Flail mower owners question

[ukrkoz]

I have tow behind 60 inch gas powered flail. I mow about 5 acres of "meadow" with it, no saplings or shrubs or anything harsh. I have my reasons why I use it and it does great for about 3 yrs by now.
Mower came with Y-blades.
Problem I have with them is that they don't really cut too well. Long strong round stemmed grass, and I have fair share of that, simply lays down or, apparently, goes between the blades. I busted my back about a month ago and didn't mow for 2 weeks, what let grass grow too high, and I had to do over with rotary riding mower, as after flail, lawn looked "ill combed".
I have blades SHARP and it's no fun to sharpen 64 blades.

So here's my question to flail owners.

Which ones do, actually, cut grass better - T-hammers or Y-blades? In my common sense mind, T-hammers have horizontal blades that SHOULD cut grass better without leaving streaks? Yes, I know what internet says, I read many opinions. This is why I am inquiring with the fellow flail owners - in your experience, what works better on "natural" grass mixed with wetland type grass and other similar vegetation - T-hammers or Y-blades?
I am trying to avoid selling this mower and buying a large rotary tow behind.... But I, same time, can't allow myself to spend several hours towing my flail behind and then doing over with much less comfortable and back saving riding 50 inch rotary mower. When uncut grass raises up and it start looking like crap after flail.

Thank you for sharing

 

[ukrkoz]

This actually helped me a lot.
Several owners say they get a much better cut with T hammers.
I still can't find anything about T hammers vs Y blades cut videos. As in - showing actual cut, not opinions.

 

[StarTech]

You needto talk with oem of the flail mower as they should have blade design for grass only cutting and it sounds like you the brush type cutters. It been many since I research flail mowers for my on use but I do remember that there were two types blades depending what you were going to cut.

 

[Rivets]

Actually just got done bringing one back to life18 months ago. I to know how long it takes to sharpen those Y-blades. Two things we learned on a piece of ground very similar to what you have. First, you must have a tractor which is strong enough and the PTO shaft turns fast enough to handle a flail mower. Tried it on a JD 530, no go. Then on a 54 Ford 8N better but not great. Finally 59 Ford 681 works extremely well. Second, just like any mowers you can only remove X amount of material at a time, the less you take off the better the cut. Don’t know if any of this helps, but I try.

 

[ukrkoz]

Well, duh.. my flail is gas engine operated and I have no doubt, it is under powered for the job, only 16 Hp. I can tell, how easily it bogs. So I have to either creep at about 2 mph, what is a killer on about 5 acre mow or deal with uncut grass left behind. Or, upgrade engine to 20 something... and I am not sure, if I really want to do this or, to simply sell it and buy good tow behind finish mower. Have my sights on one... My riding 50'' mower cuts much better quality wise, but is below zero on riding comfort. Very uneven terrain. Kills back. That's why I tow with UTV as, at least, I have four wheel suspension and decent sitting position. I use rider only to do perimeter cut and tight spots, where tow behind won't go due to the large turning radius.

 

[Rivets]

I think you answered your own question as to how to proceed. 60” flail mower with 16 hp engine, definitely way under powered. Personally I don’t think repowering your unit will give you the results you want.

 

[ukrkoz]

Sort of resurrecting my old thread but..
I finally bought set of T blades that match my flail rotor and mounted them.
As they were sold in packs of 20, and I have 32 blades stations on my flail rotor, last Saturday I replaced twenty out of 32 and did trial run. It was CLEARLY cutting better where T-blades were. So I ordered another set and replaced all of them this am.
Did most of my property, leaving puddled wetland untouched.
Final result - T-blades do cut much better. It is not perfect rotary cut but, it is by far not the combed cut of the Y-blades. Also, it does not lay down grass as bad, as Y blades did. Sorta spendy experiment for grass mowing, blades cost me $220, but it is better cut.

 

[bertsmobile1]

keep them sharp & you will have many years of successful mowing
The big down side of flail is you can not see the discharging grass so it is hard to work out if you are mowing too fast in the thick suff that will cause the blades to swing back thus give an uneven cut height .