FCE11544BS - Swisher 11.5 HP 44" 12V Finish Cut Trail Mower

I purchased the Swisher FCE 11.5 electric start on May 16 to help manage the prairie grass/trails I have on my 10 acre ranch in central Texas. I pull it with a 750cc King Quad and really like it despite some tweaks I had to make. PROS: 1.) delivery was top notch despite my rural address. The unit was on a pallet and wood crate. 2.) Very little assembly, only the tow bar and battery install. 3.) Easy electric start, simple controls and damn lot of power (no bogging down) to knock down small meadows of 4ft prairie grass mixed with cacti and small saplings. 4. Height adjustment simple and maxes at about 8" after my tweaks. CONS: 1.) The tow pin assembly seemed awkward and the standard pin bent after second run? I replaced the pin hitch with a 2" ball hitch for a much more positive connection to my ATV. Much better see pix. 2.) Max hieght adjustment was constrained by rear metal guard hinges. I moved hinges 1" back by drilling and using same bolts See pix. Able to adjust height an inch higher. 3.) Starting failed second major cutting session this week...power by just click click, no starter turn. Thought it was solenoid...replaced, nope. Used multimeter to diagnose starter switch, starter, magento cut off switch, solenoid..safety cutoff switch on belt.nope. Decided it had to be unit grounding...yep. Cleaned/wire brushed existing battery ground reconnected. Ran additional 10 gauge ground to solenoid and direct to starter under cowling. Swapped for bigger battery...Problems gone...boom...starts right up. Bottomline....this unit really works hard....one tough hombre....had to make some minor tweaks but that's ranch life. If you are thinking about it go ahead! Cheers from Texas

Here's the deal, the first battery fell out while I was going over a bank and I ran over it. The second battery $110 simply went dead from what I don't know. The third battery $110 went dead from some electrical issue and now I have to jump start it every time. It will cut when It's running. The belt came off once when I hit a rut in the trail and believe me you don't want to replace the belt. If I had to do it all over again I would buy the pull start. If you are using it for a flat yard/field and you are using it all year long and not putting it away for winter then the electric start could be your thing. I am currently looking for something else and hopefully can sell this one. The engine will get 5 stars. PS the gas tank is good for about 45 mins of mowing.

I bought this to mow tall grass approximately 18 inches tall. We mowed approximately one acre in about two hours. It was a little slow but just because the grass was tall and thick. I believe if I keep it more manageable I could cut that time in half. Pulled behind a smaller fourwheeler worked great. Kind of disappointed it did not come with a battery.

NO, im NOT kidding! I got this mower and cut a big yard of 3-4 FOOT of grass and hay! Followed the manual to the TEE, Broke it in, and abused it! YES, it was very hard on this little guy, lol. Killed it 3 times, shredded one original belt, (put huskee kevlar belt on, has not shredded again) hay locked it up wrapped around blade spindle twice, I just cut it off with off with a knife, fired it back up. YES it took some time, especially in the thicker areas. This mower still running strong, don't know how it didn't break something, burn up the clutch, or blow the motor!!!???!!! Honestly for what I did should a got the field cut version with a bigger motor, but now that my front is finally done, I buzz through it with my finish mower!!! I will try to post pics.

Cranked it ,went to engage the blades and the belt jumped off had to take the covers off ,put belt back on. Went to crank it and it would not crank,took the covers back off had to push a little button in. A $2000.00 Dollar mower and had to work on it first thing.

I bought this mower to use along with my lawn tractor in hopes it would reduce the time it takes to mow 3+ acres of grass. I've used it four times now and it does everything I asked for. It tracks wonderfully and I even use it to mow ditch banks which are steeper than I feel comfortable with on my rider. My only complaint is the size of the fuel tank; it would be great if it were bigger. This past weekend I used it to knock down knee-high weeds and grass on a vacant lot next to my church that hadn't been cut since last fall. It handled it with no complaint. There were only a couple of places with very tall grass that it even seemed to slow the motor down. It is solid, well-built, and ran great from the very start.

First mower would no stay running/ returned and replaced with a bit of hassle!!!b Second mower worked 1 time and now does not start!!!This thing has so many problems and now I'm not sure what to do with it... I bought it for my mother and since owning this one and the other I have had to mow the land with a push mower countless times while this thing sits in the garage where it doesn't even have the right to have a place in...

This thing is built like a tank. It takes about an hour to mow an acre studded by fruit trees. The side edge wheels are really nice going around the trees as the mower just slides sideways instead of snagging if you get too close.The smaller branches on the ground got mulched nicely. The engine is strong and barely hesitates when running over taller grass and it's obviously very easy to start with the electric starter.I'm towing this with a Suzuki Kingquad 400. No problems manouvering even with a fair amount of slope.