Swisher WB11524BS Predator 24-Inch Walk Behind Rough Cut Mower

I bought this machine to replace a sickle bar mower that I had used for about 25 years. It does exactly what I wanted which is to rough mow paths through the woods on my place and the rough vegetation next to my yard. It has plenty of power and pulls itself right up the fairly steep hills. In fact it can pull you right through the briars and branches if you aren't careful.When it says it is not for mowing lawns, believe it. In fact it can tear up the lawn if you are not careful. The tractor type tires plus the 11.5 hp engine can tear the turf if they begin to spin and the front end can also gauge the turf. But this can also be avoided by being careful.Also this is not for just anyone to operate. While it takes less "muscle" than my old sickle bar mower and does not shake me up as much (a sickle bar really vibrates you), you certainly cannot be weak and timid.The down side to the machine for me is that the instructions that come with it are far from being clear or complete. For example, it is not obvious as to which handle bar lever controls motion and which controls the blade. The handle bar lever on the left hand is to engage the tires (motion). On the left there is another lever that you lift to make the blade turn and you need to hold down the right handle bar lever for this lever to keep the blade rotating. After I figured this out, the instructions made sense but they were not clear to me before this.The other thing that confused me was the lack of any engine control on or near the handle bar. On the right side down by the engine there is an "on-off" switch. Fortunately this is clearly marked (but not mentioned in the instructions). Near this switch there are two slides, one for choke and one for carburetor control (engine speed). Very nicely done but not described or pictured in the instructions.Then there was one major problem that I had when I finished assembling the mower and first started the engine. (Note that assembly is not much, primarily attaching handlebars but this is not adequately described.) I fairly quickly figured out how to get the blade going, again this was not clear from the instructions.But the big issue was that I could not get the wheels to engage. THE MACHINE WOULD NOT MOVE!I finally figured out that I could remove the back panel just below the motor. This is just in front of the gear shift lever. From here I could see the drive belt and trans axle idler pulley. To remove this panel you have to first remove the gear shift lever.I did this and again tried to run the machine. Since I could now see the belt it was obvious that the cable from the left hand lever was not moving the trans axle idler pulley enough to tighten the drive belt. The belt was not turning.Nothing in the instructions gives any clue as what to do to remedy this. However I noticed that there is more than one hole for attaching the hand lever assembly to the handle bars. By using a different hole I could cause the cable to be a bit farther from the idler pulley. This corrected the problem.

The materials used for this unit seem pretty high quality; especially, the thickness of the steel and the tires. In general, I think it is a worthy brush mower that's worth its name. There is, however, one annoying issue and that is documentation.They really need to just dump that Owner's Manual. I thought Japanese products have lousy manuals, wait till you see this one and this is an American made product. This owner's manual is not at all helpful to even get the unit to move forward.The Company needs to add pictures and diagram in the steps to start, change transmission and move the mower. Based on words alone with no pictures to even identify the parts is grossly insufficient. And, can't they see all the comments users left since the last model (http://www.amazon.com/Swisher-WB11524-Self-Propelled-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B0007VTNTQ/ref=pd_ybh_18)?After I assembled the unit, and eventually, found out how to shift the gears and move it forward, the mower was barely inching like a snail at gear #1. At gear #2-4, the unit cannot move at all. That was absolutely annoying after paying above $1,500 for a mower.So, I read through all the comments and looked at how others have fixed theirs to get it to work. Some of the comments suggested:a) removing the gear handleb) removing the rear panelso that you can see how the transmission belt was not hugging the pulley wheel tightly when engaging.On one of the inserts (documentation that came with the unit) for Assembling the mower, it talked about connecting the cable (that looked like a bicycle brake cable) to the left-hand lever. Once you get to bend down to see how that lever will pull the cable, which itself will pull a piece of metal which will rotate counterclockwise to pull the belt tight, you will understand that the assembling instructions were not too bright.Part of the assembly of the cable is to insert a screw into a screw-plate which will help hold the cable to the long handle shaft that leads to the base of the unit. Halfway along that shaft, there are 2 holes which you can choose from.Here's the critical part:choose the hole closer to the engine (i.e. away from you if you were standing in position to push it). In picking that hole, it will cause more tension in the cable which will engage the belt more tightly when you pull the left lever.NOTE: If you choose the upper hole, the tension will be loose and when you engage to DRIVE, the transmission belt will slip and the unit will not move fwd.This should have been clearly explained in the manual but it is completely missing. And, it made me lose almost a day trying to figure this out by researching the web and reading what others have done, and looking at the parts and how they function. This has taken much joy of the initial ownership experience.If you are not mechanical minded and you expect the unit to just function without tinkering, DO NOT buy this machine. It will make you throw up blood.If you do not have a tight schedule, and are handy and don't mind tinkering, it will eventually get to a working state but you need a good amount of patience.FEEDBACK TO SWISHER:Update your user's manual & you will make your first time customers happier. I noticed that you have a Repair Manual for the RT44, which is quite helpful. Have a similar one for this unit.

Fantastic product and delivered right to my door. FANTASTIC! Now that said, the instructions are CRAP. I had to figure out things on my own (I don't appreciate that). The engagement cable for the cutting WAS NOT ADJUSTED AT ALL. I had to figure out that I need to take off the back panel (remove some bolts, adjust a bolt majorly that goes through the frame on the back that can adjust the tightness of the cable) and screw it out from the frame at least an inch and tighten the bolt on the other side. THIS iS ALL WITHOUT ANY DIRECTIONS IN THE MANUAL. AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED THIS IS CRIMINAL SINCE OTHER REVIEWS ALSO SPOKE OF THE SAME THING; THIS STUPID, STUPID COMPANY SAW FIT NOT TO INCLUDE A PAGE SHOWING THE THINGS THAT THEY HAD LEFT OUT; OR REVAMPING THERE POOR INSTRUCTIONS. Be SURE to read the other reviews, especially if you are going to buy. The product itself is FANTASTIC; again, the instructions are poor.

Impressively made (right here in the USA!) and tough enough to mow through or over just about anything. It takes a mighty tug to get it started, but it has always started on the second or third pull. This is a tough piece of equipment that I think I will get many years of use out of. Be prepared for a pretty good workout using this mower.

Very nice mower. As others indicate, weak points are really just handles (need to epoxy on), instructions for mounting drive engagement cable (my son had to help me out) and blade engagement lever/assembly (made out of plastic). I've used it for ~3 months in mowing over 5 acres of rough terrain and it has held up remarkably well so far. I did need to tighten bolt in center of blade and add a split locking washer. I also rented a "Billy Goat" brush mower that costs around double and I must say that I like this one better (it's lighter & more maneuverable).