You can tell where the swisher left clumps of grass behind it everywhere even from the last mowing as the grass was brown in stripes. Heavier deck, more power per foot, less bounce from pneumatic tires and a more efficient material flow in the deck design would sell a lot of these mowers. In considering one for commercial purposes we are mostly of the same mindset.
Yep, the Swisher doesn’t mow as nicely as the zero turn but it’s fast for when you’re in a hurry. Also, this is an older Swisher mower, I’m sure their newer ones are nicer.
Look at the Kunz mowers. Indestructible. Finish and Rough Mowers. I have run both, but I have a 60" Finish mower, and our church has a 60" ProK. Makes mowing fun!
I have a 60 “ swisher that along with my Sears 48” lawn tractor, mowed my fields in no time. My mower had to be replaced this year, so I bought a zero turn mower. I didn’t realize when I bought it new online from Lowes, it has nothing to attach my Swisher to it. Is there something I can do to be able to attach it to the mower?
@@georgehofgren6123 Hi George, I have owned a JD 1026 tractor for 8 years, an 855 before that for 10 years, a 585 before that for 10 years, and before that a 455 for 20 years purchased in 1992 and sold to my neighbor in 2012 so it is 31 years old and looks brand new and runs like a deer ( pardon the pun but true). All of course have been diesel engines which are Yanmar's. Deere bought them out and got rid of everything except the diesel engines and I wouldn't buy anything but diesel. I've never had a problem with their diesel engines. I've been pulling TWO Swisher Trail Mowers behind the1026 for 8 years now, but when I bought my JD 24 horse diesel zero turn two years ago and inquired about pulling the Swisher's ( about 300lbs. each), my Deere Rep said the zero turn transmissions are only rated to pull up to 300 lbs. Are you saying my Rep is wrong? I never researched into it but i I was concerned about that and the longevity of the Zero Turn's transmissions when lugging 300 lbs. around every week when I mow my 13 acres. Do you think it's safe.
@vscolkitt That would completely depend on which JD zero turn you bought. Although even if you bought the top of the line (900 series) as this youtuber did, those Swishers are actually 400lbs. So x2 would be 800lbs sustained pulling. You are correct that Tractors are designed to pull. High end Zero turns *can* pull, but they are all designed not to do real pulling Work. The best zero-turns do use separate hydraulic pumps and motors, which is far more robust than L&R transaxles, BUT the stronger pumps just make up for much heavier zero turns they put them on, like Hustler's. Just about your only exception would be a Wide Area Mower (wam), but those are close to $100k- So the answer for your situation unfortunately is No, don't use any zero turn to pull 2 Swishers. I could be wrong... if it's only flat ground And you don't drive the mower for more than an hr... it won't heat up enough to do damage likely. You'd still want to do more frequent trans oil/filter changes.... It might be argued that for the nibleness of just one Swisher and a zero turn, that you still might be faster on a private property (w/obstacles etc) than 2 Swishers w/a tractor. But then again, the Swisher is limited to how fast it will cut... This is where expensive Zero turns end up trumping everything for total grass mowed.... Because some zero-turns can fully mow at 10mph or more, which nothing else can approach. 💁♂️
My JD zero turn is the 920 with 24? - 25? HP Diesel (about the same as my 1026R diesel). My 920 might get away with pulling one Swisher, but I’d never chance pulling two with it and the Swishers don’t cut very well at faster speeds (like the Zero Turns are capable of). My 13 acre field isn’t highway smooth so 5 mph is fast enough without ruining the back or the family jewels!!! The 1025R is perfect at 3mph to 5mph and easy on the spine. I uploaded two videos this week of my set up, one of the tractor and Swishers stationary, … and one while mowing (but I didn’t have an extra body or drone for filming). You can find the videos under “Two Swishers with John Deere” (part one, part two). Instead of using the Swishers pin on tongue, or a ball and hitch sleeve, I cut the sleeves off (from the ball and hitch) and inserted the sleeves into the dual two inch sleeves attached to the tractor’s 3-point hitch. The tongues of the swishers fit well into the cut-off sleeves. Both the inner and outer sleeves and tongues are pinned together using one pin. This set up keeps the Swishers tracking straight, (no swiveling), especially in corners (unlike the ball and hitch). I CAN NOT make sharp turns however, or the Swishers’s rear wheels start skidding so cornering is done like a Zero Turn (using the 3 point turn method), but a bit more backing up is required. Also the Swishers don’t like turning while backing up. Since I have straight mowing lines for 100 yards before turns are required, a little extra backing up is negligible. Takes 2.5-3 hours to mow thirteen acres vs. 5 with the Zero turn (60” decks on all).
Think he's using a rough cut Swisher (rear discharge) mower instead of a finish mower (side discharge). Neither of my 2 Swishers (60'' homeowner or 66'' commercial) finish cut mowers left the mess behind them like this one in the video. Wouldn't have one if mine left that debris behind. You should also throw the debris to the outside so that you're "holding the mowing line" with your lead mower, not trying to guess where the tow mower is cutting. You can't hold an accurate cutting line with the mower behind you and 5 or 6 ft off to the side....sorry but this is going about it backward. Although the Swisher in this video also appears to be a rear discharge too (meaning there is going to be debris behind) here's the way it should be done....using the front mower to hold your line of cut. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ugpG1dJisVE.html This second video (although this guy is using 2) shows how cleanly a Swisher finish mower (side discharge) discharges. 14 foot wide lawn mower cut - RU-vid
What in World are you talking about? First of all, that Is Swihsers Finish mower. Secondly, he's mowing along the uncut line with the Deere, easily following it perfectly as show. The setup as show also has the most even dispersal of grass-
@tdclymore 😆 😂 🤣 😅 Better check yourself... "DEFEATED!!!" means that he Cut Off the ROPS or removed it altogether. He has it down to mow his Flat field, possibly to mow under branches... Do you wear your seatbelt in the garage? 🤔 Either learn not to live by hyperbole, or pull that dildo out ~ 🤡
I had a Swisher 60” pull type in 2016 and the cut wasn’t good enough for a healthy lawn cut every 10 days. The deck is too shallow. The blade tip speed of the JD ZTR will be higher than the Swisher. I sold my Swisher in the fall of 2016.
Swisher makes a 'finish mower" and a "rough cut" mower (which is more like a bush hog). Their terminology is confusing because they are both called "trail mowers"....meaning they "trail behind" the lead mower. But, when most people hear the term "trail mower" they think "rough cut" or "bush hog". Like what you'd use to cut a trail thru the woods. Don't know why Swisher doesn't change their terminology so that they don't end up with a "finish cut trail mower" like they call their "finish mower" now....confusing.
Don' t buy a swisher. Trying to find any info on how to make repairs (which you will be doing) is impossible. Even when you contact swisher directly with a question about a belt repair on a tow behind 44" finish mower, you get nothing but a part number. Save your time and effort and money and put them toward purchasing a better tractor with a larger deck. It will be worth it.
