Jonathan Morris , thanks for the comment. Good luck with it. I mowed a bunch of sweet corn stalks with it a bit ago. Couldn’t be happier how it chewed them up.
Good job for a small unit. Anyone that thinks you will get a finished look in 1 pass is dreaming ,especially with grass that high. Hammers are good for hard sticky woody weeds but you nailed it with the y grass blades. Just don't let it get that tall again you should be good. All that much on top of the soil will produce some great soil in 12 months. Well done.
looks great, I had almost bought the 41" myself but opted for the 37" on my 1023E because of storage and I never do a whole lot and don't mind the extra time on the seat ;-)
By only cutting the bottom metal bar on the shipping cage you can preserve the cage almost entirely for fire wood storage latter. All you have to do is cut the metal bar that the flail mower rest on and then cut away the black metal strappings that hold the Flail mower to the frame. The metal box should easily slide off of the pallet with the flail still sitting on the wooden pallet. This works well with the 105 model and might not work with a slightly bigger models. No need to cut each well of the frame. The results are a metal frame that can be latter be used for a variety of things. I use mine for storing fire wood. Great video vary useful. I just received my Betsco 105 a few days ago. Great pointers and fabulous information.
You mounted the A frame for your top link connection on the mower backwards (putting them on the wrong sides)...as it is leaning back instead of forward, which is why your toplink is so far out. Flip the A frame mount and you will be able to get a lower cut with better mulching.
That sudan grass is some tough stuff! Mowed a 7 acre field of it once with a Ford 3610 and a 8ft woods chopper. I swore that day id never plant that crap ever again!
chris devito , the mower has held up well. No problems yet. Are you asking about the upper arm supports for the 3 point hitch? If you are they are of thinner gauge steel than the rest of the mower but I think if you keep the bolts tight they should be ok since most of the force is vertically applied to them.
I have the ef 125 and one thing I found is move the grass wiper all the way to the top of the roller, I've had mine pushed up a couple of times from uneven ground, I didn't want it to get bent, it works just fine at the top of the roller, you will have to back the nuts off a ways so the end of the flat bar can get past the roller.
@@LancoAmish You definitely put the top link mount A-frame on backwards (swapped left and right)...as it slopes backwards instead of going straight up. Correct that and you will be able to lower your mower better and get a better cut.
Is the rear ground roller weighted? Mine seems to be because when I turn it by hand it returns to the much heavier side of the roller. Or something is bent. Doesn’t seem right. Just asking, thanks
Hi, Just purchased the exact Flail mower today from Betsco. I live in Canada and was wondering what 's your tractors max PTO HP? My tractors max PTO is 16 HP and the tractor is a 21.5HP. This video is now a few years old, how is the flail mower doing these days?
why do these flail mowers all seem to mow so close to the ground? After talking to the local implement dealer here, it was his opinion that a flail mower would require more HP to operate than a brush hog as it chews up the vegetation a lot more than a BH. Flail mowers do not seem to be used very much around here--central Missouri--I guess there must be a reason.
Burgie 4 , you can mow higher but my top link isn’t long enough. If the front end was higher off the ground and the roller still on the ground you could be somewhat higher with the flails or hammers. Most flail mowers here are used in corn fields after the corn is picked. They set them higher so the ground isn’t hit. Keeps the fodder a bit cleaner. I’m not sure about horsepower. I love it for chopping up vegetation used in cover cropping or to get rid of cornstalks. Check out my video I put up flailing the cornstalks. Easier than chopping and carrying. Thanks for watching!
Finally got mine in (135) and I’m already running into small issues. 1) Manual says the oil for the PTO gearbox has a 3qt quantity. It will barely hold 1qt which is what it also states in the manual. I thought they had unsealed bearings in it because of the massive amount of oil it required but now I think the transition from Whatever country it was made in to English got lost a little bit. 2) the pins for the lift arms to fit in were not included nor were the spacers. Emailed them about that but I figured it to be quicker to buy my own. Besides they gave me 2 fully assembled PTO Shafts so I couldn’t be mad. 3) NOT Quick Hitch Compatible. I have a Harbor Freight Hitch so we know how accurate they are so I will look at buying another quick hitch but I suspect it won’t work due to the lower pin holes and their close location to the flail frame. 4) the lower lift arm pins are not cat 1😑😡🤬
Thanks for the feedback. I've had mine for a year now with no problems. I pretty much got it to flail mow my cover crops and sweet corn stalks. It does just dandy. I wish it was quick hitch compatible too. I have a Woods Hitch. I've seen videos of where the mower has been modified by welding an extension for the top pin. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for watching. I’m real happy with the mower. It does an excellent job cleaning up corn stalks and other debris from vegetable gardens. I have my arms on backwards in the video and another viewer pointed that out.
