Debating a 4ft hog vs a 54” woodmaxx flail. I have 5 acres with about an acre of grass that needs to be cut semi regularly, and 4 Acres of brush that needs cutting before fire season i have a mmm, but the groundnis rocky and uneven and i end up hitting rocks when i use it even on the lawn-ish portion. My thoughts are keep the mmm and get a hog, or sell it and get a flail (selling will be a pain, it only fits b series).
Bush hog vs flail
- Thread starter Mgrantorser
- Start date
Following, because I want to know more. Although, I don't need one for a finished lawn. I need a rotory or flail for brush and vines, saplings, etc.
Edit- and it seems that the flails/ hammers would need to be changed out depending in duty. Brush hammers won't give you a good lawn finish.
Edit- and it seems that the flails/ hammers would need to be changed out depending in duty. Brush hammers won't give you a good lawn finish.
Last edited:
Good Works Tractors just did a video about a flail mower with hammer knives and it destroyed everything in its path. I was really impressed.
Russell King
Well-known member
Equipment
L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
If you are in an area where there are people nearby where you are mowing the rocky ground then go for the flail. A brush cutter can eject rocks out for a great distance.
I have a brush hog and it cuts Okay but it is a rough cut and leaves mounds and furrows of grass debris. it also sticks way out in back. I would prefer to have a flail but am financially and HP limited. The flail takes more HP per cut width.
I think you would be happier with the flail from your description of the work. If you want high cuts then you will have to go brush hog though.
I have a brush hog and it cuts Okay but it is a rough cut and leaves mounds and furrows of grass debris. it also sticks way out in back. I would prefer to have a flail but am financially and HP limited. The flail takes more HP per cut width.
I think you would be happier with the flail from your description of the work. If you want high cuts then you will have to go brush hog though.
GibbyESS9
Active member
Equipment
2020 Bx23s,BX2672 plow, Titan Forks, Land Pride 48” BB, FEL, Bestco Flail mower
I have a Bestco flail mower and love it. I dont mow much but use it on trails and driveway. It has the hammer blades and does a great job. Saplings, grass, you name it.
Jim
Jim
I just used my Woodmax 54 with hammers for the first time, worked well on my irregular ground. Be aware, the 54 does not have self adjusting belts and the guard on the belt cover needs to be removed to adjust the belts, this is a pain. I drilled holes for access to the bolts on the belt guard without removing the outer guard. I like the flail over a 60" brush hog I had.
What's the cut capacity? Like diameter wise. I get the big stuff with the grapple, but there are always sticks and junk left. Mostly dead, so I would imagine that is easier to mulch up than a live of the same diameter.
GibbyESS9
Active member
Equipment
2020 Bx23s,BX2672 plow, Titan Forks, Land Pride 48” BB, FEL, Bestco Flail mower
I have the Fm-54 medium duty. I think it said up to 2 inch diameter but I have wacked down only small stuff to 1.5 inch i would say. Its nice that it doesn't throw debris around. Its loud , but works great.
mcmxi
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25TLB
I have a Del Morino flail, the Centurion Super 158 model, and a Land Pride 7ft rotary cutter. The flail is more versatile and does a great job on grass, brush etc and I would say does a much better job than the rotary cutter in terms of mulching. The flail tends to pulverize whatever it cuts leaving a much nicer finish, even with very dry and woody vegetation.
I was at my friend's yesterday for dinner and took a look at his fields. I've cut his place using the rotary cutter and the flail, but both times with the MX6000. This year I'll most likely cut it twice and I'm thinking of running the M6060 with the rotary cutter since it'll be a lot faster. If it were my field that's probably what I'd do. I'd cut it regularly with the bigger rotary cutter simply because the finish is good enough and it's a lot faster than the flail due to the width.
I was at my friend's yesterday for dinner and took a look at his fields. I've cut his place using the rotary cutter and the flail, but both times with the MX6000. This year I'll most likely cut it twice and I'm thinking of running the M6060 with the rotary cutter since it'll be a lot faster. If it were my field that's probably what I'd do. I'd cut it regularly with the bigger rotary cutter simply because the finish is good enough and it's a lot faster than the flail due to the width.
