Brush mower recomendation.

[Boar]

Need a one to help maintain trails, pull behind wheeler type, hrs power??  Brand?? Width?? Recomendations please

[deadeye]

Boar
I have two "rough cut/brush" mowers".  Both are tow behind 44" mowers.  I used (and abused) the Swisher for 15 years before the motor blew up two years ago.  I go a replacement for around $425.  When the Swisher blew up I bought a DR rough cut 44" tow behind from Runnings.  Last fall we used both of them and I will say the DR mower wins hands down.  There are a number of things that make it the clear winner.  Two big things stand out.  The DR has 4 wheels and can easily be moved around and backed up while the Swisher has only two and is hitch heavy and very difficult to back up because the backend digs in and stops you.  Second thing is the wheel placement.  The DR has them in front and back so it has an overall narrower foot print and you can cut right next to tree fences etc. while the Swisher has them on the out side making it much wider and you cannot cut close to anything.  Both mowers required some modifications to the hitch/towing system.  Swisher had some cockamany pin system that I cut off and put on a ball hitch.  The DR comes with a ball hitch but it has a very long articulated draw bar (to offset the mower) that makes it so you need a 10 acre field to turn around on.  I cut the thing down to 4 feet and offset it where it connects to the mower. 

[markn]

boar, got to agree with deadeye on this. I have an older DR mower that is buildt similar to his Swisher mower. It does what I want. I did about 4 miles of cleaning up the sides of the trails we use in an hour and half. I've also cut the drawbar down on mine and added a 2" ball hitch, the hitch set-up that it came with it was a piece of junk with a 1/2" pin. But, with the wheels on the outside of the frame it's hard to get close to anything. I have a co-worker that has a walk behind DR mower and he is very happy with it, but it doesn't cover as much ground as fast as the pull-behind ones. The picture shows the old hitch on mine before I cut it off. I'm not going to crab too much about mine, I got it for a really good price. Good luck.

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[Boar]

 Cool!! What hrs power on the Dr, 20?? Wha size brush can i expe t to take down. 1 inch saplings????

[Outdoors Junkie]

My dad has a 24" walk behind Swisher that works great. It moves so easy that my mom is able to run it down the trail and back.

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[markn]

Boar, mine has a 13hp Briggs on it and I have taken one inch saplings with it. If the wheeler can push it over it should cut it.

[Boar]

Ok thanks guys!!.

[deadeye]

All food plots got the final mowing and our entire 9 mile trail system (along with a new 150 yard, bear trail) is cleared and mowed so it's time to put the brush mowers to bed for the season.  No issues with either except the one broken bolt (probably my fault for hitting the rock).  Both these mowers held up very nicely over very rough, rocky, humpy, twisting trails (not your DNR supported hiking trails).  Of course, the winner is still the DR for the reasons previously stated.  However, it is nice to have a backup if one does go down.   

Swisher on the left, DR on the right.