Housemartin Flail Mower Review

[John Holland]

I thought it might be useful to share the experience I personally had with sourcing buying and using this flail mower s I have seen one or two negative comments felt it might help to do so. The company is based at Colleys Farm, Drotwich, Worcesterhsire and run by Nina Martin whose husband I understand is also in agriculture and works in China from time to time. The Housemartin mower has been going for years it seems but they took the decision to source from China a few years ago and now bring a batch of machines across throughout the year as demand requires it. I was told that Nina's husband has visited the factory where the mower is made on a few occasions and made specific changes to the machine to reflect the performance they want in terms of build quality etc. There are a few videos of the machine operating at :

.

The ordering was easy and ridiculously cheap at £1100 all in for delivery of the smallest 1.25m wide mower (it is going on a midsize compact tractor so can easily run from 15hp - 20hp). Delivery a couple of days later on a pallet with steel frame to support it with the PTO drive included (and a set of instructions). I called Nina for some advice and she re-iterated that the most frustrating thing was when buyers didn't follow the instructions which apply to start-up of the machine, filling gearbox with oil and setting the cutting height - all in colour, 5 pages and easy to understand. Nina said that when buyers simply ignored the instructions or short-circuited them then that was when the odd bad review crept in.

She really knows her stuff and is lovely and friendly to deal with so do give her a call before buying as she will be honest about what model you need - Nina Martin - Housemartin Agricultural MOB: 07970 994040 TEL: 01527 869156 (for the record I have no connection whatsoever with her or the firm but given the difficulties I had searching for a flail mower I thought I would help others regarding this model (Beckside machinery, despite the good reviews, was more expensive and never rang me back).

I have been setting it up today on the rear of my little John Deere and apart from some adjustment to the PTO linkage it seems to work well. Sadly, at this stage I cannot report on ultimate performance but will return to this thread and update when I have mowed/'flailed' (!) about 7 acres of 1.5ft high grass.

June 2020.

Cheers.

John



Email: [email protected]

 

[Dave W]

I'm gonna make a prediction here. It'll be the greatest machine you've used and made a perfect job

 

[John Holland]

Hey Thanks Dave !
Nice to hear some positive thoughts on this - you know how the suspicion of all things Chinese-made is difficult to shake (and I would LOVE to buy British - but was disappointed with both the cost and poor response to enquiries - anyway Housemartin used to be built in Britain as far as I can tell?). I was deeply impressed by the machine when it arrived and in setting up today - seems well built. I'll report back on cutting !
John

 

[Dave W]

Hey Thanks Dave !
Nice to hear some positive thoughts on this - you know how the suspicion of all things Chinese-made is difficult to shake (and I would LOVE to buy British - but was disappointed with both the cost and poor response to enquiries - anyway Housemartin used to be built in Britain as far as I can tell?). I was deeply impressed by the machine when it arrived and in setting up today - seems well built. I'll report back on cutting !
John

Sorry. Sarcasm obviously doesn't convey too well in text.

 

[Drillman]

Nice advert I thought?

 

[John Holland]

I have actually NEVER posted on a 'forum' board before - I am proud to be on LinkedOut, Goggle, NoApp, Twatter and Flatbook !

Well okay fellas - whatever - all I can say is the supposedly 'great' flail mowers which were being advertised were either a lot of money or the chaps never came back to a simply enquiry written or by phone. Housemartin did at least do that, the price was good and delivery excellent so thought I would bother to write up the experience. At least they are based in Britain even if the machinery is chinese-made. The only genuinely English mower I found was fantastic but five times the price.

 

[john432]

Touch a rock, or anything hidden in the scrub with it, and then report back how well it stood up.

 

[Drillman]

@John Holland the thing is any new member whos first post is a glowing report of some machine or product or whatever makes folks suspicious that they have an ulterior motive.

