Swisher 44" towable rough cut mower

Dragonpharm · Sep 28, 2021

Thinking of buying a used Swisher rough cut towable mower instead of a bush hog for tractor. Anyone use these and have any feedback? Several reasons why this might be better than a bush hog on either tractor: we have rolling hills and a good amount of area that would have to be mown across hill ie side slope, mowing trails in the woods, mowing around horse fencing. My larger Massey is too unstable on slopes. The Mahindra has a backhoe and I'd be using it to clear some of the larger brush before mowing. Just curious if these work well for light brush and mowing areas that mey only get cut a few times per year?

MoKelly · Sep 28, 2021

I had one a few years back. I used a 4 wheeler to tow the unit.

It is good for tighter spaces. It worked fine for about 5 years.

The issues I had were:

- mine was a pull start. The pull start began to have issues. First the rope broke. Then the prawls began to have issues. It became a pain. An electric start would have been much better.

- the rubber tires are prone to flats. Especially if used on trails and paths. I must have plugged those tires 50 times.

- you should use a ATV with liquid cooling v air cooling. You cannot go very fast while brush hogging. Air cooling won’t be enough. The ATV will over-heat.

- 44 inch cut is not great. It takes time to cut much area.

- it is yet another engine you need to maintain.

Overall, if your tractor can get where you want to cut, I’d go with a PTO brush hog. If your tractor can’t get in there - the pull behind us a good choice.

Good luck.

MoKelly

1 of U · Sep 30, 2021

I bought one a couple weeks ago on a farm auction , high bid 250 after fees etc.. $283.00 this one is around 2008- 10 era the pull rope was out and both tires was off the rims from setting who knows how long it set , anyway took it home fixed the pull rope spring but they thing wouldnt start , I'm too damn old to be pulling on a rope these days i use a 1 inch socket and a drill to start my tiller so i put the drill on the motor it fired up ran a crap for a bit , ran some sea foam throu the carb and after running for a short while the bug cam out of it , re mounted the tires but they both went flat again , so i took the front tires from a old rider and made a 7/8 sleeve and put them on , i took this mower out to a field that was over grown this mower impressed me it never once sputted as it cut the tall grass /weeds with ease , it's the rough cut 44 a brush hog with spinning blades so it not a finish mower pulled it with a 4 wheeler . if there's a chance of flipping a tractor on you or a loved one get one of these , i think you will be happy with the mower and alot safer . I will only use this maybe a couple times a yr but it will be good to have .. have any other questions just drop me a line .
Jake

Dragonpharm · Sep 30, 2021

Thanks for the input. Was ready to buy a bush hog then started to really consider how little of what I want to mow can be accessed by the tractors. Most of the use will be cleaning out areas near new horse fencing and then trails for ATV and horses. My Kawasaki Brute Force is liquid cooled. That is an excellent point. Then ones I've found are pull start. Figured I could always swap the motor if needed.

bekenney · Oct 1, 2021

I bought a swisher 44 a few months ago not running and put a 22hp on it. Also I put a 12v electric actuator to engage the blades, works well with a dpdt switch. They cut good, mine easily handles 1in saplings. Grass it gets an ok cut but definitely not a finish mower

kneedeep · Oct 1, 2021

Would a utility yractor w 5' mower go where a 4 wheeler/mower can go?

Dragonpharm · Oct 2, 2021

I have a 58 HP Massey that is too big for some of it and definitely not at home on slopes. The side hill areas are too high of a butt pucker factor. My 38 HP Mahindra would go most places but because I'd rather not drop the backhoe when clearing trails I decided to buy the Swisher. If it works out, great and if it doesn't I'll sell it or modify it.

1 of U · Oct 2, 2021

here's some pics of when i brought it home with the original tires and a pic of the mower with the riding mower tires on it , it did lower the mower about 2 inches just from the tire swap .
i will also include a link from Switcher where you can down load a manual for the mower that you have , it comes in handy .
Jake

https://www.swisherinc.com/documents/owners-manuals

tmcj · Oct 3, 2021

I used a Swisher 44" rough cut for about 10 years with my ATV. 12.5hp pull start model. I used it to maintain several acres on my family's farm since we didn't have a brush hog for the tractor, and my uncle could no longer do it with his old tractor and sickle bar. Driving lanes, trails, and some general open areas. Mostly tall weeds and light brush. I never once had a flat tire, though that is rumored to occur often with these mowers. It was great for making walking trails. Anything I could run over with the ATV the mower had no issues at all mowing it down including saplings. Tall or thick weeds sometimes had to be mowed at a high setting, then lowered and recut if I wanted it shorter or cleaner. Otherwise it worked great for my needs. The only problems I had with it was the tongue and joints were not the strongest. The pin holes in the sq. tube tongue used for adjusting positions eventually got worn and a little loose. The plate where the sq. tube tongue attached to the mower cracked and needed a little reinforcement also. But I did mow a lot of dips and hills, so that may be my own fault over extending it some. The offset adjustability was great for mowing along lane edges or fence rows though. On a side note, the height adjustment shaft would collect some misc. dirt and debris. I always carried a rag and can of WD40 to keep it clean and lubed up if I needed to adjust it. That made adjustments much easier.

The other issue I had was with my ATV running at constant low speeds. I have a Yamaha Grizzly 700, and the fuel would often boil in the tank due to excessive heat generated by the engine and no air flow to keep it cool. It is liquid cooled and it never over heated, but the boiling gasoline was not good. It created a lot of pressure in the fuel tank which needed bled off frequently to prevent any issues.

After getting my Max 26XL, I purchased a 5' brush hog and sold the Swisher mower. The Max and brush hog is definitely a better set up but is a tight fit for some of the trails I had previously made. Some needed a few trees cleared for the combo to fit. Otherwise it is a much better set up. But the ATV and Swisher served the purpose well when that was what I had available to use.

I see so many of those Swisher mowers that looked beat to heck and back and weathered badly. They must be stored outside all the time or something. I used mine, but didn't abuse it, and it was stored inside since new. It was really good shape when I sold it. Much better than most used ones I have seen. I think I gave the guy a good deal for it. He was happy and I was content for the usage I had gotten out of it. The pic below is from the ad when I sold it.

Vigo327 · Oct 3, 2021

I don't own one of these yet but have been planning to build something similar as a finish mower. I have tractors not much bigger than 4 wheelers and similar size to golf cart and a 4' bush hog and only flat land, so i don't need the bush hog aspect as much but I totally 'get it' that the main reason you'd want this is to have less worry about maneuvering a larger tractor on uneven terrain, or less discomfort operating a tractor vs being able to tow it with whatever you want (even a riding mower, really). I dont mind the 'maintaining another engine' aspect and think these things are probably better for some people than PTO-driven bush hogs, but the price/availability spectrum HEAVILY favors the pto bush hogs in the used market.. I think a lot of people would like to run across one with flat tires and a dirty carb for $200!!!