mark the area and mow around them. Also if mowed early the invasive species weeds don't germinate as quickly. Do you have fire season regulations out where you are? We can't run any power equipment here in Oregon to cut weeds after about mid July. Since we can't cut the weeds they get really high which increases our fire danger. What to do..
I am a bit west of Salem, OR and wonder about the fire regs. I just mowed a big patch of weeds and grass because of the fire danger. Used a brush hog and had lots of trouble with radiator screen plugging. Maybe if the bucket had been on it would have been better. But no turkeys this late in the year :).
@@lionelschmidt4127 Just call your local fire department if your not sure. Better than having them show up at your door.
Cool flail mower, would be cool to see if ya can find small hay mower an bail or chop the 5 acers for be used for something
Very satisfying to watch, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Thx for the video!
are you going to ride with your brother when the fall harvest time shows up?
Beautiful tractor and cutter. ❤️
Congratulations, beautiful equipment. You look like a Professional operator.
Do you ever run into a yellow jacket nest in those high grasses? It seems every time I get into clearing properties like you’re working on here I have yellow jackets or hornets! Makes me want a cab for these type projects!!
Thanks for putting the mph your running as you cut
The 1025R handled it PERFECTLY!!! Thanks for posting this Tim.
Y blades are for grass cutting and the hammers are for brush. In general you will find flails do not like long grass where you will have to reduce speed for the mower to cope, however cutting grass regularily some flails can realy shift, lots of golf courses use them for fairways.
..or JD could move the radiator under the dash away from loader dust, weed burrs, dirt, leaves, cotton fuzz, seads, stems, and other filter clogging debris? ..wait someone thought of that. Sorry couldn't resist Tim :) Love your videos man. God Bless!
After watching this, I ended up going back to a video from Top Notch Lawn Care (I think his name is Bryan). He was using what I think was at least a 7' single spindle rotary cutter paired with a Kubota MX. Cut quality looked better from the flail compared to the brush hog. Could have a good compare/contrast with the different blade types on this fixed mount flail, on top of just having fun.
Yea.
I could have better cut quality if I had lowered the cut.
Definitely would like one of those! Hope all is well down there. 🇨🇦🇺🇸🚜🍻
Audios fine ignore the idiots thanks for the video Tim
Would Y blades do a better job pulling the grass up from the tire tracks?
All fun and games until you
Need to replace all those tiny flails after you accidentally hit a stump, brick, log, branch, garbage can lid, piece of steel cable, gopher hole, ect ect ect
I’ve had to replace one hammer….couple of years ago.
We planted 5 rows of potatoes this year. We have planted potatoes using grow bags and it hasn't worked at all we got potatoes, but they are small and few. I was so excited when my dad and I harvested our first row of potatoes using our middle buster and 3025E I was 3/4 of the way down the row before I looked back and seen potatoes everywhere. I was so excited off of 2 rows we got 52lbs of potatoes, and we have 3 left to go . I was so excited until I realized we have to peel them all. I know this has nothing to do with the video but I have a bucket full of potatoes a bucket full of water and a garbage can full of peels so it was on my mind
Incredibly rewarding to harvest a good crop of potatoes!
Do you think if you had the front loader with the buckets down low it would help both with weight and preventing your front grill from plugging up?
Would help with weight…not with keeping grill clean
@4:44 - My flail spins the direction you said, not the text that changes your thinking. Clockwise when looking at the mower from the left side. You can tell which way a flail spins if you have hammers, clearly their shape won't cut if they are spinning opposite their design. Presumably hammers are better for thicker stuff, knives for lighter stuff. I think knives are usually sharpened on both edges so they can be reversed for longer life. This would also allow them to cut whichever direction the mower spins.
Maaaaaan goats and lambs could’ve gone to town on all of that
Good video, thanks!
I like the cut quality of the ventrac
Quality here doesn't seem to be the problem
As you said it is the wheel marks that gave the unfinished look
This has got me sold on the ventrac in so many ways that I wish that ship would come in so that I could afford the ventrac
I'd be making alot of side money with it
You can certainly pay for it with side work.
could you please list the wireless mic you're using ? the audio on this is great, I thought you were only doing voice over narration, but paid attention and noticed your speaking while the tractor and mower are running wide open ! I want that mic!
You ever come across wildlife in those high grassy areas? I live just south of you in Lizton and I come across rabbits all the time! Thx
Lots of Deer beds. A pile of turkey feathers (unfortunately). I think the Coyotes are well fed.
Lots of Deer beds. A pile of turkey feathers (unfortunately). I think the Coyotes are well fed.
I was sitting here thinking while I was watching your video that that little diesel was getting a work out
i see someone invited a siècle bar for a bucket and i was wondering if you ever tried for mowing high ditches
For this kind of grass ,this flail mower is the optimal choise ( Y blade -grass and maybe few 1-1,5 cm diameter bush ,the hammer blade grass and maybe 3 cm diameter bush )
This one is way better than the normal blade mower and not soo sensible for stone ,metal
Nice job. I would say the ventrac is better in cut and maneuvering around stuff. But for me, I’d rather use a tractor.
I wonder which machine uses more fuel.
Similar fuel usage, but we did a comparison between the Kubota engine and the Yanmar engine in our BX vs 1025r series. Kubota engine used less fuel.
Audio is very good Tim.
Because of a recent health diagnosis I’m in the process of trading my 33R for a 2025R. Mainly for ground clearance in the woods. Looking forward to trying out the smaller tractor and it’s ability.
Sorry to hear of health issue!
Sorry to hear of health issue!
@@TractorTimewithTim thank you.
What a great video. Thanks so much for making it a year ago! I do want to know what you did with the mulched grass? Is there another video showing you harvesting all that grass or did you let it lie to decompose? Thanks and again great video.
