Flail Mower

[MarkA]

I have an excavator mounted flail mower, for which I cannot find parts or teeth. I need to get all the components including and associated with the teeth. Does anybody know anything about this mower, and if I can substitute another type of tooth, since I can't seem to find this type? I'm pretty desperate to figure this out. See pictures below, and thanks in advance for any help.
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[MarkA]

Well thirty four people have read this and I have received no comments, so here I am replying to my own post. Anybody got an opinion on the possibility of installing a different type tooth on this machine? I am not sure that the teeth shown are the originals. Some of the teeth have washers beside them. Some have two, some have one and some have none. I sure need someone who knows something about these mowers to give me an opinion. I just cannot figure out how much sideways movement one of these is supposed to have. I need to use this mower to go around the edge of pastures, branch banks and road sides. Somebody that is associated with a county road department should have some good ideas. The teeth that are there are marked Eurozappa. I have the catalog from Italy, but have not found a vendor in USA that has them. I hope I am not beating a dead horse. :deadhorse:

 

[Farmerjon]

What about taking a couple of the teeth, these pictures, your catalog and visiting a couple of machine shops. Surely they can twist, bend and heat treat a set of teeth for this and get you back in business.

 

[dieselbeef]

that too me looks like a skid steer mt'd hammer mill..mulcher. i cant help ya but i wouldnt call that a flail mower

 

[MarkA]

Farmerjon, Good idea about the machine shop. That is also in the back of my mind as a last resort. Dieselbeef, It works pretty good on the excavator on the road side for high hard to reach stuff and difficult areas. I did hesitate to call it a flail mower, but could not think of another name. There are certainly a wide variety of flail mowers out there. But I cannot associate it with a skid steer. Thanks for keeping me company on this. It is a lonely topic.

 

[hurleyjd]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Flail-Kit-to-su ... 2a348d47ce

Check these blades out look a lot like yours

 

[skyhightree1]

if marka is in the us he still may be out of luck because they dont ship to the usa.

 

[B&M Farms]

If you can't find the teeth a good welding shop should be able to drill and twist them. I would have them quench and temper them so they last longer. They could skip the quenching if they have the equipment to cold twist them and make them out of wear plate.

 

[MarkA]

Hurleyjd, That place has the teeth. Shipping may be an issue, or a total obstacle. I have sent them an e-mail.

I am hoping that someone who has used a similar machine will opinionate on the possibility that the teeth shown are the original teeth for which the machine is designed and the necessity of the washer/spacers that are shown. Some of them have two, three, or none. There are signs of wear on the machine where teeth have wobbled.
There seems to be more flail teeth on the market that are not twisted then there are that are twisted. I am just not sure about how necessary it is that the tooth have a twist. There are eighteen teeth on this machine.

I sure wish that machine had an ID plate, but there is no sign of one at all.

 

[wbvs58]

I think that you should have no problem getting flails to suit your machine. I have done similar searches here for flails and most machinery suppliers have catalogues that contain many different types with dimensions, it is only a matter of matching up what suits. They never have them in stock just order one, fit it and see if any problems. The distance between your lugs suggest to me that it may have been fitted with a pair of blades each bent at right angles and sharpened along the leading edge and with spacers either side. This type is suited to cutting grass. You could also replace them with heavier cast, I think, hammers which work better on mulching up small shrubs.
Ken

 

[MarkA]

Privet hedge and tree limbs are what I am after, so I would need what you are calling the "hammer" type in the heavier cast. I guess a spacer on each side would be a decent start. This machine will be mounted on a CAT 307 which is a 17,000 lb excavator. It worked pretty good considering the condition of the teeth, but they have too much wobble and are beating up the lugs. Thanks for the input.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I don't know about those teeth, but a 307 is sure a handy machine.

 

[SmokinM]

Yeah I can't help with the teeth either but I got a good home for the machine since he can't find parts! I have worked on the grass cutting flails and the teeth wouldn't need to be an exact match. The pin size and overall length is the important part. The washers are just spacers. On the length a little short would probably work but don't go longer! The twist is in them so they cut. A little side to side wiggle won't hurt much.

 

[MarkA]

Yeah I can't help with the teeth either but I got a good home for the machine since he can't find parts! I have worked on the grass cutting flails and the teeth wouldn't need to be an exact match. The pin size and overall length is the important part. The washers are just spacers. On the length a little short would probably work but don't go longer! The twist is in them so they cut. A little side to side wiggle won't hurt much.

SmokinM, You might be my best resource since you have worked on them. I think you are telling me that I should find another type of blades that are thick in size, about the same length and they should be the most aggressive type I can find. Now about the pin size, how much bigger should the hole in the tooth be than the size of the pin? There is a lot of flop in the ones on there now, but I have no idea how much wear has occurred.
One vendor did send me a sample of another type tooth, but the hole for the pin was quite a bit bigger than the pins in the machine. We did think about cutting a tube for the pin to go thru, but that would just be something else to wear, but if it is necessary, it can happen.
And like you say, a washer on each side should contain the side to side movement, which some is probably good anyway.

 

[MarkA]

I don't know about those teeth, but a 307 is sure a handy machine.

Never planned on owning an excavator, but when we found it was for sale, we made an offer and bingo we got it. Since then we have made good use of it. The thing will run all day on eight gallons of fuel and do a lot of work.

 

[SmokinM]

The hole should just be big enough so that the teeth swing freely. I would think you could find teeth pretty close to what you have all I was saying is don't get hung up if they aren't a perfect match. The pin size, length and thickness are your big things to match up. I don't know how much aggressive or non aggressive they sell them but anybody that sells them should be able to match a tooth to your application. Don't know if that helps but that's what I know about them.

 

[MudHog]

Flail mowers I'm used to seeing use rotating pieces of chain. As mentioned above, make sure the teeth are not fixed. They should spin freely so that if contacting a hard surface they rotate backwards.

 

[MarkA]

Found replacement teeth at a company in England. Once we got the money transfer straight, the teeth got here the same week. Total cost for two sets of teeth and bushings with shipping was less than $600. Thanks to all who were interested. :banana:

 

[SmokinM]

Glad you got it put together. If you need a place to try just let me know!

 

[lavacarancher]

that too me looks like a skid steer mt'd hammer mill..mulcher. i cant help ya but i wouldnt call that a flail mower

S'up DB? Just trying to get a little education - so why is this not a "flail" cutter? Saw a cutter similar to this one (only much bigger) and the operator called it a flail cutter. May be it's a regional term like "tank" for a pond of water that cattle drink from or "cube" for a squeezed and pressed alfalfa/grain food for cattle. We call the later "cow crack" but the bag they come in calls them "cubes". I think others call them "cake"?

Anyway, just trying to get a little smarter.

Thanks,