IS A FLAIL MOWER BETTER THAN A BRUSH HOG? (find out for yourself Kubota BX23S) 

That riding mower with a cab looks ridiculous. So top heavy.

Keep the can and Get the extended ez spout at fleet farm, made specifically for diesel cans. Only like $12-15

If you have a rural king near you go buy a U-Jug, or order it from there online. Its called a "sportsman jug" instead of a gas probably so the government doesn't ruin it. But it's the best gas can I ever had and its only $20. I put about 5 gallons in in about 20 seconds.

Harbor freight has a transfer pump for $10.00 jon I use one and love it.keep on tractoring!!!!!!

I prefer the Flail over the bush hog simply because if you hit something big or hard there will be no blade damage to the flail.......

I prefer flail mowers to rotaries, also. I used to run a New Holland flail chopper to fill a cattle bunk feeder wagon with fresh grass. It used heavy, L-shaped blades which could leave a surprisingly smooth finish in the field when mowing tall hay. What really sold me on flails is the type used in California orchard floors for mowing. The floor of a nut orchard must be very flat and smooth to facilitate the sweeping of nuts. The mowers are the 3-point type you have, but the flails are usually a T shape, as opposed to the hammer or Y shape you show. It's a bit of a chore to sharpen or replace all those flails, but they do a fantastic job. Flails seem a bit safer than a large rotary blade, which can throw objects in any direction, and can also get bent from hitting a large object. The flail mower largely throws stuff in one direction, and if you hit a rock or chunk of wood, it may only damage a few flails. I know what you mean about those wretched fuel spouts. I'm all for clean air, and effective pollution regs, but those fuel spouts that are supposed to prevent spills.... and yet every time I use them, I end up with what I call my "EPA-mandated spillage". If only they'd make one that worked. There's a lot of political greenwashing going on.

Hi I just talked to a Kubota dealer and he told me my a bx23s would not run a Frail mower I that needed at least 30 hp to run one yours is a bx23s right ?? thank you sir

If you are thinking of buying a flail mower vs. a brush hog, I recently purchased the top of the line WOODMAX 96H (which cuts an 8 ft swath, with a hydraulic offset mechanism). The machine cuts well, but the rails on which the hydraulic shift traveler rides is made of soft Chinese steel. The thing bowed in the middle before I could ever put the mower in use. This bowing caused the traveler to catch on the rail, which transferred the pressure from the hydraulic unit to the rail itself. The result was that the rails pushed the freeze plug, and the snap ring which held the rail in place, plumb out of the seat, along with rail itself. This was bad enough, but the real, and lasting damage is that the WOODMAX company won't return my calls, respond to my e-mails, or any of my direct mail attempts to have them send me a replacement rail, end plugs, and snap rings. The unit came with a 3 year warranty, which appears now to be a complete sham. The price was right at $4,000, as that is about half of what a legitimate Kubota or John Deere would cost. Since I have received zero response from WOODMAX, I hired a fellow to weld metal covers over the ends of the rail guides, which for now is working fine. But, the rail itself continues to bend upward in the middle, and will most likely end up being completely useless. The old brush hog was virtually maintenance free for forty years. The flail mower is three months old. The cut is nice, and it turns 1" twigs to mulch, which is good for the pecan orchards where it is used. With minimal customer service from WOODMAX, I could install a new rail, after having my welder heat-temper the steel for strength. But, WOODMAX apparently does not care one twig for their customers.

Thank you for this video. I too have a BX23S which specs at 17 Hp at the PTO. The EFG-125 specs specify a minimum PTO Hp of 20. It doesn’t appear that you have had a problem running it though. Do you still recommend it for this tractor?

Safety gas cans and lawyers, they can all go to the burn pile.

If I'm not mistaken, tractor supply company sells traditional replacement gas can spouts for around $5

Try an E-Z Pour spout. $10.00Amazon. Replace stock with it. Add their air intake valve, done. No moving parts, just a bigger spout with no impediments!

I'm new to your channel and I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but shaker siphon style hoses work great. They can be a bit slow if you get one of the thinner ones, so get the thickest one you can find (3/4 or 1"). Once you get it going you can step back and then wait for either the tank to fill or the can to empty. I started using them back in the 90s.... now I have the electric fuel pumps with dual filters and auto shut off nozzles. But I still occasionally use the old shaker siphons.

You can change the spoutfor about 10.bucks

"IS A FLAIL MOWER BETTER THAN A BRUSH HOG?" Well, it took 6:15 before you even began to address that question; more than halfway through your video. A little establishing video up front is fine, but not more than six minutes worth of you mowing and gassing up your Kabota.

I haven’t see a $5 fuel can in 20 years lol.

