Caroni TM1900 Flail Mower...

We purchased a TM1900 flail mower a while back and wow were the reviews wrong. Nobody in their right mind would give this unit, as it comes from the factory, a positive review. The RCR1860 landpride cutter runs circles around the flail.

The TM1900 doesn't cut anywhere near the quality of the RCR1860 -- Including bashing the 2" stuff. And to get the TM1900 to cut anything, you need to be in 3rd gear, no faster -- and that's at full PTO RPM. Didn't even take 2 minutes with the TM1900 before it was ready to go back to ag supply. The RCR1860 can be run at 2,000 engine RPMs (2450rpm is 540 PTO) and still give a quality cut in 7th gear (that's about 3x the travel speed as 3rd gear)

Wanting the cutter to work, I pulled off a set of the TM1900 blades and spec'd them with the micrometer. I then pulled up Flail Master's catalog and found the only duck-foot style blade they make that will fit the caroni (needs a 1/2" x 1" slot to fit the caroni shackle). After installing them, it's a night and day difference. About the only thing the Y blades are good for is a paper weight.

The TM1900 can now be used to provide a cut superior to that of any finishing mower, and do so as fast as 6th gear (for glass smooth, 5th is a better choice). For those who say the Y blades are for "rough" stuff -- While you may be able to use them ON rough stuff, you won't get anywhere near the cut that the RCR1860 can deliver (it'll do the occasional 3" as well).

The duck-foot style blade is a 'finishing' style blade and I would not use it where anything larger than 1" sticks are present - that includes rocks--unless you want to change blades mid-season.

A few days ago seemed to be the perfect day for mowing as everyone mowed their 'grass' -- the neighbors have zero turns, standard riding mowers, and push mowers, and the duck-footed caroni provided the superior cut - hands down!

http://flailmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FlailMaster_Catalog.pdf

Page 28 of PDF, Page 22 as printed in catalog, part DFM-2042

If this image loads, it looks almost identical to this blade except that the mounting hole is 1/2 x 1 vs the 1/2 x 3/4 that's pictured.

I made a pass in 4th gear in 2' tall pasture and it cut it just as nice as it did the stuff that was only 6" tall. These blades are a small fraction of an inch longer (they actually spec shorter on paper, but the centrifugal force combined with their scoop shape that creates a slight suction angles them--think of an L and rotate it clockwise to the 2 o clock position and it's taller when measured at the hypotenuse).

As far as its brush capabilities with the rough cut Y blades (should be the same ones on the TM1600 from factory) -- The standard rotary bush-hog wins hands down. I think a better comparison would be if the unit had the heavy-duty flail hammers (don't think these caronis are beast enough for them--like a HD alamo or mott). I just don't see those Y blades blades being any match for the power contained in a 5' diameter spinning hog with 1/2" steel blades and a tip speed of 18,000 feet per minute....and by "hog" I mean the RCR1860. With the hog on, I have no problem feeding it baseball sized rocks. It just smashes them into really small rock fragments. I would not hit a rock half the size with the Y blade caroni. I just don't see it fairing too well. And if a blade pair gets damaged, it'll probably be noticed by what's not being cut.

With the hog I'd swap out blades once a year for the sharpened set, and every time I did I cannot believe just how dull they were--nothing left of what I'd call an edge. It would still cut your typical grass without issue.

I honestly do not see how they sell the TM1900 in the configuration they do. It gets a solid F -- SOLID F. The only thing it has going for it is that it doesn't stir up the dust, but that really doesn't matter since it doesn't cut very well. It is not in any way a replacement for a rotary cutter rated at 2" thick brush. That leaves it as a finish mower, which it does a decent job at with blades that you must purchase extra from somewhere other than where the mower unit is purchased. I'm sure it would be even better if it had a finishing drum in it with twice the number of blade mounting points. Which brings me back to my point, the TM1900 as it comes from the factory is worthless.

If I didn't already have the RCR1860, and the TM1900 was purchased as the 2" brush cutter, I'd be very upset. A 2" capable "bush-hog" replacement it is not.

Tallahassee Kubota Man said:

Botadriver, how does this blade compare to what the mower came with or the ones you have now? This is a link to AGS's listed replacement blade for the TM 1900.

http://www.agrisupply.com/type-rotor-blade-caroni-flail-mower/p/30838/

Click to expand...

I believe those are the factory blades. With 2 of them on a shackle back to back, they make an inverted Y shape. Those are the ones I feel to be worthless.

I bet they include both blades -- The P blades are exactly like what I got from FlailMaster - Except they were 4$ ea and it uses 28 of them. Not sure where the other $100 comes from they're charging, perhaps installation? Need a 1/2 x 1" slot to get on the factory shackle. It's not rocket science and knowing the hole slot size is pretty much all you need. Width of the cutting area -- the more the better - 2.7" wide or larger.

The drum should be balanced period. It should not matter if you change all blades at the same time to a blade of any weight. The balance should still be maintained. 28 mounting points = 7 per row, and 4 rows. Now if you have aftermarket blades and swap out just a few, if they don't weigh the same there could be an issue with balance!

As far as rotation of the mower, it is similar to a reverse tine tiller. It cuts the opposite way of wheel travel.

As to the P rotor having something different than the B, I believe you'll find them to be the exact same with the only difference being the blades that hang from the shackles.