Hello, I live in Colombia South America, I am interested in buying a flail mower for my Kubota bx2380 tractor. I would like the best advice from you to tell me which one is the best that suits my tractor. I appreciate your attention and I look forward to your response. Do you think that the one shown in the video could work for my tractor?. Thank you
Your tractor should handle the same flail mower with no problem. I think yours has slightly less than 18 PTO HP. Make sure whatever you buy your PTO hp meets or exceeds the rating on the mower.
@@LancoAmish hello, what a shame to bother you again, my tractor has 17.8 HP, which of the three flail mower would you advise me to buy the FH-EF85, FH-EF105 or the FH-EF125?
abc123456789 , 5.7 pto hp per foot of flail. I have the standard duty 41 inch being pulled by a Massey Ferguson gc1720. It’s belt driven to the flails. I was chopping up a sweet corn patch (6 to 7 feet tall). With no problem until I had it piled up and tried to flail one more time to pulverize some more. Smoked and tore both belts. My fault there. For small acreage I love it so far. You can’t use a quick hitch without modification and I’m going to need a longer top link to fully adjust the mower.
@@LancoAmish I was told that my ef 125 required 20 hp, that's what I told them I have, but I have a Kabota B1700 with 14 pto hp and I run the flail and a 54 inch mid deck lock in the up position with no problems. The owner at Dans Tractor said it doesn't have the hp to do that but I've proved them wrong, I run the flail or a 48 inch brush hog with the belly mower all the time, even cutting up to 7 foot canary grass.
Pat Conrad , I’m convinced the small tractors have more horsepower than they are rated. It makes sense to underrate them especially those that are right near 25 hp due to increased regulations and cost past that hp. The sub compacts are definitely working machines.
I like your enthuseasume for the product, but please don't get under the impliment without fixed support like jack stands. I use them when every I change the cut height on my FH-EF135.
bank80 , I went with the blades because for most of what I do is very light...just keeping grassy pastures cut a bit. I think if I went with an offset mower it would have been a bit better as far as the tractor not flattening the Sudan grass but I don’t have that kind of room to get around fences and through gates. When I did corn stalks the hammer blades would have gotten the job done with less passes but the blades did a great job in the end.
I have gone back to watch one of my favorite videos before and thought the same thing then realized that it was me that had accidentally given it a thumbs down. It happens.
Joe eoje , running over it with the tractor puts it down. Not optimum but I did not want an offset mower. If you watched the end you can see what the mower did after 3 passes. With grass that tall you have to go in opposite directions because it does lay it down on the first pass. That Sudan grass was over 5 feet tall. I knew it would take multiple passes. It’s the nature of a flail mower. I later did corn stalks back and forth and when I was done it looked like silage.
Bucmeister , it was planted as a cover crop to smother weeds, loosen the ground with its roots, and to add biomass to the soil. It’s fast growing and does a lot of good in a short time. I was also able to get it free from my dairy farmer neighbor who plants it also.
He has his A frame mounted backwards on the mower, which prevented it from mulching up properly on the first pass as that prevented him from being able to lower the backend of the mower down enough for proper mulching....and is why his top link is not "long enough."
Betstco: Come for the terrible equipment... stay for the abysmal customer service! The upper pulley wheel of my flail mower FELL OFF THE SHAFT upon it's SECOND use mowing 4 acres. I called customer service for assistance, and Jeremy made a mediocre attempt to assist. It was necessary for me to text pictures of the issue to someone else at Betstco for Jeremy to evaluate. I called back another two times during the day to see if Jeremy had looked at the pictures, and he said he hadn't. Enough time business days have passed now that I'm confident I will never hear from them. I'm on my own. You're likely to be on your own if you buy from them.
Justin Roach , Sorry you are having such a bad time with them. Keep calling. I don’t know how much they know about servicing their machines but if it’s under warranty they should definitely be helping you out. I’m lucky that I live in an agricultural area and there are many shops that can fix what I need. Thanks for watching and good luck.
Alan Cummings , the grass was over 6 feet tall and driving over it doesn’t help matters. However after passing over it in 2 different directions it indeed did chop up the grass quite well. I’ve also used it for corn stalks and it pretty much makes silage out of them after a few passes. Offset flails would do a better job but they also require a lot more room to maneuver which sort of defeats the purpose of the subcompact tractor. Thanks for watching.
