Offset Flail MOwer

[stavebuyer]

If it is for a shear pin the hard bolt is what you want.

[TroyC]

Titan specified the grade 2. I'm afraid a harder bolt might break the casting the shear bolt goes thru.

Good suggestion turning the 5/16 in a drill. It's really close and wont take much. Pays to put things out there on the FF. Thanks!

[thecfarm]

Looks the same thing on my snowblower, but mine is only ¼ inch.
Well it's ¼ inch now.  ;) It was 7mm? All I know it was almost ¼ in size. Took no time to make it bigger. Just ran it through as easy as could be. That's how I made mine into American size.  ;D
It snaps them American size bolts off just fine. And they are much cheaper.
I had a frail mower on the back of a 30hp tractor and never broke a shear pin. But the wife used it most of the time too.

[customsawyer]

Check with Rawls there in Dublin. They probably have the bolt.

[TroyC]

Lindsey had some but they were threaded all the way and I think they were grade 5. At least it got me going last week.

[TroyC]

Update on the flail mower-

Good news is that the thing mowed really nice. Did the food plot again and around the camp, looks like a zero turn mowed it.

Bad news is that on the way back to the barn it started shaking bad, really bad. Shut it down and checked it out, seems the cutter tube somehow is warped about 3/8". Shook so bad two of the nameplate rivets broke! The food plot has been mowed numerous times, it is clean, nothing to hit. Not only is the tube warped but the housing appears to be warped.

Claim to the company last week, so far have had one automated response (Due to Covid and an unusually high volume of claims, we are experiencing longer than normal wait times.............) and finally an email from them wanting me to get a local repair estimate. It has about 2 1/2 hours on it and it needs a tube and housing. Needless to say, I'm disappointed with it.

[customsawyer]

I hate to hear that. I was hoping it was going to get a better report.

[21incher]

Didn't you hit a big pipe with it when new? I wonder if that stressed the shaft or damaged  a weld and it took a while to surface. 

[beenthere]

That pipe may have caused the bent tube, and finally it just popped off the rivets to then give the violent shake.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=120784.msg1946406#msg1946406

[TroyC]

Hit 1 1/2" thin wall emt pipe, shear pin broke. Ran couple hours fine after that fine. No visible damage underneath. Shear pin did not break a at this last event.

[RetiredTech]

  I love the flail mower but hate the offset. It makes snaking through the woods difficult. I have the 72" Caroni. It's been a tough piece of equipment. I rarely use the bush hog anymore. The flail eats everything in sight and lays it back down as mulch instead of slinging debris everywhere. The flail stays on my tractor most of the time. Even in the winter it servers a extra ballast on the rear when using the FEL bucket, grapple or forks.

[TroyC]

Totally agree. The offset would be very easy to snag a tree. I only have a couple hours on mine, mowing foodplots. Love the way it mows and mulches, but you really have to be careful around objects.

[JD Guy]

Since I ran a 8 foot disc cutter for hay, the offset is natural for me and I prefer it. There is a learning curve but soon it will become second nature to you. The main issue you may have is gauging your distance to objects and making turns early on. Stay with it, you'll be fine !