I have a couple of old JD brush hog mowers. A couple years ago I purchased the heavy duty model Betsco flail mower. 54" with hammers. The old rotary mowers haven't been used since the flail showed up.
The flail does a much nicer job of cutting whether in grass or brush around here.
If you maintained the hammers, they'd do an acceptable job on my lawn grass as well. The cutting height can be set lower than my old brush hogs so they'll clean up a brushy area nicely and mulch everything in pretty much one pass. But they are noisy....especially when going over alot of dead dry branches/limbs.
As far as size capacity: If I dare to drive over or through the live brush with the B2650.....it'll go through the flail and the hammers will pulverize it. Common sense should prevail. You couldn't mow over a woodpile of 3" diameter dried firewood. Otherwise you just match your speed to the size and density of the brush your cutting.
The hammers can take quite a beating and still function. It's nice to have some spares on hand to use while you build up and touch up the hammers that might have found some stones or metal in their path.
For clearing/maintaining brushy woods and paths.....they can't be beat.
There's a few threads with pics from the different owners here on OTT.
Just remember to keep the belts properly adjusted!!
The flail does a much nicer job of cutting whether in grass or brush around here.
If you maintained the hammers, they'd do an acceptable job on my lawn grass as well. The cutting height can be set lower than my old brush hogs so they'll clean up a brushy area nicely and mulch everything in pretty much one pass. But they are noisy....especially when going over alot of dead dry branches/limbs.
As far as size capacity: If I dare to drive over or through the live brush with the B2650.....it'll go through the flail and the hammers will pulverize it. Common sense should prevail. You couldn't mow over a woodpile of 3" diameter dried firewood. Otherwise you just match your speed to the size and density of the brush your cutting.
The hammers can take quite a beating and still function. It's nice to have some spares on hand to use while you build up and touch up the hammers that might have found some stones or metal in their path.
For clearing/maintaining brushy woods and paths.....they can't be beat.
There's a few threads with pics from the different owners here on OTT.
Just remember to keep the belts properly adjusted!!
This is the stuff I'm talking about. Bottle for size comparison. After I cut these MX trails, there will be a lot of "kindling" strewn about.I have a couple of old JD brush hog mowers. A couple years ago I purchased the heavy duty model Betsco flail mower. 54" with hammers. The old rotary mowers haven't been used since the flail showed up.
The flail does a much nicer job of cutting whether in grass or brush around here.
If you maintained the hammers, they'd do an acceptable job on my lawn grass as well. The cutting height can be set lower than my old brush hogs so they'll clean up a brushy area nicely and mulch everything in pretty much one pass. But they are noisy....especially when going over alot of dead dry branches/limbs.
As far as size capacity: If I dare to drive over or through the live brush with the B2650.....it'll go through the flail and the hammers will pulverize it. Common sense should prevail. You couldn't mow over a woodpile of 3" diameter dried firewood. Otherwise you just match your speed to the size and density of the brush your cutting.
The hammers can take quite a beating and still function. It's nice to have some spares on hand to use while you build up and touch up the hammers that might have found some stones or metal in their path.
For clearing/maintaining brushy woods and paths.....they can't be beat.
There's a few threads with pics from the different owners here on OTT.
Just remember to keep the belts properly adjusted!!
I had to go out and look at my model # to be sure. My flail is the heavy duty EFGC 48" with the heavy duty hammers. I chose the 48" for my use because of our woods. Plus, I can offset it so it does extend just past the right rear wheel and the belt housing on the other end is just within the wheel track on the other side. If I can get between the trees with the B2650.....this flail also fits.
In your first picture the flail would reduce that to a nice wood chip mulch without much ado but for some noise. Again, you'd just adjust your speed according to the density of all the brush and wood parts.