He has his A frame mounted backwards on the mower, which prevented it from mulching up properly on the first pass as that prevented him from being able to lower the backend of the mower down enough for proper mulching....and is why his top link is not "long enough."
He has his A frame mounted backwards on the mower, which prevented it from mulching up properly on the first pass as that prevented him from being able to lower the backend of the mower down enough for proper mulching....and is why his top link is not "long enough."
And now the fun begins!!
Your farm is soooo beautiful, like a little slice of heaven!!
Thanks for the video. I just ordered one. Your assembly instructions were very useful.
Jonathan Morris , thanks for the comment. Good luck with it. I mowed a bunch of sweet corn stalks with it a bit ago. Couldn’t be happier how it chewed them up.
I just bought the same mower today. I'll go get it Thursday. Thanks for posting this vid. It looks like it will do a fine job.
Great video, very well done. Thank-you. I am considering the 135 for my 23hp NH Boomer 20.
idtm7716 , Thanks for watching. Check out my playlist for another video of the mower taking care of cornstalks. It was posted recently.
Good job for a small unit. Anyone that thinks you will get a finished look in 1 pass is dreaming ,especially with grass that high. Hammers are good for hard sticky woody weeds but you nailed it with the y grass blades. Just don't let it get that tall again you should be good. All that much on top of the soil will produce some great soil in 12 months. Well done.
looks great, I had almost bought the 41" myself but opted for the 37" on my 1023E because of storage and I never do a whole lot and don't mind the extra time on the seat ;-)
There are a whole lot worse things to do than sitting on a tractor seat! 👍
By only cutting the bottom metal bar on the shipping cage you can preserve the cage almost entirely for fire wood storage latter. All you have to do is cut the metal bar that the flail mower rest on and then cut away the black metal strappings that hold the Flail mower to the frame. The metal box should easily slide off of the pallet with the flail still sitting on the wooden pallet. This works well with the 105 model and might not work with a slightly bigger models. No need to cut each well of the frame. The results are a metal frame that can be latter be used for a variety of things. I use mine for storing fire wood. Great video vary useful. I just received my Betsco 105 a few days ago. Great pointers and fabulous information.
You mounted the A frame for your top link connection on the mower backwards (putting them on the wrong sides)...as it is leaning back instead of forward, which is why your toplink is so far out.
Flip the A frame mount and you will be able to get a lower cut with better mulching.
You are 100% absolutely correct! I shall be flipping that around soon. Thanks.
That sudan grass is some tough stuff!
Mowed a 7 acre field of it once with a Ford 3610 and a 8ft woods chopper.
I swore that day id never plant that crap ever again!
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. It is tough but sure does grow quickly and adds a lot of biomass to the soil.
Really nice place you have. How has mower held up? I ask because the supports look a 👍little thin. Good music while.
chris devito , the mower has held up well. No problems yet. Are you asking about the upper arm supports for the 3 point hitch? If you are they are of thinner gauge steel than the rest of the mower but I think if you keep the bolts tight they should be ok since most of the force is vertically applied to them.
I have the ef 125 and one thing I found is move the grass wiper all the way to the top of the roller, I've had mine pushed up a couple of times from uneven ground, I didn't want it to get bent, it works just fine at the top of the roller, you will have to back the nuts off a ways so the end of the flat bar can get past the roller.
Pat Conrad , thanks for the tip. I will give that a try.
Thinking about the medium duty 48” for my GC1705. I like the hammer teeth a little better than the y teeth.
That’s what I would go with for anything but grassy stuff. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the great video and review. Got a little nervous with you under the unit without a jack stand or something supporting it though.
Matthew Krueger , thanks for the comment and concern.
It might be an issue of perspective but I believe the top link mount is backwards. I’ve not seen one that slopes away from the tractor.
Do you mean the arms that come up from the mower or the “saddle” the top link attaches to? Now you got me wondering.
@@LancoAmish You definitely put the top link mount A-frame on backwards (swapped left and right)...as it slopes backwards instead of going straight up. Correct that and you will be able to lower your mower better and get a better cut.
Is the rear ground roller weighted? Mine seems to be because when I turn it by hand it returns to the much heavier side of the roller. Or something is bent. Doesn’t seem right. Just asking, thanks
I’m not sure. I believe mine rolls free when there is no pressure on it.
I hope you checked belt tension prior to running.
I just ordered one myself. 48" heavy duty.
Martin Peruski Hope you have as good luck as I have with mine.
Hi, Just purchased the exact Flail mower today from Betsco. I live in Canada and was wondering what 's your tractors max PTO HP? My tractors max PTO is 16 HP and the tractor is a 21.5HP. This video is now a few years old, how is the flail mower doing these days?
