I asked this question a little over a year ago and was mostly looking at TruCuts, Cal. Trimmers and McLane's. Almost everybody said I needed to get a Greensmower but a couple mentioned Swardman. I ignored the majority and ended up with a Swardman Edwin 55 and in general I'm glad I did.

In addition to having the replaceable cartridge options that you already mentioned, my favorite things about the Swardman is that it is very easy to maneuver, adjust HOC, adjust reel-to-bedknife, it's relatively quiet, etc... Very user friendly for an average homeowner. I'd warn you if you have a slope the Swardman will not do well like a TruCut! Also I'm 45 min away from Reel Rollers so it gave me more confidence and I met Lee and his team in person. They've sharpened my reel a couple of times and they're awesome to work with.

I'm sure Greenmowers are superior machines from build quality, being heavy duty, and probably offer a cleaner cut, but I didn't want to deal with used equipment and have a hard time cutting close to obstacles, patio/walkway, flower beds, etc.

If you decide on a Swardman I think you can get away with the 45cm version if you're cutting 1500 or even 3000 sq-ft.

 

@DeliveryMan I was prepared to purchase a Swardman, all the features really pulled me in. But, at the end of the day.. I'm not certain a Swardman is built to handle mowing warm season grass. Too much alpha.

It makes sense for most considering how much it can do just like @Awar said. However, it's gonna be used primarily for mowing.

 

I personally would look for a greens mower. You can find some deals, and old doesn't equate to "broke". Parts are accessible stateside, and plenty of support online and with parts houses for whatever major brand you get.

What you save, you'll have a mower built like a tank, made for commercial use. If you've got a lot of landscape items to dodge it has a steep learning curve, but nothing wild. A good pair or rotary scissors are a must have IMO regardless of how close you want to cut to obstacles.

The cartridges sounds good on the swardman buy it really comes off a gimmicky, in the way that it can do all of that, and not really do any of it exceptional. Jack of all, master of none type of thing.

I'd have to imagine it's on par with your trucuts and other home models. You've got one point for service, and could potentially run into issues being down a mower due to a small footprint.

That said- probably the easy option, but if you think you'll ever sell off your mower, you are likely to take a significant hit with a swardman like you would a trucut, the greens mowers won't , as they've already been depreciated, and in some cases, are worth more than people buy for currently.

 

I've never used a greens mower but would like to purchase one, one day. I looked at them last year before I bought my Swardman and what sold me on the Swardman was getting it sharpened is way easier. You can simply mail the cartridge/reel vs hauling the entire mower somewhere to have it sharpened. Also a greensmower can only got to like .5" vs 2" HOC with the Swardman. Not a big deal there but something to consider.

I think everyone will agree the greens mower is superior but the Swardman offers similar characteristics with the rear drum and 10 blade reel and is much more economical for the "average" home owner. I also bought the scarifier cartridge and love it but can't speak for the brush or verticutter.

 

Iv personally use both a Swardman and Greensmaster and its honestly hard to compare the two together. Im sure its kinda obvious but just having both side by side its clear a greensmower is targeted for commercial use and a Swardman is targeted for residential. A greenmower is a tank in comparison lol. Each have their pros and cons tho.

Me personally, i enjoy mowing with the Swardman over the Greenmaster, but i have 4200sqft and quiet a few obstacles to work around. i feel like im working much harder mowing with the Greenmaster. That said, i love the weight the Greensmaster has that the Swardman is missing. With the Swardman being so light it tends to float on Bermuda from my experience. Mowing in both directions kinda helps with that. Id say, a Swardman would be perfect for your 3000sqft. The reel services at ReelRollers is really convenient and the cartridge system is just the cherry on top. Really nice having those options, just wish the Swardman had a little more weight. All just my opinion tho. Love the Greenmaster, just honestly prefer the Swarman on my lawn.

 

Never used a swardman but I know they are top notch. I do use a jd greensmower and use to have a trucut. If you want something that's easy to use on a smallish yard and don't care about putting on it, swardman probably the way to go. If you want perfect repeatability, don't mind the learning curve of manhandling a greensmower and possibly want to dabble in the sub .3 HOC range one day, the used greensmower is the right mower. The swardman is going to cut fantastic right out of the box. The greensmower will take you a while to adapt to it. When I first got mine, I hated it and reverted back to my trucut. After deciding to commit to it, I figured it out and have loved it ever since. They are heavy machines and you have to learn how to navigate them around landscaping. They don't stop and go, they just go and you follow behind and try not to hit anything. I'd like to putt on my turf by end of the summer, but if I just wanted a great looking yard and had 4K to spend, I'd be buying the swardman.

