@bernstem have you considered a Toro Prostripe or Masport Rotarola instead of a reel?

 

@Spammage Cutting low gets difficult with a rotary due to the nature of how they work. Add in the improved cut quality from a reel mower and I would strongly prefer something with a reel. There is a very good reason that golf courses use reels. If striping was the only criteria, a striping kit added to my current Honda would be the way to go. For a new mower, the Prostripe would be an easy choice for a non-reel mower.

 

@bernstem I totally get it. I'm using a reel myself. I just didn't know if you were aware of the rotary options. :thumbup:

 

You could get the Edwin and some cash back, too.
Have you considered the Allett?

 

@bernstem Man!!! . I can't give you an 'educated' advice, but my personal (if I was you). I would get the gas! And will ask for a rebate. Fall is approaching, hell know what Covid is going to bring us and complicate even more logistics. I would get whatever I can now and reel mow. Just reading you, I feel so disappointed!

 

That stinks. I'd be looking forward to using the Swardman too. There are some options for reel mowing maintenance and sharpening. I had a broken grinding unit at the club I managed, and had to have a mobile reel servicing tech come to our location a couple times a year. They charge a good bit, but it was well worth the investment. I had no hassles, or down time, and his equipment was tip top so all reels, bedknives, bearings were good as new. He even helped my mechanic reinstall them on the walk mowers and set the HOC.

 

What was wrong with it. Can't they send you parts to repair it. I have never seen one but it looks well designed and probably modular. Wouldn't it be easier to fix it than to send it back to Europe?
I would be willing to take a look at it for you.
PS: my day job is repairing much more complex gear.

 

What was wrong with it. Can't they send you parts to repair it. I have never seen one but it looks well designed and probably modular. Wouldn't it be easier to fix it than to send it back to Europe?
I would be willing to take a look at it for you.
PS: my day job is repairing much more complex gear.

It's a bunch of electronic doodads. They probably don't want him to unseal any of the control boards.

 

Get a used greensmower, make some buddies at a golf course. I went through the same battle before purchasing my mower.

I am very glad I passed on the Swardman, to many issues for the money.

 

My apologies,
I got caught up in reading your journal and should have posted here, so I placed it below.

I'm sorry to hear of your plight. If you were dead set on the Electra, maybe ask them if you could have an Edwin to use for the rest of the mowing season, with the opportunity to trade it in next year towards an Electra when one comes in.

 

I know that most people will only post reviews online when they're not good, so hopefully there are A LOT more positive experiences out there than what I've come across online. It seems like there sure are a lot of issues with that Electra model. I know that I'd be ticked/disappointed to pay that much for a machine, wait a while for delivery and then after I finally get it there are issues that make it unusable.

I hope that all the kinks get worked out, the Swardman is a pretty slick setup with the interchangeable cartridges.

 

As someone new to this hobby, but with new zoysia that I want to keep golf course low, I looked at a few different options over the past couple of months and ended up deciding on an Allett Liberty 43. They were a few reasons I chose it over the Swardman, the $1000 differential in price was a big one. There is also a pretty significant, or at least moderately significant, dealer network out there for this British manufacturer. Horizon reps them and has a good number of local branches around (including Florida where I am) so this helped my decision as well. I chose electric over gas since I only have 2500 sq ft to handle and I wanted the lower noise and easier maneuverability of the electric version. A huge bonus in my mind is that this model also uses a very easily obtainable and widely used lithium ion battery from greenworks. I bought an additional 6 Ah battery for $75 on Amazon. The Allett comes standard with a 4 Ah (which I find is enough to complete my 2500 ft.² without a problem).

In any case, if you are having difficulty getting a swardman anytime soon, perhaps an Allett is something to think about. Many of these have been out of stock as well, but the rep I got mine from said more were coming in in early August.

 

It's a bunch of electronic doodads. They probably don't want him to unseal any of the control boards.

I would think that Swardman would be interested in avoiding roundtrip schipping. It's a motor and battery controller set up, not a moon shot.

 

It's a bunch of electronic doodads. They probably don't want him to unseal any of the control boards.

I would think that Swardman would be interested in avoiding roundtrip schipping. It's a motor and battery controller set up, not a moon shot.

It's probably going to be repaired in Georgia with parts coming from Europe.

 

I know that most people will only post reviews online when they're not good, so hopefully there are A LOT more positive experiences out there than what I've come across online. It seems like there sure are a lot of issues with that Electra model. I know that I'd be ticked/disappointed to pay that much for a machine, wait a while for delivery and then after I finally get it there are issues that make it unusable.

I hope that all the kinks get worked out, the Swardman is a pretty slick setup with the interchangeable cartridges.

These Swardman threads are an eye opener for me. This one in particular because appx two weeks ago I cancelled my Electra order which was supposed to ship in late July. This broken Electra could easily have been shipped to my house. And after waiting months I would be LIVID if I received a dud and was told no replacement would be available until next year. I can't even imagine the frustration...sheesh.

 

I know that most people will only post reviews online when they're not good, so hopefully there are A LOT more positive experiences out there than what I've come across online. It seems like there sure are a lot of issues with that Electra model. I know that I'd be ticked/disappointed to pay that much for a machine, wait a while for delivery and then after I finally get it there are issues that make it unusable.

