Swisher RC14544BS 14.5HP 44-Inch Electric Start Tow Behind Rough Cut Mower

First of all, let me sum up this review by saying I am incredibly pleased with this product. I bought it because I needed to bush hog my shooting lanes at a deer camp. My friend who had a big bush hog pulled by a tractor left the camp so I was left on my own. After researching and reading reviews I chose this product. It arrived earlier than expected, and the driver called me appropriately and I gave him directions to my home. It was professionally packaged and delivered. I took it to my camp on my trailer and began to unpack it from its extremely secure crate. The instructions were straightforward. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the only thing I wish is that I could have gotten more timely and accurate descriptions of the battery that I would need to buy. I was on a real strict timeline based on my work schedule and I wanted to make sure I had the correct battery before the unit arrived. Communications to the seller just referred me to the instruction sheet, but there was a lot to read and I probably overlooked it. As it worked out, I was able to have time to take the unit to an auto parts store on my trailer on the way to my camp and on the 2nd attempt, the correct battery dropped right into the slot. It cost about $100. And contrary to a previous reviewer’s comments, there was no issue with the security of the battery setting on the deck. From the deer camp we attached it to my Polaris ATV and it traveled did very well about 3 miles to my hunting site. Prior to purchasing it, I had concerns about driving so far, but due to the size of the tires we went along at about 20 mph with no issues whatsoever. My wife and I then followed the instructions, it started up immediately, and we began to tow it towards what appeared to be a jungle. I really did not know what to expect from it so I had some apprehensions as we tackled brush and thick weeds that sometimes were 7 feet tall. Just as it was historically when my friend on a tall tractor did the work for me, from the level of my Polaris seating, I literally could not see where I was going because the brush and weeds were so tall. My wife and I constantly looked out for fallen logs, etc. because they might just show up 2 or 3 feet in front of us before we would see them. I say this to let the reader know just how thick the stuff was. This product performed in an exceptionally good way. When we looked back at what we had gone over, we were both shocked at how well it had cut a path through all that stuff. We had it on the highest setting and there was no need to go over a 2nd time what we had already cut. We had 4 lanes radiating out from one stand up to almost 300 yards and it took about 3 hours to cut them. We had no problems whatsoever with the unit. We then moved another 3 miles to the 2nd stand and cut 2 lanes quite similar to the above with no problems. I cannot recommend this any higher. It lived up to everything and more as advertised. Just pay attention to the battery you need, take care of that, and you are good to go. It repeatedly started immediately, had plenty of power for what we needed, and we’re very proud to now be independent regarding our deer camp shooting lanes.

This mower was easy to finish assembling, and came packaged sufficiently. Not the fault of Swisher, but it took a full five weeks to get about 600 miles, evidently because it was a bulky, pallet style load, and I was not happy with the shipping arrangements. Regardless, The mower initially worked as well as I had expected, but the design of the mower with only two wheels tends to make the machine porpoise greatly (rock from end to end) in my rather rough fields, and this led to several broken bolts, even the very hardest grade 8 bolts, at the connection of the mower to the hitch arm where it swivels for offsetting to either pull straight behind or to one side. I read some guys drilled out the 3/8 and put in larger diameter bolts to solve the problem and will do that when I get it out this year. Otherwise, it cuts as described and has enough power for my needs. I chopped through some rather big saplings, 2- 3 inches, and I didn't break anything, so to this point it has passed my quality assurance test. I use a side-by-side UTV and the controller has a long enough cord to reach my box without any trouble. If I had to buy over, I might choose the 4 wheel mower over this one for smoothness of operation, and with the hope it would pull better without breaking bolts from porpoising.

Ive used it a few times to cut a 10ac field which was overgrown with locust.. Some of these were nearly 3" at base but anything i could push over with my UTV, the mower chopped up.. it didn't do a lot to the bigger pieces and once in a while it stalled out but overall ok. In a rough field situation this thing takes a beating, bouncing up and down over stuff. CHECK THE BOLTS OFTEN. the bolts that connected the tow bar to the mower worked loose, one shaped and the other was all stripped out.. I had to replace them, which i did with stainless steel.. i also used lock nuts this time. so far so good.A few weeks ago I ran over a chunk of locust that i had previously mowed down ..it was around 3" thick..and it jammed up under the blade causing belt to slip and start burning. I had to lift the mower on its side and remove the piece.. Unit ran very rough afterwards.. I finally realized this had caused the pivot blades to lock tight rather than pivot resulting in out-of balance. This is common occurrence but not mentioned in manual. U must remove the blades and re-install to fix.

Could not beat this deal. Free Shipping, no taxes.Runs good, fairly quite.The adjustment assembly on the front for hooking up to the towing vehicle is a bit of a cludge and the remote cable is not long enough as mentioned by others.As others mentioned about breaking pins, I added safety cables and drilled out for a bigger pin. I am going to add a pintle hook for a complete fix for that possibility. I also added a trailer jack to help with maneuvering by hand.Does what its supposed to well.

Cuts very good. I only wanted a rough cut mow a field for noxious weeds and hopefully clear some wild roses. I found the hitch to be lacking and have modified it to be a standard ball coupler. $10 at Harbor Freight for hitch and a couple of bolts. Much better. May change straight portion of tongue to 3/8's tubing. Less than $15 at local metal store for drops.

I am using it in the woods to clean trails and it works great. I have cut for a number of days now and it could not have meet my expectations any better.

This product preformed beyond my expectations. Has worked through heavy pasture grass with no problems. It is easy to service and I believe very durable.