 

I was set to buy a swardman but then they were delayed in production and I found a JD 220e for a reasonable price. If I had to make a decision today I would still buy the greensmower. On board backlapping is super nice and you can just take the qa5 cutting unit in to get a grind. Its not light by any means but I dont have to load up the whole mower.

Parts are easily available and dont require importing stuff so if you break something mid season you can get back cutting quickly. And parts are rated for hundreds to thousands of hours so for a residential lawn it will probably outlive you.

 

I was set to buy a swardman but then they were delayed in production and I found a JD 220e for a reasonable price. If I had to make a decision today I would still buy the greensmower. On board backlapping is super nice and you can just take the qa5 cutting unit in to get a grind. Its not light by any means but I dont have to load up the whole mower.

Parts are easily available and dont require importing stuff so if you break something mid season you can get back cutting quickly. And parts are rated for hundreds to thousands of hours so for a residential lawn it will probably outlive you.

Have you by chance used a Toro Greensmaster also? Would like to hear your opinion comparing the two if you have

 

I have not but the comparable unit would be the flex series with the floating head. The lack of grease fittings would be nice.

I decided against a flex at the time because of the height of cut limitations and my yard not being leveled. I started at about 1" last year late season and kept it there. I still haven't leveled yet and I cut at 0.5" with no issue.

You can vary the clip rate on either of them so they should both cut very well within their operating heights.

 

I've never used a greens mower but would like to purchase one, one day. I looked at them last year before I bought my Swardman and what sold me on the Swardman was getting it sharpened is way easier. You can simply mail the cartridge/reel vs hauling the entire mower somewhere to have it sharpened. Also a greensmower can only got to like .5" vs 2" HOC with the Swardman. Not a big deal there but something to consider.

I think everyone will agree the greens mower is superior but the Swardman offers similar characteristics with the rear drum and 10 blade reel and is much more economical for the "average" home owner. I also bought the scarifier cartridge and love it but can't speak for the brush or verticutter.

Depending on mower, you aren't limited to .5 as the highest cut. My GM1600 goes to 1.25 if I'm not mistaken. Cutting 2in tall imo, you don't need to bother with a reel anyways so that's maybe not quite a selling point.

 

I've never used a greens mower but would like to purchase one, one day. I looked at them last year before I bought my Swardman and what sold me on the Swardman was getting it sharpened is way easier. You can simply mail the cartridge/reel vs hauling the entire mower somewhere to have it sharpened. Also a greensmower can only got to like .5" vs 2" HOC with the Swardman. Not a big deal there but something to consider.

I think everyone will agree the greens mower is superior but the Swardman offers similar characteristics with the rear drum and 10 blade reel and is much more economical for the "average" home owner. I also bought the scarifier cartridge and love it but can't speak for the brush or verticutter.

Depending on mower, you aren't limited to .5 as the highest cut. My GM1600 goes to 1.25 if I'm not mistaken. Cutting 2in tall imo, you don't need to bother with a reel anyways so that's maybe not quite a selling point.

Mowing at 2" is not a selling point and neither is mowing above .5" with a greens mower. If he thinks he has the yard for a GM though then I guess a GM would be a good choice.

 

I have a used Tru-cut C27 that is probably 10-12 yrs old and works well, but starting to show signs of wear and tear.. I have been eyeing both new Swardman's and Used Greensmowers.. I wanted to get your opinion of these options as I figured you guys would have good insight in to this.

The fact that @Ware returned to using his Greensmaster as his primary mower after demoing a Swardman for an ENTIRE season told me what I needed to know when I was looking for my Tru-cut replacement.

I went with a Baroness greensmower after @Greendoc had good things to say about them.

I paid $1,500 for my unit that had only been demoed one time. My $250 verticutter is a Ryan Ren-o-thin. I can't imagine spending $3k+ on a Swardman. The build quality is not comparable to a greens mower...





Lastly, I would buy a used Dennis if I really wanted a cartridge system mower.

Good luck on whatever you decide!

 

The second picture is why I have good things to say about Baroness.

