I am thinking about buying a pull behind mower for my ATV. Does anyone have any recommendations? Specifically, has anyone had experience with the Swisher TrailCutter? The area that I' ll be using it in is heavy in weeds.

I have a swisher RT44 roughcut. It' s the heavy duty model with the breakaway blades. It will mow down anything I can pull it over with my Honda 300 4x4. No kidding. I have found that, if I can take the 4 wheeler over it, the mower will cut it down. I have had it 3 years and have never had it bog down from cutting weeds or whatever. It surprised me how well it does. The only thing I have done to mine is fill the tires with sealant to stop leaks from thorns and such. I would reccomend it to anyone who has some rough areas to mow. They don' t like big rocks though.

Strutter

Thanks Strutter. Is your mower a 10.5hp or 12.5hp? Any other tips on its use would be appreciated.

We' ve used one to cut trails(both new and exsisting). It did a good job! Grass weeds no problem. The new trails we cut had brush and sumac with the main trunk being 1" to 1 1/4" with no problem. We usually use a brush cutter on a tractor which is nice to lift over things you don' t want to cut.(rocks and fallen trees)
.

Good Luck!

Mine has the 10.5 Briggs and Stratton. I have been told to stay away from the ones with the Tecumseh engines. Supposedly they are bad about oil not lubricating engine right when on inclines. One tip I can give from experience is to carry a bow saw or something similar with you. If you happen to get a tree between the wheel guard and wheel on the mower, it is much easier to cut the tree down than to try and pull the mower away from the tree. You will better understand what I am saying after you do it one time. Them mowers are heavy when trying to slide one uphill by hand. Other than that, just read all directions and warnings, be careful, and always disengage the blade before you get off the bike.

Strutter

Guys, thanks for the info. I think I am going to take the plunge and purchase one.

Here' s what I did. I found a guy selling a older Bush Hog GT-42 pull behind brush type mower. Come to find out while he tried starting it for me the motor was seized up from sitting. He had it looked at to see if could be fixed. He was told the motor was shot(duh)! I bought the deck for $150. Then I proceeded to find a motor. This one had a Honda 11hp on it. I finally came across a Briggs 11hp w/a backup recoil start. I wasn' t worried about rigging up a battery for electric start. I rigged up a tank. I had the hardest time trying to find a new centrifical belt clutch. Bush Hog wanted $196 for one that came with it. The old one was shot. I ended up finding one at Northern Tool for $35. I recently tried out my cobbed up rig on my desperately needing mowed food plot. This stuff was over 2' tall, and thick. I thought no way will this thing cut it. I brought a weed wacker with me just in case I had to chop it down some first. Well to my surprise this rig cut it like nothing. I had to take it slow, but it cut great!!!!! I have a total of $335 into it!

Hey guys, havent been on here for months, been way busy with the new property.
Anyways, I purchased the Swisher 44" rough cut mower and I will agree that they are a really nice machine. They will definately cut down about anything you can run over with an ATV, including 6' tall multiflora rose bushes (which I have a ton of). I bought mine new this spring and have probably put 20-30 hours on it, no problems.
Tips: 1. They are best for mowing large open areas, or long trails, but not good for trimming or tight areas due to the fact that they dont have a real sharp turning radius and can be a pain to back up in tight areas. They work great between my rows of trees.
2. Keep the blades half way sharp (common sense), they cut much better.
3. Mine makes a better cut when on the lowest setting usable for the terrain.
4. When its new crank up the height adjustment and take note of the parts that move when you do this, then keep them greased. It makes adjustment nearly impossible when they get dry and dirty.
5. Immeadiately after purchasing one, take a couple of zip-ties and secure the control cable to the tounge so their is no slack. I wish somebody had told me that $25 sooner, it will reach the blades otherwise!! (I told the Swisher guy that they should put this in the owners manual and he said they did they would lose alot of money from the sale of that part and we both laughed, he was nice about it though.)

If ya dont have or want a tractor, this is probably about the toughest and meanest mower you can get. Good luck.....Timber