It decomposes quickly.
@@TractorTimewithTim Thanks for the info and getting back to me so quickly! 😁
I wish I'd got one of those yrs ago. I didn't know enough about them when i was deciding on that vs a bush hog.
Will the cut grass/mulch the flail mower creates kill the grass afterwards or does it stay healthy? Looking to use my flail mower instead of a riding lawn mower to do my maintenance
that is impressive and way more manueverable and compact for storage than a bush hog would be
Hey Tim. . . . . put your front loader on your tractor with its bucket. Not only will that add weight to the front end, but you can curl your bucket all the way up, keep it a few inches off the ground, it will push the grass over out in front of ya, keeping the grass away from the tractors front end, therefore helping to keeping the dust debrie from plugging up the front screen & inner screen. Ive done this several times while cutting with my 54" mid mower deck. Your screens will still have to be cleaned off of course when the job is done, but you'll have less worry. . . . . . .at least it works for me anyways👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I have NOT found that the loader helps keep the radiator clean.
Using the loader this way has worked for me, that's all I can tell ya👍🏼. Could be the difference in the type of mowed grass & when its mowed as well, I dunno. You show your front grill guard working for ya, that's okay to. I don't have one so I use the front loader.
I’m getting ready for a similar project. I use my x758 with a 60” flail to clean our trails and field edges. Love the setup. One question. Do you have problems with flat front tires? I use true power r1 on the front but it seems they aren’t as thick as I would like. Do the tires you use on the 1025 do better in small brush?
I have had flats in the past. I used the TireJect product to fix them. Seemed to work well for that.
Nice
I know it's not necessary for this project but how about ditch mowers? Is there one you recommend for a 1025?
We have shown the Maschio hydraulic offset flail on the 1025r, but it is heavy!
Tim, I can't seem to find the actual width of the 1025R anywhere, including the Deere website. I was wondering if the flail mower were a little wider, the cut where the wheels are pushing the grass down may be cut more efficiently.
47" or so.
I wonder how the cut quality would change if the tractor wasn't mashing down the grass first?
Did you have the audio turned up? I discussed this at length.
Do you think one day you will get the grass quality to a point you can swath it and roll it into bales? Seems like you are getting a lot of the small brush killed off.
Would likely have to seed it, and mow more often.
What flail setup did you like better ? Ventrac or Deere?
You said keep a eye on temp gauge. Is it a after market addition? If so what brand
Tim, love your video's, and love how you like to try new things I have something I was wondering if you could try, I'm in the process of buying a JD 1026r and I was thinking can it run a front mounted flail on the rear linkage? I know it wouldn't be ideal or something to run for a long period of time but, for short jobs instead of driving over what is to be cut that I could reverse into it? Would love to see you try this please
When I bushog I take a leaf blower and clean grill and radiator ever hour
We’ve got a Cub Cadet Pr Z 700 60 inch deck striping kit, 31 hp Kawasaki engine. My stepdad always says that he wants to get a tractor like that one or 2038R with a 96 inch deck to get all 10 acres cut
What size hydraulic offset flail would you run on a 2038R. Mine should be here in October. Looking for next year.
We’ve shown the Maschio 4.5 ft version on our 2038r several times. Will work fine if you have Rimguard and wheel weights. We also have spacers.
@@TractorTimewithTim what size spacers can you run with a mower deck?
2” I think
@@TractorTimewithTim thank you so much! Your videos have influenced my 1025R and now my soon to be 2038R. . . You think the 60" offset flail would be too much?
Yes. I think so. It is heavy when sticking way out there.
How does it do on hills? Like up and down...will it float?
Yes, will float.
What about a sickle bar mower? Isn't that the best option? You have a cut off to the side and behind the tractor, and the extra benefit of hay. I suppose if you had cut it earlier and more than once you would only need a finish mower. (I know that what you're mowing wouldn't make great hay.) I thought you had a small sickle bar mower that you tried out with the 1025R 2 years ago. Take care and God Bless.
I'm looking for a compact cab tractor that can handle a 6-7 ft flail mower. Any suggestions on the smallest cab tractor that has sufficient hp? Preferably hydrostatic trans.
6’, probably 3039r or 3046r. 7 ft, 4066m or r would be my recommendation.
Curious how thick of brush this flail your running is rated for? I have a sub compact as well and have been looking at Betsco flails. Mashio and del morino flails are 2x the price so I'm curious why its that much more?
The Maschio is built much better. Better gearboxes, attention to detail on hoses, hose routing, etc. overall all, a MUCH nicer unit. 2x nicer? That is for you to decide.
@@TractorTimewithTim Have you compared a 48inch to a 60inch and your working speed with that? Is the weekend warrior rated for 2 inch brush? I'd like to go with a 60 personally incase i get a large tractor in the future.
I’m not sure of the rating. This is the 60” it works fine on 1025r. I would go with larger one on larger tractor. I think you can handle a bit more flail than rotary cutter on a given tractor.
@@TractorTimewithTim I'm considering using the flail as a second mower. We have a ferris zero turn. I recently was looking at upgrading my zero turn to a 72 inch model and the prices now are close to what i paid for my tractor with a backhoe which is insane. Seems like a better option to just have two mowers then one and spend all that extra money.
Not gonna lie, I really want to see that mower mounted to the front of the 1025r. If it does as good as i thank I could easily be in the market for that particular setup.
looking to see something similar, with mowing solar arrays in mind..
I have a 2025r and a Cosmo FL 165 flail, only 480 lbs. I have run it around the front yard, it's flat no rocks. Grass is short but ran fine. My inly concern is the shear bolt. It's and M10 which seem a bit large. Do I leave it or should I downsize it? Mower runs quiet.
Leave it. Manufacturer should know what they are doing.