Drill a vent hole and take the red safety piece off and it’s good to go

You cut the spout off just below the top part and slide rubber hose on it, sizes vary then you get a chair leg bottom rubber that fits over the hose. Next get a car tire valve stem and drill a hole in the rear top of handle feed a wire down the hole and out spout hole, take valve guts out and feed wire through stem and bend it over. Pull the stem up through drilled hole and into place. dont put valve guts back in and just unscrew valve cap to vent. Cheapest Way I Found So Far.

You can get a $10.00 Battery pump at Harbor Freight, works great uses D cell batteries. Will empty 5 gallon can quicker than you can empty the can you have.

Aloha Ritter Bit: My ranch in Hawaii is grassy and weedy, but is also covered in lava rocks that vary in size from 1-6" diameter. They're everywhere. I've been wanting to mow the grass, and there are too many rocks to move. I'm considering purchase of a flail mower for my Deere 4310, but only if I could adjust the mower upward/downward on the fly as needed while I drive, so I don't hit rocks. Can you give me your opinion, or offer another solution?

Put a self tapping scew between both handles, that will give you a vent.

I am looking at a flail mower for my bx2230. The EFG125 you are using looks like a good option. Would you get a different model if you could change? Enjoying the videos! Thank you!

Look at the design of NASCAR fuel tanks that pit crews use to drop a full load of fuel into a race car in 3 to 5 seconds, no spills. Offer a teenage $5 to track the idea or patent down on the Internet. Then figure out how to incorporate whatever principle they use into a home-made version - problem solved for $5. Also - what is the solution to the deer fly problem

HEY G.MORNING BIG GUY GREAT VIDEO. ON THAT FLAIL MOWER I HAVE AN IDEA THAT WOULDN'T IT BE BETTER IF YOU HAD ONE ROW OF HAMMER BLADE AND ONE ROW OF KNIVES BLADES ON THAT SHAFT?? JUST ASKING.SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.DIRT FARMER MICHAEL USNAVYRETIRED ORG. FROM GA. LIVING IN THE COUNTRY OF PANAMA.ALWAYS WISHING THAT MY MESSAGE FIND YOU AND YOUR WELL ALWAYS.OH LIKE TO SEE THAT TRACTOR IS ENCLOSED SOTHAT IN CASE YOU RUN INTO A WASP NEST YOU WON'T GET ALL STUNG UP.BE SAFE AND TAKE CARE.NOW GO HAVE A FINE NAVY DAY. GOD AND COUNTRY.

Just got a flail for my BX23s. We'll see how it goes. We bought some land to clear just south of Duluth.

Easy cheap fix get valve stem for tires drill appropriate sized hole in high side of can around the handle fish valve stem into hole pull out valve core throw out or save for a tire some time just put valve cap on without the core take cap off instant vent cost about 1 to 2 bucks

Why did 61 people give this a thumbs down?? This is a great video!

Cut the top off, plastic weld a funnel onto the can with a breather straw down the can so it doesnt gurgle

Get the EZ-Pour HI-Flow replacement Nozzle. It come with the vent too. Best thing I’ve found for those cans.

Jon the Harbor Freight works well and you get 20 or 25 % off thats what we use God Bless PaK

Five dollar solution get a funnel and take the spout off to fuel the BX.

When I was a teen we used flail mowers for finish cutting and nush hogs for high grasses, bushes and saplings. Flail mower has a LOT of knives to sharpen!!!

Good job Jon. I'd like to try a flail mower on my property. As far as fuel cans go, I switched to SureCan and will never use another style fuel can. They got it figured out👍 enjoyed a full watch👍

I thought the blades were cast iron and didn't know you can sharpen them?

In a word......"YES!"

What do you use to protect the cooling fan?

I really enjoyed this episode. The flail mower seemed to do a great job. You said something about it not being great on grass...but from our angle, it seemed to be doing a good job with that rough stuff you were cutting. The finished product was much nicer than my little 4' king kutter would have done.

There’s a AA battery pump on Amazon for around $12 that I bought for fueling our Kubota L3901. I’ve had it a couple years now and it works great!

Jiggler Express Shaker Siphon Self-Priming 1/2" Copper Pump Head. I have used these things a lot. They’re not very expensive, you can get three of them on Amazon for less than $20. They don’t take any batteries to go dead and all you need is a little gravity. They’ll drain a 5 gallon fuel can in about a minute and a half.

Why am I reading gas cap commercials instead of commentary on flail mowers? Way to hyjack @ thread. I’ve cut hundreds of acres of heavy cover on a Ford 8n and a 8’ flail mower. Never threw a rock through anything. Never choked the engine down. Did go over some places twice, but if you say you haven’t done that you with a bush hog you are lying. If I ever have another, I’ll never change the blades on it.

"No-spill" cans are worth every penny.

