# Rubber rollers vs flail condtioners



## Colby S (Feb 20, 2011)

Hi, 
I am in the market for a new cutter and I found a good one but the only problem is that it has flail conditioners, I would like to know what the difference is and which one is better for the crop I would be cutting. I cut mostly coastal and some Bahia. Thanks for any input!


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

There are many different types of flail conditioners, from plastic like the Lely to metal hammers like the JD uses. in my own experiencewith the flails on the JD's it has two speeds that can be interchanged by swapping gears, In high speed (870 RPM I think) it is quite agressive on legume and causes leaf loss. And beyond that I don't think they work as well as rolers, some plants will get crimped once or twice, others not at all. Personally, after using several different makes and models of flail conditioner I don't like them. IMO rollers srill work better, by far, and if you realy want to condition check out circle c replacement rollers...


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## Colby S (Feb 20, 2011)

I'm looking at a jd 530 with rollers and if that don't work out, it will be the nh 1410 with flails. Thanks for the reply!


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

Also keep in mind that the flails use HP. They seem to need more power than the rollers to me anyhow.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

For grass hay the flail has a slight edge, for alfalfa the rollers have the definate advantage.

The Flail will cure hay fster but also can shatter more leaves off thew stem.
Both will roughly cure hay 50% faster than a simple mower if a tedder is also used right behind the mower. 
New Holland with their slightly different designe can spread the hay 80% to 100% behind the mower and save a trip with a tedder. That will conserve leaves compared to following the mower with a tedder. Save on fuel and manpower not needig to use the tedder. 
Without the tedder the hay dries about 25% faster than unconditioned and not using a tedder, with both types of conditioning.

Something I have noticed, bermudagrass is worse about shattering leaves than alfalfa, but looks better in the bale with half the leaves gone.


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## panhandle9400 (Jan 17, 2010)

you wont like them in alfalfa ! but grass i bet they will be great.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Toyes Hill Angus said:


> IMO rollers srill work better, by far, and if you realy want to condition check out circle c replacement rollers...


This^^^ Installed my original pair that Circle C recovered. Do everything they said they would, next time around I'll be getting the full kit complete with airbags.


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## hay king (Feb 6, 2011)

flails work better in grass than rollers but with alfalfa rollers would be the way to go.


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

Colby S : If you are doing coastal (bermuda grass) flail is what you want. The flails rub the waxy film off the stem allowing it to dry faster but still not a fast as the leaves. It, the flail conditioner, will drop the hay into a windrow, immediately ted the hay out to get 100% ground coverage, you will cut one day off your drying time, most of the time .

Roller conditioners just don't work good in bermuda grass leave them for the alfalfa growers where they do a good job and flails don't. The stems of bermuda grass just dont break/crush, to release the moisture like alfalfa does.

scrapiron


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

I live in an area where the flails have been marketed hard for years. They have some advantages in some conditions. I think part of it is manufacturers got tired of roll related warranty issues. Awfully hard to break a flail and expensive to build a quality roll like circle c.

I am a dry hay guy baling everything from pure alfalfa to pure grass using b&d rollers and there won't be flails here.

Here's my question. There are at least half a dozen machines out there that condition or macerate as a separate operation from cutting. Prices run as high as 30k and they sell so someone sees the value in them. I am not aware of a flail type stand alone unit. Why is that?


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

good piont SVFHAY. After having two older new holland 488s peel the rubber off of the rollers. I thought flails would be great but after closely examining the job they did I decided a good job for ten years was better than a poor job forever. As a side note, it seems that all of the brands have a big push on the flails, here anyways.


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## Customfarming (Oct 8, 2009)

Flail conditioner is the only conditioner that will have any effect on coastal. The flails also have to be set as aggressive as possible. Unless it is producing more than 2 tons per acre on a single cutting there is no need to ted it out. This is coming from years of experience in cutting and baling coastal and other bermudagrasses.


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