I hope that all the kinks get worked out, the Swardman is a pretty slick setup with the interchangeable cartridges.

These Swardman threads are an eye opener for me. This one in particular because appx two weeks ago I cancelled my Electra order which was supposed to ship in late July. This broken Electra could easily have been shipped to my house. And after waiting months I would be LIVID if I received a dud and was told no replacement would be available until next year. I can't even imagine the frustration...sheesh.

I saw you got a California trimmer instead. How do you like it?

 

I know that most people will only post reviews online when they're not good, so hopefully there are A LOT more positive experiences out there than what I've come across online. It seems like there sure are a lot of issues with that Electra model. I know that I'd be ticked/disappointed to pay that much for a machine, wait a while for delivery and then after I finally get it there are issues that make it unusable.

I hope that all the kinks get worked out, the Swardman is a pretty slick setup with the interchangeable cartridges.

These Swardman threads are an eye opener for me. This one in particular because appx two weeks ago I cancelled my Electra order which was supposed to ship in late July. This broken Electra could easily have been shipped to my house. And after waiting months I would be LIVID if I received a dud and was told no replacement would be available until next year. I can't even imagine the frustration...sheesh.

I saw you got a California trimmer instead. How do you like it?

I'm enjoying it. I don't have another powered reel mower to compare it to but it's certainly better than my manual reel or Timemaster.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. One problem I have is that there really aren't any dealers for reel mowers here in St. Louis. Texas, Florida, Georgia have lots, but aside from Toro and John Deere there isn't much here. My understanding is that they are going to send it back to Swardman to get looked at, but it is hard to say. I'm guessing it may be an issue with the control board in the mower, but like @Kamauxx says, it is basically a motor and control board. Not much for the end user to tinker with.

The Allet mower look nice, but I have the same problem as Swardman with no local dealer. More thinking to do... First it is off to work to deal with some emergencies.

 

As someone new to this hobby, but with new zoysia that I want to keep golf course low, I looked at a few different options over the past couple of months and ended up deciding on an Allett Liberty 43. They were a few reasons I chose it over the Swardman, the $1000 differential in price was a big one. There is also a pretty significant, or at least moderately significant, dealer network out there for this British manufacturer. Horizon reps them and has a good number of local branches around (including Florida where I am) so this helped my decision as well. I chose electric over gas since I only have 2500 sq ft to handle and I wanted the lower noise and easier maneuverability of the electric version. A huge bonus in my mind is that this model also uses a very easily obtainable and widely used lithium ion battery from greenworks. I bought an additional 6 Ah battery for $75 on Amazon. The Allett comes standard with a 4 Ah (which I find is enough to complete my 2500 ft.² without a problem).

In any case, if you are having difficulty getting a swardman anytime soon, perhaps an Allett is something to think about. Many of these have been out of stock as well, but the rep I got mine from said more were coming in in early August.

Thank you for this post. I have been researching for a while and find it hard to find some real world Allett Liberty 43 experience out there. I am glad you enjoyed it up to the point of this post. Would love to hear more about your thoughts now, after having it a while longer?

 

@weirj55 .....So far so good with the Allett. I have been using it pretty much daily here and have not encountered any issues with it yet at all. My yard is about 2500 ft.², and that included battery, 4 Ah, does that easily. Many times I cross cut the yard, and a single charge of that battery is still more than sufficient. I ran it one time as long as I could to completely drain the battery and its probably 2.5-3 times doing my yard. As mentioned above, I also bought a second battery for convenience and that one was 50% larger and the standard one at 6 Ah. I have never completely drained that one.

Coming from a manual push cylinder mower, the quality of cut with this is obviously far superior (and needless to say) is physically much much easier. This one also seems to do a pretty good job of getting almost all of the clippings into the collection box upfront.

 

One other thing I should note, that is very convenient, is the simple dial speed control. It ranges from 1 to 6 (I usually keep it a little over 5) but being able to turn it down a little bit when doing tight areas, following an irregular mulch bed landscape border edge, etc. is very easy. I understand that Allett has synchronized the cylinder speed with the drum speed such that the linear cut rate remains the same.

 

@TampaBayFL Allett appears a solid competitor to the Swardmans. How is reel maintenance on the Alletts? ReelRollers has a mail in sharpening service and for most people it seems the reels need to be sharpened 1-2 times/year.

 

I have not had to sharpen my reel as of yet, but initially I plan to simply backlap it using a drill and valve compound. I'm going to inquire with my local golf course about having them do a sharpening sometime later this year.

 

@bernstem I emailed Allett.us that same question and got a response stating that they will do a "reel exchange" for $150. Ship you a sharp reel and take your dull one and sharpen it for the next swap out. You also have the option of back lapping.

Thank you @TampaBayFL for your insight. I am ready to get mine ordered. Glad you are loving it!

 

@weirj55 .....I'm not sure who you are ordering it through, but I got mine through Horizon. They seem to be a national outfit that reps Allet in quite a few locations. The reason I bring this up is that they may have a demo unit they will sell you for a little bit less than new. The rep offered me a demo unit that was used a couple of times and I saved 200 bucks. It comes with all of the same warranty, etc. as new in the box.