It does a nice job! I am still using a weed wacker... (jealous!). I am fascinated you can do that with 17hp on the PTO. Question, how did the big Kubota L3940 landed to Yukon Acres? Did you haul it with your F150? Thanks!

Here’s the solution. Buy a $2 funnel and unscrew(remove) the cap from your fuel can. Then just pour it in.. rocket science.

Buy JEGS DIESEL CANS $25, they are racing cans and therefore have the regular nozzle

Harbor Freight carries a nice inexpensive battery operated fuel pump. I think it is $9.99. I have a couple of them and they work great.

Morning Jon. Some great flail footage. Perfect for your property there for sure. Feels good to look back and see the fields all clear and open I bet. Lots of fun at the cabin. Cheers!

I use a funnel and a chemical safety can for flammable liquids (spring loaded with flame arrestor in the can). The can was a bit expensive when I bought it (1990's or early 2000's), but well worth it.

When i use the tractor with the mower on it brush hog or flail i usually drop my bucket to about the ground clearance height of my tractor going through the great unknown like you are that bucket serves as a protruding rock / obstruction detector to keep you from cracking something very expensive under the tractor you didn’t see in the tall brush

Thanks for the video :) Have a great rest of your day :)

Do an Amazon search for gas spout. There’s a ton of them that’d work better. I use the EZ pour one. I see some with long nozzles that might work better with the cab.

DID YOU SEE THE 👃 NOSE ON THAT GUY!!!? 😱 He better be careful not to get that thing caught in that flail mower! 🚑

Has at least 50k worth of tractors, but don't ask me to spend $60 to fuel them!

I pulled that nozzle on the jug apart, took the inside out and the spring. Put the outer piece back on and used a soldering iron to melt the two pieces into one. Cap screws on and it works good.

I bought a Woodmaxx 74h with the hydraulic adjustable slide last year and bought both style knives. I've used finish mowers and brush hogs and those have their place but man this flail is awesome. My 80 year old father thought it was a waste of money but he couldn't believe what it does. The key is having a hydraulic center link as well, you can really fine tune the cut.

Harbor freight battery powered fuel pump less than $10 if I recall. Saves my old back a lot of strain!

Great video! I'd love to see a video the flail with the knives installed if you do go that route, and I would be interested to know how much work it takes to swap them out. I'm really torn between getting a rotary mower or a Flail Mower and your videos are really helpful so far!

I found the normal replacement gas can spouts at Walmart also I'm told that Farm and Fleet have them also... If you want one of the battery fill tubes I got mine on sale at Harbor Freight for $8.99. It's regular price was $14.99... I'm disabled so it was hard for me to hold up a 5gal. gas can to fill up my lawn tractor and always put almost as much on the ground as I got in the tractor. So the $8.99 saved me a lot of money by not spilling any more gas on the ground... Be blessed.. BBE..

You should check out Paul and Kathy Short RU-vid channel, they build a ton of beefy add ons or mods for the kubota tractors. Guards, steps and that sort of thing,

Flail mower over rotary cutter for me!

At some farm stores you can get vent kits for the stupid California fuel cans. They work really well.

That cab looks comically large for that tractor 😂 I bloody love me a cab though. It’s a necessity here in Australia or you melt...

Anyone want to buy a slightly used 48" landpride rotary cutter? 🤣 My flail mower was delivered today. I put about 4 hours on it this evening. What a beast!!

Bueno el tractor para cortar el pasto y malezas si hay que tener el sector libre de piedras y troncos saludos desde Temuco Chile

Hey there Jon!!! The flail mower works some nice eh!! I like it better than a brush hog. Like you say, it's neater and tidier and easier to store and that's important I think. Thanks for posting!!!

The flail mower is nice but a brush mower is tougher

Question for ya. I have a 2017 B2320 gear trans and ive been on the fence between a land pride RCR1248 (4' brush hog) and a betsco flail. Leaning more towards the flail. Did you get the standard, medium or heavy duty model from them? Thanks.

Hi Jon! Good video! I enjoyed watching you flail about in the wilderness with that mower. Thanks for the pros and cons comparison between flail and rotary mowers. I have a brush hog and it works fine for me but I like the idea of the smaller footprint of a flail mower. Thanks for sharing!

Good evening Sir, great tractor action !!! nice wood fire and bushwack action too !!! LOL Cheers !!!

Nice flail.

I been looking at the caroni flail mower. just cant make up my mind

Also the color blue attracts Horse flies, deer flies, and most other flies in general. Just a wee bit of FYI... Be blessed.. BBE...

I have the $5 answer for your fuel can. Amazon sells retro fit fuel can vents like they all used to have. Next you want to take that eco-twink spout apart down to the raw spout and jam a 3/4" I.d. (I think) clear hose over it. Cut it to a comfortable length and use a 3/4" pvc plug for a stopper. I actually like my fuel can again.