The mower is still running fine. I’ve done more recent videos with it if you’d like to peruse them. The PTO hp on the 1720 is a shade less than 20.
😢 my sheep 🐑 and goats🐐 would have loved that mature grass.
why do these flail mowers all seem to mow so close to the ground? After talking to the local implement dealer here, it was his opinion that a flail mower would require more HP to operate than a brush hog as it chews up the vegetation a lot more than a BH. Flail mowers do not seem to be used very much around here--central Missouri--I guess there must be a reason.
Burgie 4 , you can mow higher but my top link isn’t long enough. If the front end was higher off the ground and the roller still on the ground you could be somewhat higher with the flails or hammers. Most flail mowers here are used in corn fields after the corn is picked. They set them higher so the ground isn’t hit. Keeps the fodder a bit cleaner. I’m not sure about horsepower. I love it for chopping up vegetation used in cover cropping or to get rid of cornstalks. Check out my video I put up flailing the cornstalks. Easier than chopping and carrying. Thanks for watching!
@@LancoAmish Your top link isn't long enough because you bolted on the A frame for your top link backwards.
Finally got mine in (135) and I’m already running into small issues.
1) Manual says the oil for the PTO gearbox has a 3qt quantity. It will barely hold 1qt which is what it also states in the manual. I thought they had unsealed bearings in it because of the massive amount of oil it required but now I think the transition from Whatever country it was made in to English got lost a little bit.
2) the pins for the lift arms to fit in were not included nor were the spacers. Emailed them about that but I figured it to be quicker to buy my own. Besides they gave me 2 fully assembled PTO Shafts so I couldn’t be mad.
3) NOT Quick Hitch Compatible. I have a Harbor Freight Hitch so we know how accurate they are so I will look at buying another quick hitch but I suspect it won’t work due to the lower pin holes and their close location to the flail frame.
4) the lower lift arm pins are not cat 1😑😡🤬
Thanks for the feedback. I've had mine for a year now with no problems. I pretty much got it to flail mow my cover crops and sweet corn stalks. It does just dandy. I wish it was quick hitch compatible too. I have a Woods Hitch. I've seen videos of where the mower has been modified by welding an extension for the top pin. Thanks for watching.
Hammer flails would probably work better on that tall grass. How long have you had your Bestsco?
Thanks for watching! I’ve had it for 2 years now. Love it!
How has this been holding up and have you been happy with it? Great video!
Thanks for watching. I’m real happy with the mower. It does an excellent job cleaning up corn stalks and other debris from vegetable gardens. I have my arms on backwards in the video and another viewer pointed that out.
Hello, I live in Colombia South America, I am interested in buying a flail mower for my Kubota bx2380 tractor. I would like the best advice from you to tell me which one is the best that suits my tractor. I appreciate your attention and I look forward to your response. Do you think that the one shown in the video could work for my tractor?. Thank you
Your tractor should handle the same flail mower with no problem. I think yours has slightly less than 18 PTO HP. Make sure whatever you buy your PTO hp meets or exceeds the rating on the mower.
@@LancoAmish Thanks friend, any other questions I will be bothering you, I appreciate your time
@@LancoAmish hello, what a shame to bother you again, my tractor has 17.8 HP, which of the three flail mower would you advise me to buy the FH-EF85, FH-EF105 or the FH-EF125?
Hey how do you like the bestco flail? Thinking of buying one myself but I'm unsure on quality. How many HP per foot do you run?
abc123456789 , 5.7 pto hp per foot of flail. I have the standard duty 41 inch being pulled by a Massey Ferguson gc1720. It’s belt driven to the flails. I was chopping up a sweet corn patch (6 to 7 feet tall). With no problem until I had it piled up and tried to flail one more time to pulverize some more. Smoked and tore both belts. My fault there. For small acreage I love it so far. You can’t use a quick hitch without modification and I’m going to need a longer top link to fully adjust the mower.
@@LancoAmish I'm looking at a 78" one for grasses
@@LancoAmish I was told that my ef 125 required 20 hp, that's what I told them I have, but I have a Kabota B1700 with 14 pto hp and I run the flail and a 54 inch mid deck lock in the up position with no problems. The owner at Dans Tractor said it doesn't have the hp to do that but I've proved them wrong, I run the flail or a 48 inch brush hog with the belly mower all the time, even cutting up to 7 foot canary grass.
Pat Conrad , I’m convinced the small tractors have more horsepower than they are rated. It makes sense to underrate them especially those that are right near 25 hp due to increased regulations and cost past that hp. The sub compacts are definitely working machines.
