Flail mowers are starting to grow in popularity against their rotary counterparts, as they offer a host of great benefits for those carrying out larger-scale agricultural and garden maintenance work.
Flail mowers for tractors feature flail style blades that are bent into the shape of a T or a Y and are found attached to a rotating drum. As the drum rotates, these blades tear through the brush, with the flails spaced out enough that they provide a very thorough cut, which is all powered through a PTO drive.
There are many reasons why, and many benefits to mowing lawns and grassed areas, including:
Creating strong, healthier grass
Promoting even growth
Returning vital nutrients into the ground.
Helping with a speedy recovery (overcoming harsh weather conditions, diseases, and pests, etc.).
In addition, there are many advantages of flail mowers, including:
Compared to the rotary mowers available in the market, flail mowers offer a few more unexpected advantages, especially in more specialised situations.
For example, flail mowers don’t throw up as much of the mess and debris it mulches through, which is great when debris and grass cuttings need to be kept to a minimum. This also makes flails a great choice when operating near populated areas or on roadsides, where pedestrian and vehicle traffic is high.
Flail mowers are versatile enough to cut banks and grass verges at angles and trim bushes and shrubbery with ease – again making these pieces of equipment great for regular landscaping maintenance.
Flails easily bounce off rocks and stumps found in the ground, deflecting these with ease as flails aren’t fixed or stiff like the blades you will find in a rotary. This means they also won’t break, warp, or throw debris up into the air, which also means they don’t require as much repair, maintenance, and you don’t have to replace the flails as often.
This leads us nicely to the next advantage: you don’t have to replace the entire set of blades but rather just individual flails as and when required, making them much more cost-effective.
Small flail mowers can even manage to sever brush, with some models able to tackle saplings up to 2 inches in width, and thick brush.
More and more people are making the switch to flail mowers from rotary mowers as they find them much more reliable and versatile. Offering an excellent high-performance cut compared to the rough and rugged cut a rotary can provide.
Flails can also move near to fences and can make lawns look great within minutes.
They also provide a great finish when cutting down heavy branches and large shrubs, making them a great choice if you’re pruning orchards.
They are also less noisy. Operating silently, the rotating flails don’t make much noise, making them less obtrusive when cutting large grassed areas where others are present.
There are several different attachments available to compliment flail mowers, allowing you to cut large shrubs, clear stalks from fields, and cut through the grass without much effort. You can also choose different size cutting blades depending on your requirements.
The mowers hitches allow them to be fitted to any standard sized tractor. And due to the different size cutters available, finer cutting can be achieved, providing you with a neat looking lawn and grassed area.
However, like everything, there are some disadvantages to flail mowers to be aware of too.
These include:
Compact tractor flail mower attachments can be quite expensive pieces of equipment to purchase outright (however, hiring is always an option).
Flail mowers can also be time-consuming when it comes to maintenance and servicing, as the flails themselves do require lubricating regularly.
If you do need to replace multiple flails, then the expense of this can certainly build up over time.
Flail mowers may be slightly more expensive than rotary’s (depending on style and cutter types); however, they are much more cost-effective long-term.
As you can see, the advantages do far outweigh the disadvantages, making flail mowers a great all-round attachment, especially if you’re working with a dense brush that needs to be tackled.
In addition, you also have a choice between standard flails (designed to be centred behind the tractor) and offset flails (position off centre and towed behind the tractor, allowing you to reach those hard to access areas).
Easy to store and simple to operate. Beckside Machinery are proud to stock the UK’s most comprehensive range of flail mowers for sale, which are subdivided into the following categories:
Flail mower for compact tractors
Heavy duty flail mower
Hydraulic side shift flail mower
Verge flail
Flail hedge cutter for sale
ATV flail mower (quad flail mower)
Wessex flail mowers
We have multiple models in each category to suit your specific requirements.
Machinery is a trusted supplier of a range of agricultural equipment, including flail mowers – make sure to call today on 01673 828 965 to find out more.