WRC11524BS- Swisher Predator 11.5 HP 24 in. Walk Behind Rough Cut Mower

Getting it out of the crate was easy enough with a sawzall, but i noticed the housing for the engage lever was cracked open, the photo shown was after i wiggled the horizontal rod around and got it to snap back together, though its still not snapping together right and there is a loose piece in there. The first use was fine even with that issue. it started very easily. I ran it for about 15 minutes during which time 2 bolts shook loose which i had tightened with a sliding pliers and a socket. I replaced those nuts with nylon washer nuts. I went to use it the next day and the blade wont engage. After calling customer support at swisher, which was very good, i was told the belt may have come off and roughly how to check it. Sure enough after 1 use i had to take the top cover off and put the belt back on. Im also noticing the transmission change is very sloppy between neutral and reverse, i have to wiggle it a bit to get it to engage R. ive used the Billy Goat brand before and this just seems much lower quality. The only reason im giving it 3 stars is +1 for the low price point and +1 for swishers customer service. Im going to be using it a lot and ill update my review based on how it works out.

I ordered direct from them. "Made in the USA". Ok, fine, Expensive though. Recently hit a smallish rock. Destroyed the blade. That I can accept. But it also bent the blade drive housing. Many hours of work and about $150 later, got it fixed. Found out it actually has no-name Chinese bearings. So, apparently only 'Assembled in the USA'. Given the extreme price, I would have expected a rock hit to be minor. Nope. I really can't recommend this. Oh, and aside from the above, it is a total beast to wrestle around, 'self propelled' not withstanding. There's even a (small) disclaimer on their website about how it might take more effort than you think. Well, that's for sure. Great workout. Oh, and my Land Pride field mower wouldn't even have noticed the rock I hit. Thin stamped metal blade on the Swisher.One thing that makes wrestling this thing around so hard is that the differential is as simple as it can be. No anti-slip, no lockup lever. That means that when one wheel starts slipping, it gets all the power. You have to wiggle, press, exert a lot of force to get it to move again.Works fine on flat, even surfaces or straight up or down a slope, but across a slope, anything with ruts or a feature that causes a loss of traction, be prepared for a workout. OTOH, you can cancel your gym membership.Update, working again. I'm now not convinced the blade mount actually bent, looks like it could have been welded incorrectly. If so, terrible quality control. See pic. Also, the lower blade bearing, no-name Chinese, has (had) a flimsy press-in plastic grease seal. Well, grass gets in between the blade and the bearing, destroys the seal. That bearing was loaded with dirt, wouldn't even rotate smoothy.I will say their customer service is very responsive, working with them now.Update to the update, working again. But for how long? Time will tell. When it works, and until you collapse from exertion, assuming no rock hits, it will just cut thru just about any brush, grass, etc. It's still one of my primary brush clearing tools, but given the problems and the effort needed to use it, wouldn't buy it again.

dont cut big bushes and heavy weed stopped when i try too go through bushes i end up renting one take only soft grassdon't waste your moneythey don't return this machine

I wish there were negative stars to giveI do not own this product. However I purchased another one similar to this. I have used it 3 times and it has burned up a belt each time. The last time the belt disintegrated it destroyed some wires and other components in the belt compartment. I've called the company and they told me since I purchased it from Amazon I had to contact them about a refund. All of Amazon's info on this says that I need to contact the company. In other words they (Swisher) will not do anything to grant any relief on this issue.I cannot stress enough that you should not do business with this company!!!