I like your enthuseasume for the product, but please don't get under the impliment without fixed support like jack stands. I use them when every I change the cut height on my FH-EF135.
Gil Libby , Thanks for pointing that out.
Seems a shame…..no neighbors to lend a cow? Interesting video
Thanks for watching. All my cover crops get tilled into the soil after cutting.
Would the hammers work better than the Y blades for that application?
bank80 , I went with the blades because for most of what I do is very light...just keeping grassy pastures cut a bit. I think if I went with an offset mower it would have been a bit better as far as the tractor not flattening the Sudan grass but I don’t have that kind of room to get around fences and through gates. When I did corn stalks the hammer blades would have gotten the job done with less passes but the blades did a great job in the end.
@@LancoAmish Nice, I'm looking at getting the 68 inch model
Whoever gave this video a dislike is just jealous on how much you know
I have gone back to watch one of my favorite videos before and thought the same thing then realized that it was me that had accidentally given it a thumbs down. It happens.
Ah, yes, Crocs. The official safety shoe of NASCAR.
The best. Just picked up a pair of work crocs!
Looks like you put the mounts on incorrectly. All the pictures I have seen use it set up to shift left or right.
Yeah, I’m not sure. I’ve heard from people both ways.
seems to me it did a lot of knocking down of the grass instead of shredding...
Joe eoje , running over it with the tractor puts it down. Not optimum but I did not want an offset mower. If you watched the end you can see what the mower did after 3 passes. With grass that tall you have to go in opposite directions because it does lay it down on the first pass. That Sudan grass was over 5 feet tall. I knew it would take multiple passes. It’s the nature of a flail mower. I later did corn stalks back and forth and when I was done it looked like silage.
I bought almost the exact same one. I rather the brush hog a if it’s just cutting grass
@@LancoAmishJust curious as to why the Sudan grass was so tall. Was it a crop planted for some purpose?
Bucmeister , it was planted as a cover crop to smother weeds, loosen the ground with its roots, and to add biomass to the soil. It’s fast growing and does a lot of good in a short time. I was also able to get it free from my dairy farmer neighbor who plants it also.
He has his A frame mounted backwards on the mower, which prevented it from mulching up properly on the first pass as that prevented him from being able to lower the backend of the mower down enough for proper mulching....and is why his top link is not "long enough."
We use to use flail mowers for a finish cut. I would use a sharp bush hog for that stuff.
Thanks for watching. I appreciate your comment. Have a great evening.
Sure you figured this out by now, but you have the stand on upside down.
JGK , 😂, As soon as I went to disconnect the mower from the tractor!! Thanks for watching.
Betstco: Come for the terrible equipment... stay for the abysmal customer service!
The upper pulley wheel of my flail mower FELL OFF THE SHAFT upon it's SECOND use mowing 4 acres. I called customer service for assistance, and Jeremy made a mediocre attempt to assist. It was necessary for me to text pictures of the issue to someone else at Betstco for Jeremy to evaluate. I called back another two times during the day to see if Jeremy had looked at the pictures, and he said he hadn't. Enough time business days have passed now that I'm confident I will never hear from them. I'm on my own. You're likely to be on your own if you buy from them.
Justin Roach , Sorry you are having such a bad time with them. Keep calling. I don’t know how much they know about servicing their machines but if it’s under warranty they should definitely be helping you out. I’m lucky that I live in an agricultural area and there are many shops that can fix what I need. Thanks for watching and good luck.
Doesn’t look like it is cutting everything.
Alan Cummings , the grass was over 6 feet tall and driving over it doesn’t help matters. However after passing over it in 2 different directions it indeed did chop up the grass quite well. I’ve also used it for corn stalks and it pretty much makes silage out of them after a few passes. Offset flails would do a better job but they also require a lot more room to maneuver which sort of defeats the purpose of the subcompact tractor. Thanks for watching.
He has his A frame mounted backwards on the mower, which prevented it from mulching up properly on the first pass as that prevented him from being able to lower the backend of the mower down enough for proper mulching....and is why his top link is not "long enough."
Now you need a yard rake to rake the grass up
Billy Wilder , I tilled it under...less work! 🙂 Thanks for taking your valuable time to watch my videos. Have a great day!
He has his A frame mounted backwards on the mower, which prevented it from mulching up properly on the first pass as that prevented him from being able to lower the backend of the mower down enough for proper mulching....and is why his top link is not "long enough."
wrong tool for the job.
I was going to use scissors but thought better of it since I got blisters the last time I did it.