So, what’s so great about a flail mower anyway? What a flail mower is is a mower designed to deal with really tough, dense, heavy grass that a typical mower would not be able to handle. It does this by rethinking what a blade should be entirely. Instead of using a traditional blade, it uses flails, which turn around a drum. This design helps it mow deep, tough vegetation.
Flail mowers can be either self powered, or as an attachment for most heavy tractors. It is more common to see them as an attachment for a tractor than as a standalone mower. Most flail mower attachments attach at the three point hitch at the rear of the tractor.
The mower is named for the flails that it uses to cut the heavy grass/shrubbery down.
Flails are not like the spinning blades of a regular mower deck. They bolt up to a spinning drum. This means that they don’t cut the grass by cutting it from the side. Rather, they drop down upon it and cut it that way. This makes is impossible to get a bent blade.
The flails are staggered, which further helps it avoid getting stuck on or damaged by heavy debris.
Benefits of a Flail Mower
The way that flails are designed makes it very hard for a flail mower to get hung when cutting. The flail bolts to the drum and can be easily moved by hand when the mower is not running. But, when the drum is turning the centrifugal force keeps them tight. But, if it comes into contact with something like a rock, stump, or other debris the flail can move. This provides a huge advantage over a typical deck/bladed mower.
Conclusion
A flail mower is a great thing to have if you are looking to cut some seriously challenging terrain.