Swisher powered trail mower

[MarkLeininger]

I mow 5 acres of pasture and 1 acre of house yard, both flat as a pancake and only slightly rough. I want to speed up mowing both and am thinking of buying something like the swisher powered gang mowers that I see in Northern tool:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&TEST=Y&productId=7905&categoryId=764791
I have a large JD to mow the pasture and a 20hp Sears garden tractor for the yard. I'm thinking I could pull this behind either of them and reduce my mowing time without investing a lot of money. Has anyone used one of these types of mowers and have any suggestions or alternatives?
thanks

 

[jwstewar]

I had one of these built by Agri-Fab. Worked great until I ran over a fence post with it. $800 later and it still wasn't quite right. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

One thing I like about the Swisher version over my Agri-Fab was the way they did the wheels might make it a little easier to roll. Mine only had 2 large wheels out back and 2 anti-scalp wheels in the front. If it is a little bit wet forget about using it - you will just sit and spin. The tractors - or at least the ones I used didn't have enough umph to pull it. The old Sears (1965 12HP) I had could barely pull the thing and it would pull a single bottom plow and 3' disc like it was nothing. You may not have this problem though as I believe the Agri-Fab weighs significantly more than the Swisher. The Agri-Fab was all 1/4" steel and weighed almost 600 lbs. As you turn you will leave unmowed strips. I would usually end up turning the opposite way that I wanted to go i.e. turn left and do a 270 degree turn to do a right 90 degree turn.

Last but not least get a good set of ear plugs. Both of those air cooled engines and all 6 - at least in my case - blades sure made a lot of noise. Left your ears ringing and with a severe headache if you didn't. Make sure no one is around when you are mowing because you can't hear them in the event of a problem. You will probably still get neck cramps looking back to make sure it is still OK - though that does go away some with practice. I got pretty good being able to trim next to stuff, my wife could pull it out in the open but could never get close to anything.

I was hoping to be able to pull it behind my NH, but it didn't turn out that way because of the problems with the fence post and the NH could mow faster then the pull behind. It wanted to bog down.

Tractor Supply also sells these. If you have a TSC close by, they are about they same price and you wouldn't have to pay shipping then.

 

[jwstewar]

Guess I should have actually said how much it helped. I went from using 2 tractors 42" deck each running eight hours to using once tractor for about 5 hours - as long as it was dry and I didn't get stuck. My Agri-Fab had the 63" deck on. Now with just the NH and its 60" deck I'm done in 3 1/2 - 4 hours depending on how tall the grass is.

 

[JoeTC33]

Up until a few weeks ago, I had used a Sears Garden Tractor (18.5 HP) with 46" cut and 44" Swisher trailmower with a level 5 acre yard which worked well for past 6 yrs. I bought the trailmower at TSC and they carry the belts and blades. I had to change the blade shafts out after 5 years but mowed a lot of grass in those years. It is very easy to order parts directly from Swisher as well. Mine has a Tecumseh 10.5 HP engine and never had a moment of trouble with it. Adding the Swisher to my garden tractor cut my mowing time in half.

I have stepped up to the NH TC33D with 72" mm and would not go back to the old set up but the Swisher was well worth the $800.

 

[greg_g]

I had the smaller one for a brief period Mark. It was a Swisher, 40 or 42 inch cut - I forget - with an 8 horse Briggs. Pulled it with a JD317, but the Swisher couldn't keep up with the JD. Keep up in terms of cutting grass, that is. If I ran the JD at it's optimum mowing speed, the Swisher left a lot of grass uncut. I could always slow the JD down to the best Swisher cutting speed. But since the Swisher was bought to speed up mowing, actually slowing it down to mow properly - seemed like a self-canceling effort.

Pastures - at least those with animals grazing them - should have at least 5 inches left behind when you're done mowing. I don't think the Swisher I had could be set above 4".

But the biggest reason that compelled me to sell it, was the weight. Part of the reason it left uncut grass behind when the JD was clipping along, was that the Swisher bounced like a basketball. Sometimes it seemed to be flying as much as it was rolling.

Got what I paid for it though. From somebody with a slower riding mower and a smoother piece of ground.

//greg//

 

[theboman]

I'd buy a rotarty cutter for your JD, unless it's a lawn tractor and not a CUT.

 

[DocHeb]

Consider buying a Rear Finish Mower (or, as Landprice calls the model I bought, a Rear Discharge Grooming Mower (FRD2584). If you don't have saplings and trees to cut down, this type of mower would be fine. I've cut down small (~1") trees with mine without problems, but the T post I drove over did put a dent in the blade (but not the mower deck). This type of mower gives a much nicer finish cut, and the FRD2584 can be adusted from 3/4" to 5 1/4". Get the mower sized for your tractor and you'll be cuttin'!