Mite not be the case here but but does look like one Unfortunately

but hey welcome to the forum we don’t all bite, Just don’t mention pickups, Davy Broons or Fendt fuel consumption and you will be fine????

oh and most critically of all never tell a DDer that it can’t be done, that’s how the fight started??

 

[Andy26]

@John Holland it would be great if you could put some pictures of your new mower on the back of your little John Deere, its very easy to do and it would be good to see it all assembled and in work on your JD.

 

[PostHarvest]

I predict that a 1.25 metre flail is going to need more than 15 - 20 hp to cut 18 inch high grass at any speed higher than a crawl. My 1.5 metre flail can test my 40 hp tractor especially when the flails get blunted. McConnell recommend minimum 35hp for their 1.3 metre flail.

 

[Andrew]

I’m a bit surprised the machine turned up with no oil in the gearbox. Most importers would do this before sending it on to the final customer, if only to avoid the hassle down the line.

Apparently Housemartin agri are based in the next village to me but I’ve never heard of them. The address appears to be a shop on the high street too.

 

[PostHarvest]

Shippers normally require that oils and fuel are drained before transport. But the importer should refill and test run as part of the PDI surely.

 

[Dave W]

I’m a bit surprised the machine turned up with no oil in the gearbox. Most importers would do this before sending it on to the final customer, if only to avoid the hassle down the line.

Apparently Housemartin agri are based in the next village to me but I’ve never heard of them. The address appears to be a shop on the high street too.

Shippers normally require that oils and fuel are drained before transport. But the importer should refill and test run as part of the PDI surely.

I'd doubt very much wether it has had a pdi since leaving China. Just sent straight to customer. That's how they keep the price down
ive sold a few Del morino flails and they come to me like that. No oil and roller set right up to compact it.

 

[Andrew]

I'd doubt very much wether it has had a pdi since leaving China. Just sent straight to customer. That's how they keep the price down
ive sold a few Del morino flails and they come to me like that. No oil and roller set right up to compact it.

Most machines come partially dismantled even from France or similar, so I would expect ones from China too.

However you as the ?importer / dealer? build them up and PDI them. An end user accepting a machine in transport condition, no oils etc, is basically accepting no warranty as the manufacturer has so many get out clauses. If those mowers were assembled and PDI’f by the importer, they would probably be similar price to other makes?

 

[milkloss]

Apparently Housemartin agri are based in the next village to me but I’ve never heard of them. The address appears to be a shop on the high street too.

Why not go and have a chat and report back? Good to see some local trade even if China is involved.

 

[Andrew]

Why not go and have a chat and report back? Good to see some local trade even if China is involved.

I might do when I get time. Address I was looking at was on Companies house, yard address is miles away though. Often that way so could still call in.

 

[Dave W]

They are droitwich, Worcester according to this thread

Housemartin Rotivator - any good?

hi, Been quoted £937 plus vat and del for a new, 1.5 m to go on the back of a compact tractor. Does anyone have any experiance with this brand? It won't get lots of use and will probably sell it in a few years time but want something that can do the job. Any advice? Thanks HF

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[PostHarvest]

ive sold a few Del morino flails and they come to me like that. No oil and roller set right up to compact it.

That's fine if you as the seller or distributor fill the gearbox with oil, set the roller to the working position, and make sure that the PTO shaft and guards are correctly fitted. That is what you are supposed to do under the Machinery Directive and CE marking regulations. But machinery is not supposed to be sent out to the customer in kit form.

 

[Adam@Rumen]

@Clive can the "New Member" tag come back?

 

[Andrew]

They are droitwich, Worcester according to this thread

Housemartin Rotivator - any good?

hi, Been quoted £937 plus vat and del for a new, 1.5 m to go on the back of a compact tractor. Does anyone have any experiance with this brand? It won't get lots of use and will probably sell it in a few years time but want something that can do the job. Any advice? Thanks HF

thefarmingforum.co.uk

The above says Droitwich, Companies House says Ramsey and Google says Wisbech?