A little late to the conversation, but I have been running a Swisher walk-behind brush cutter for (3) seasons now, and have been happy with it. This is dry rocky soil, not mud. Lots of rocks.
The prices for these machines are up quite a bit from when I bought mine, but I think they are still the cheapest walk-behinds. The have few frills- no electric start, no differential lock, for example. I have not missed either. Hand-starting 11.5 hp isn't that bad, and while the differential lock might help in mud I don't think it would help much when one is hung-up on a rock or stump, which is usually what happens to me.
The skids that the front of the machine rides on are fairly thin gauge steel, and after a couple years they were pretty well beat. I welded some steel angle to the bottoms and that holds up better. I don't think replacement skids would be all that expensive.
The lever that engages the blade drive feels pretty flimsy (plastic). I have not yet broken it, but then I try to be careful with it. The transaxle is "sealed"; I would prefer to be able to change the oil in it. I try to not do a whole lot of gear shifting- put it in one of it's forward gears and leave it there as much as possible.
There is no way to grease the spindle (mandrel) bearings, and after (2) years the bearings were totally shot- loaded-up with grass but no grease. I drilled & tapped the housing for a Zerk, installed new shielded replacement bearings (removed the lower shield of the upper bearing, and upper shield of the lower bearing) and grease after every use.
The clutch is a simple belt tensioner so I don't worry too much about using that to excess. The original belts (2, total) lasted (2) years, the cheap replacements I buy go about a year or a little more. Belts are not too difficult to change out; I have done it "in the field".
The choke handle on the Briggs engine broke off the first day I used the thing (caught on a vine or something) but the choke still works so I have not bothered to replace it.
As is well detailed in the various online reviews of these machines, the wiring for the reverse cut-out is easily ripped out by brush, and the hand grips try to fall off, but these are minor irritations.
I am happy with how it has performed. Money well spent, as far as I am concerned. Have never run a DR or Billy Goat but can't imagine that they would be better (for my use) to the extent that the extra cost would be justified.
