Advice on our PTO Flail Mowers for Sale & FAQs
How do I ensure compatibility between my tractor and a PTO Flail Mower
Our experts are always happy to help advise on compatibility. Simply contact us with the model of your tractor and the mower that you’re after, and we can very quickly check if it will be suitable for you.
If you’re wanting to find out which flail mowers are compatible with your tractor by yourself, the easiest way to check is a quick 2-step process. This works for 98% of tractors.
Step 1) Find out the horsepower of your tractor. This is usually written on your tractor or can be found with a quick Google Search - Search Google for your tractor model, followed by “Tractordata” for the most-helpful website.
Step 2) Choose a flail mower that has a "Tractor HP Required" range that overlaps the horsepower of your tractor.
The easiest way to achieve Step 2 is to use the filters near the top of our website, and filter by “Tractor HP Required.” For example, if you have a 32hp tractor, select the filter 31hp-35hp, and it will remove flail mowers that are either too big or too small for your tractor.
This horsepower range takes into consideration the power output of your tractor, the lifting capacity, tractor weight, tractor size, linkage type and PTO type for the majority of tractors in this horsepower range.
While a small number of tractors may fall outside of this rating, they tend to be rare, such as very very old tractors designed before tractor engineering standards were set.
Our mowers typically have a standard Cat 1/Cat 2 linkage and a 6-spline PTO that turns at 540rpm. This is standard on most compact tractors, but feel free to contact us to discuss if you have any questions or want to make sure that you’re buying the right equipment.
Is a PTO shaft included?
YES! A PTO shaft is included free of charge with all flail mowers that require one. Link pins for your 3-point linkage are also included as standard on all flail mowers.
Do I need an offset / side-shift flail mower?
The offset / side-shift flail mowers for sale have a large benefit when you’re cutting near trees and fences. The mower is physically offset from the tractor, which allows the mower to get further under the tree canopy, without having to drive into branches. It also allows for easier control near fences, as you can cut close, but keep the tractor a more-comfortable distance away for ease of mobility.
You may be thinking, why aren’t flail mowers all offset as standard? Some are, but typically you want to balance the weight on the rear of your tractor, and also cut across the width of your two rear wheels, which is most easily achieved by a central-mounted flail mower.
Side-shift flail mowers come in a variety of designs:
- Hydraulic Side-Shift Flail Mowers - This is the go-to flail mower style for convenience, and for when you have many trees and fences to cut around. Your tractor must typically have two double-acting spool valves to move the mower from left to right. You can adjust the flail mower position as you sit on your tractor.
- Manual Side-Shift Flail Mowers - As the name suggests, this mower can be moved side-to-side manually, typically by removing a pin, moving the mower into place, and replacing the pin. This is ideal for someone whose tractor doesn’t have hydraulic valves.
- Fixed-offset Flail Mowers - Many flail mowers that do not have side-shift functionality often can be fixed at two different positions. The 3-point linkage can be mounted centrally, or you can unbolt it, and mount it offset to one side, thus giving a semi-permanent offset, which may prove crucial to cutting near your fences. This feature is standard on the very popular Winton WFL Flail Mowers.
- Verge Flail Mowers - This type of flail mower is offset to the extreme. It can often offset the entire mower past the rear wheels of the tractor. This type of mower may be ideal for an orchard with low-canopy trees.
Not only can Verge Flail Mowers be significantly offset, but the mower head can tip up or down, making it ideal for mowing in ditches or up verges. Some models can tip vertically up, and you can tackle the sides of short hedges and vegetation/brambles growing through fences.
Hammer Flails vs Y-Shaped Flails
Hammer flails are ideal for cutting through brambles and thick vegetation - the weight and momentum of this type of flail help them smash through woodier growth. Hammer flails can also be used on grass, as the tip of the hammer is fine and blade-like.
Y-shaped flails can cut through an awful lot, but may have a harder time cutting through woodier growth than hammer flails. Y-shaped flails are ideal for cutting grass and new, green growth. They slice through this material with ease and mulch it into fine pieces
My vegetation is extremely dense, will a flail mower cut through it?
Flail mowers are regarded as the best machine for cutting through dense vegetation, and are impressive when at work. However all machines have a limit - If you have years of weed and bramble growth, your tractor-driven flail mower may struggle to cut through it, and you will notice this by the tractor feeling sluggish and you will hear the flail mower not spinning at full RPM.
Fortunately, there are a couple of easy solutions! These can often get you through that initial extra-dense vegetation that’s been building up. After it’s been tackled for the first time, you can easily keep on top of each year's growth.
- Reduce the forward-speed of your tractor but keep the revs high. This gives your flail mower plenty of time to chop through the vegetation. Keeping the revs high gives more power to the flail mower attachment, and it will gradually make your weeds a thing of the past.
- Increase the cutting height of your flail mower, and cut in 2 passes. If cutting through a metre of dense weeds is causing your mower to struggle, you can either raise the cutting height of the mower or raise the flail mower on the 3-point linkage of your tractor. This allows you to cut roughly half of the vegetation in one pass, and the other half in the second pass.
We are yet to hear of weeds that cannot be overcome by combining steps 1 and 2. Once you’ve cut the vegetation down, your future maintenance cuts can typically be done in one pass, and are effortless for the flail mower.
Are there Flail Mowers for sale for Sub-Compact Tractors?
Sub-compact tractors are essentially large ride-on mowers with small wheels that have a 3-point linkage. These tractors often have a Cat 0 linkage and can have compatibility issues with their low riding height.
Fortunately, there are small, sub-compact flail mowers designed specifically for this type of tractor. Most popular is the Winton WCF Sub-Compact Range, which can be used on tractors as small as 12HP.
Feel free to contact us for more information or to ensure the compatibility of any machine in our collection.