In your second pic, you'd want to toss aside/collect those small "logs". I've run some single short pieces that were maybe 3" diameter through the flail but it's NOISY and it may just spit a reduced chunk out the back vs. turning it into mulch.
If those larger pieces were half rotten like some of the stuff in your first pic.....that would be different. I've run some pretty solid shorter pieces through my flail and half expected to find some dents in the housing by the noise and clunks coming from underneath. No dents yet, however.
Somewhere on OTT I've got some pics of the trails and windbreaks cleaned up with the flail but I can't remember how it was titled or if the pics were added to someone else's thread. The heavy duty flail exceeded my hopes.
This is a very old farmstead and I did hit some unseen stones/metal and damaged the hammers a little. Some were straightened out with a hammer. Some I built up the edge again with the mig welder and then ground to factory shape. Those repaired hammers are still on and looking fine. There's some pics of them here, along with why one should pay attention to belt tension.
David
Yeah, basically anything that I can scoop with the grapple, I do so. Then burn it. Almost 90% of it is pine that has been down for a while. The hardwoods are taking over and I want to keep it that way. I try not to take anything down that is living.I had to go out and look at my model # to be sure. My flail is the heavy duty EFGC 48" with the heavy duty hammers. I chose the 48" for my use because of our woods. Plus, I can offset it so it does extend just past the right rear wheel and the belt housing on the other end is just within the wheel track on the other side. If I can get between the trees with the B2650.....this flail also fits.
In your first picture the flail would reduce that to a nice wood chip mulch without much ado but for some noise. Again, you'd just adjust your speed according to the density of all the brush and wood parts.
In your second pic, you'd want to toss aside/collect those small "logs". I've run some single short pieces that were maybe 3" diameter through the flail but it's NOISY and it may just spit a reduced chunk out the back vs. turning it into mulch.
If those larger pieces were half rotten like some of the stuff in your first pic.....that would be different. I've run some pretty solid shorter pieces through my flail and half expected to find some dents in the housing by the noise and clunks coming from underneath. No dents yet, however.
Somewhere on OTT I've got some pics of the trails and windbreaks cleaned up with the flail but I can't remember how it was titled or if the pics were added to someone else's thread. The heavy duty flail exceeded my hopes.
This is a very old farmstead and I did hit some unseen stones/metal and damaged the hammers a little. Some were straightened out with a hammer. Some I built up the edge again with the mig welder and then ground to factory shape. Those repaired hammers are still on and looking fine. There's some pics of them here, along with why one should pay attention to belt tension.
David
This stuff is good to know. Thank you! A brush hog just sticks out so far for tight dirt bike trails. I was hoping that a flail would be a good option. Looks to be the case!
Not sure if it is a setup issue, or hammers vs y-blade issue (I have hammers) but I’m not impressed with the FM-54 cut quality in my grass heavy pastures. Leaves just as much if not more of the stringy stuff standing as my rotary cutter did.
My understanding is that the hammers are for thicker stuff like corn stalks, saplings, briar and vine. The Y blades are for the grassy, hay, etc.
That's just from reading up on them.
How fast are you going? I run in 1st gear and get great results with hammers, but my I think from your pictures my grass is drier than yours (still green).
mcmxi
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25TLB
This is how my Del Morino with hammers cuts grass. It does a good job when one of the hammers isn't stuck in the "retracted" position. There are lots of variables when it comes to cutting with a rotary or flail, so anyone in the decision making process needs to do their research for sure.
There are lots of variables when it comes to cutting with a rotary or flail, so anyone in the decision making process needs to do their research for sure.
mcmxi
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25TLB
By the way, Neil Messick just posted a video this morning on YouTube talking about IronCraft/Titan Implement tillers and flails. The tillers are made in India but the flails are made in Italy where many of the best flails are made. Messick's is offering free shipping to states East of the Mississippi and very reasonable shipping rates to the rest of the country.
FL-135 $2,450
FL-165 $2,850
FL Series Flail Mower
www.ironcraftusa.com