Flail, Finish and Rotary Cutter Comparison

My #1 most asked question on this channel relates to flail mowers. Viewers hear me talk all the time about finish mowers and rotary cutters (or brush hogs) and never hear about flail machines. That's because they are widely unknown in my area, or, we're simply too cheap here in hillbilly country to invest in the extra cost for one. I had one of my viewers ask about them a couple of months ago and so I called Rhino Ag, because they offered a flail mower and know my channel. They agreed to ship me a rotary cutter, a finish mower and a flail mower to evaluate with no strings attached. Pretty risky move, right?

We did the evaluation at the new country home of my cousins, Beth and C.R. They moved to the country for the first time in May, and neither one had ever been on a tractor before. C.R. wants to keep his place looking really nice and asked me what he needed to buy. I thought we'd kill two birds with one stone by doing the evaluation at his place to help him make a good decision.

We ran the three machines in ankle-deep grass, about what you have when it's time to mow your yard, and knee-deep grass. We wanted to see the strengths and weaknesses of all.

The rotary cutter, or brush hog, did an admirable job in both conditions. Not a great cut like a lawn mower, but from a distance, I'm not sure you could tell. The advantage of that machine is you can go back in the woods and cut a trail with it and not tear it up. When you do that though, the blades will gradually get dull, so unless you're handy with a grinder, your field cut could decline in how attractive it is over time.

The finish mower, in my opinion, did the best job in the ankle deep grass. It looked amazing from a distance, and had that nice striping. In the tall grass it was a disaster. Finish mowers just can't handle that much volume, and it struggled. It would be the choice if you never let your mowed area get away from you.

The flail surprised me. I've heard they pull hard on the tractor, this one didn't. I couldn't notice the weight of it, or the spinning hammers requiring a lot of horsepower. I thought the machine was too big for the 60 hp tractor, but it wasn't. The flail did the best job of cutting in the tall grass, and does a good job of striping. It's more compact than the other two machines, making it more maneuverable, and it can be offset with hydraulics, so it sticks out past the tractor tire for mowing next to fences and trees. It is, by far, the most expensive of the three machines, but it'll probably outlast three finish mowers in rough field conditions, so take that into account when buying. Finally, flail mowers cut horizontally, so they tend to throw rocks downward, rotary cutters and finish mowers can throw rocks into widows. Get the flail mower if you're mowing next to houses or where people could be, they're much safer.

I tried to include as much video as possible of the cutting and the results, it's hard to judge how pretty a cut is by looking at a video. Bear in mind that we shot this video in late July, and our cool season grasses are well on their way to dormancy at that point. A better shoot would have been in spring or fall, but you have to take advantage of the opportunity when you can. The grass we were cutting wasn't the best either, a combination of fescue, red clover and Johnson Grass, a little better than the typical pasture in the area where I live.

I'll probably get asked, so I'll give you my final opinion. I still like a rotary cutter, or brush hog, for our area. They're tough, they do a decent job of cutting anything from grass to brush to small trees and they're the cheapest option, and I like cheap. My least favorite option is a finish mower. They do the prettiest job of cutting, but there's no way I'd ever keep my estate clipped to the grass height where they shine. If you want the manicured cut that you get out of your lawn mower in your pasture, get the finish mower. Finally, I was impressed by the flail. If I was trying to get a well groomed look, that's what I'd buy, because if the grass gets away from you, you can still cut it and have it look nice. I like the maneuverability and the safety aspects as well. I'm not sure I'd like replacing hammers.

Thanks to C.R. and Beth for letting me hang out at their property for a month and especially, thanks to Rhino Ag for supplying the products and the drone shots. I want a drone.

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Видео Flail, Finish and Rotary Cutter Comparison канала Tractor Mike