With those stupid gas jugs. You can buy like a 10 pack of vents on Amazon. Drill a half inch hole opposite the spout on the top. Pop one of those vents in. Then those cans will actually work.

Harbor Freight ----Battery Operated Liquid Transfer Pump I have one and it's fantastic. No more fuel spills and clean. Remove the batteries when not in use, they last longer.

Get a large mounts funnel and take the lid off to pour the fuel. Best thing I ever did.

The Justin cans are spendy but they are worth it. They have an easy fill and pour and I've had mine for five years with no problems with the exception of my neighbor trying to steal them. They also don't vent when they are in the truck.

I see you have tag alders too , oh man I hate them weeds. Ok buddy I went shopping and them flail mowers are twice the price of a rotary cutter like I have so that's not good but its nice and compact , I like that . I have many area's in the bush I need to keep the cutter a minimum of 6-7 inches off the road so I'm not sure how you adjust the heights with that roller across the back?

rural king has replacement nolsles

Had meant to follow up with you after our last exchange. I had mentioned using a 60" woods finish mower behind my BX on some pretty rough stuff (when you were cutting a trail at the school). I have to say I was thinking about the finished product and behind the flail you do not appear to get any long grass sticking back up (that was pushed down by the deck but not cut). I often have areas where I will need to "touch up" be it with a 60" belly mower, or 60" Woods brush hog or 60" woods finish mower. So maybe a flail mower in in my future after all! Keep up the interesting videos!!

Love that mower. Does a very nice job. Thank you.

Get a flexible spout for your fuel can. It's worth the money!

just break the "safety" plug crap off the end of the spout. worked for me:)

I have several complaints with flail mowers. 1. A decent size one takes alot of horsepower. 2. Even a 10' flail mower has a short front to rear cross section so sapplings get pushed over and never contact the flail knives. A large rotary mower is long, front to back, as it is side to side, so it cuts longer shoots and sapplings on the first pass. Flails seem better to me in areas where there are larger downed branches and lots of rocks. You do have to replace the knives alot though. I forgot to add the maintenance. There are quite alot of moving parts and bushings to keep on top of. Ive never replaced anything on my rotary mowers. Ive never even sharpened the blades. My flails always seem to need some sort of maintenance before I am able to put them to work.

The race fuel jugs work well. They are sold as "utility jug"

Thinking about getting one be easier to get in to Spots where I can’t let her brush hug good video Jon God Bless

That gas can is horrible. I have the same one. I took the top off my red gasoline one. It has the same threads and a much better vent.

Harbor Freight has the battery transfer pumps for about $10. I have 1 for gas, 1 for diesel, just got 1 for oil/hydrualics, and 1 for water/anti-freeze.

Get a funnel

Your gonna scratch up your tractor doing that.

Ez spout hi flow

You mentioned a con of the rotary cutter which I think could be a pro in certain situations: it sticks way out the back. This makes it easier to mow under low branches and over ditches by backing up. Which brings another question - how good is the flail mower when operating in reverse? Great job on your videos - keep 'em coming!

RK has a flex fill spout and a separate vent as a kit for about 10 bucks. Bought a couple about two years ago, they were worth it to me. Enjoyed video on flail mower. Just signed up, have a good one.

Nice!!! ( Can you mix and match cutter blades to get best of both????)

As another commenter has said, that battery operated pump at harbor freight works well. I also bought one of those shaker pumps from there after watching a mech uno video. I have found that, that works really well also. As long as you can get the can above it that is. I was surprised, with the cab on your tractor fueling it looks pretty Inconvenient. Thanks so much Mr Ritter. God bless you and the family!

There is an adapter kit available that works on those kind of cans. You drill a 1/2 inch hole with a 'paddle' bit near the back of the handle in install a breather in the hole that you can close with a flip over cap. Then you remove the old spout and the kit comes with a spout that is a flexible tube with a screw on cap. Also comes with 2 screw on caps. Find the cap that fits you brand of fuel can and slide it over the tube and then screw everything onto the fuel can. You then have a fuel can that works great.

Brush hog is just what it says! You got tall weeds,and brush you want a brush hog! For cutting low weeds and grass a Flail..

They sell a rebuild kit for that fuel can at Tractor Supply. It comes with a regular old nozzle and a little vent cap to let the fuel flow. You just need to drill a little hole for the vent.

How do you find the lack of position control on the three point hitch for ground engagement attachments? Also how do you find the treadle pedal? Trying to compare the bx23s to the 1025r jd....

How do you protext your hydrostatic cooling fan in that brush or is the factory guard that much better on the new BX?

For your gas can, I recommend a flexible funnel...I; also, recommend maybe placing the gas can in a cooler for food; and carry it in your front bucket. The cooler will keep the gas cool in the hot sun; and, prevent explosive vapours from forming...