Choosing The Right Compact Tractor Mower Attachment
Taking care of a garden in your home can be a joy and sometimes a bit of a choir, especially when it comes down to keeping the grass tidy. When it comes to owning or looking after a Farm, Paddocks, Fields and so on, things get more tricky, and this is where you’d look at getting a Compact Tractor and using some of the ‘Handy’ implements that come with it. This is where you’d look at investing in a Compact Tractor mower attachment.
If the area you need to keep in check is large enough, a simple push-mower or even ride on might not ‘cut it. At this point, you need to consider which implement is the best so that you can get the most out of your Compact Tractor. Let’s focus on the two main implements for this, the Topper Mower and the Flail Mower.
When it comes to mowing grass and overgrowth, these are generally the only implements worth considering and each of them excels in different areas.
What Is A Topper Mower?
As the name suggests, a Topper Mower is used to take the tops off of the area that you are mowing. This includes small saplings, scrubland and long grass. The Topper Mower’s design features two blades attached to a central carrier, rotating at speed to give a clean cut. These quickly and efficiently remove the tops of the grass or overgrowth with each pass.
What Is A Flail Mower?
When you need to deal with heavier grass and scrubland, a Flail Mower is perfect. Some of the smaller models can be self-powered, but many of them are PTO driven implements that are attached to the rear of your Compact Tractor using a three-point hitch. It gets its name from the use of Flails that are attached to a rotating horizontal drum.
The Mower Attachment Versatility Test
If the area you are dealing with has become overgrown and uncontrollable for a standard finishing mower, and the terrain is level, the Topper is the one to choose. If the area is rough and uneven for the majority, a Topper may struggle. Toppers are the cheaper option, but a Flail Mower will offer you more versatility when the ground conditions are not perfect, albeit at a higher cost.
Cutting Lengths Of Mower Attachment
A Topper Mower generally has longer cuttings when compared to the Flail Mower. As the cuttings are funnelled toward the skids of the machine though, they tend to form fairly neat rows of cuttings and are not scattered all over the field. Collecting them afterwards is easy and quick and it will avoid having big clumps of grass left which can lead to the natural regrowth being smothered.
On the other hand, the Flail Mower is slightly more compact and has a horizontal rotor that uses Hammer Blades. As the rotor spins the Hammer Blades (named because they are in the same shape as Hammers) it creates a flailing motion with cuts the grass. This means it can do a great job on lawns that have shorter grass, as well as everything else the Topper Mower can do.
The Flail Mower cuttings are short too making it easy to mulch them down and easy to spread further afield, or they can be gathered and put into a cylindrical component. The ideal use for the Flail Mower is on uneven and rough areas of light grass, gorse and overgrowth but as mentioned before, it can tackle uneven ground.
The final point of note about cutting efficiency is that Flail Mowers are certainly more manoeuvrable than the Topper, even more so in tight areas, and can also tackle grass verges. The Flail is quickly becoming the mower of choice.
Mower Attachment Summary
For all of the additional benefits that a Flail Mower can offer over a Topper mower, its additional manoeuvrability and versatility will come at a cost. The right choice for you will depend on your circumstances, our guide is to highlight the main benefits you’ll get from either mower.
Both of the mowers do a good job at cutting, so one of the main considerations for you will be the type of vegetation that you need to mow regularly. In short, for rough paddocks, a Topper will serve you better, but for brambles, gores and bushes, a Flail should be your go-to.
We stock a range of Topper Mowers and Flail Mowers at HandyCompactTractors.co.uk so you should be able to find exactly what you need, just click here.
If we don’t have the type of mower that you need in stock, please contact us and we may be able to source it on your behalf.