 

I am an overkill junkie, and that side by side really gets me going. But for homeowners use, I think the swardman would be more than sufficient. It is however nice to buy what we can assume is the last mower we will ever have to buy when you buy a greensmower. I guess I'm a bit torn on this, my greensmowers are almost 20 years old and I know I will get 20 more out of them. I highly doubt a swardman would last even a quarter of than, man they are sexy though.

 

I am an overkill junkie, and that side by side really gets me going.

I forgot to post the front views...





Just kidding Swardman fans!!! Have a Happy Cinco de Mayo!

 

Having had a Toro GM1600 for awhile, and seeing another members Swardman, and having a 3k sq ft lawn myself, I have my eye on the JD 180e. I found the TM1600 a bit tough to maneuver because I have some obstacles in my yard. I also like that you can have ground speed and clip rate decoupled, and backlap with just a switch.

The swardman has some really neat cartridges like dethatching and verticutting and all that, but you can get at least the verticut part of that with the JD 180e.

 

I have a John Deere 220b as well as an Allett mower. I have owned a few trucut and mclane mowers in the past as well. I cannot speak to the swardman directly, but can tell you that I love my allett mower. It is similar in that you can change out the cartridges and what not. It is much easier to maneuver and if you are mowing 1500 sq/ft any greens mower is completely overkill and, frankly, likely wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable to mow. I have both of my machines completely dialed in so they cut amazing; the cut quality on both are the same: great. Again, I cannot speak to swardman specifically, but I am telling you there is not a difference in the quality of cut between my Allett and JD. Mowing on a smaller yard I would choose the Allett 100 times out of 100.

 

I am an overkill junkie, and that side by side really gets me going.

I forgot to post the front views...





Just kidding Swardman fans!!! Have a Happy Cinco de Mayo!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

I think there are several factors involved in deciding between the 2 different kind of mowers.

1. Lawn layout- If you have a lot of obstacles in your lawn a Swardman may better suit your needs as it is lighter and easier to maneuver but you might be fine with an 18 inch Greensmower too. You also need to take into account of the wheel axles on the Greensmower as these won't allow you to get real close to vertical objects like a fence or wall.

2. Lawn size- The larger the lawn the wider the mower you are going to want most likely as this will allow you to mow faster. I think a Swardman would be better suited for a smaller lawn like no more than 7-8,000 square feet but once you start getting above those numbers you may want to start looking at the 26" greens mowers. Obviously these numbers aren't hard and fast but I think a good rule of thumb to start at.

3. Desired HOC- Obviously, both of these mowers can cut REEL LOW but if you are wanting to flirt in the sub .5" HOC, this is where a greens mower really shines but if you are wanting to maintain the lawn around 1" HOC I would go with the Swardman as you are reaching the upper limits of a greens mower and won't have much room to move up from there.

4. User Mechanical Knowledge- I think this is the main sticking point between Greens Mowers and Swardman. If you have some minor mechanical knowledge and/or like to fix and do things on your own, I think a Greens Mower is the way to go as they are fairly easy to work on and do repairs and you will save a ton of money doing it yourself as parts are readily available online. Now, if you are someone who doesn't like to do maintenance on your own or are afraid of messing something up, a Swardman can be the way to go as it will be a new machine so their is less of a chance of something going wrong and you are able to send the reel in to get sharpened when needed. With a Greens Mower, you will need to find a shop or golf course to get your reel sharpened but it's not something that should need to be done very often.

5. Steep hill or inline- If you have a steep hill or incline on your lawn you may not be able to go with either of these kind of mowers and may want to look at getting a McClane, TruCut or California Trimmer as these types of mowers have wheels which will give you more traction.

 

Thanks all for the opinions/insights

Kinda surprised by @JLavoe comment on Swardman not being built well enough for warm season grasses! Is that true ?

Is the maintenance on Swardmans a dealbreaker? I certainly can appreciate the pictures from @TulsaFan about the build quality (that was kind of an eye opener for me), but the reel low lawn for me is realisically only 2500 sq feet has given me pause about needing that is blast proof like a greensmower

Thanks again guys

 

Thanks all for the opinions/insights

Kinda surprised by @JLavoe comment on Swardman not being built well enough for warm season grasses! Is that true ?

Is the maintenance on Swardmans a dealbreaker? I certainly can appreciate the pictures from @TulsaFan about the build quality (that was kind of an eye opener for me), but the reel low lawn for me is realisically only 2500 sq feet has given me pause about needing that is blast proof like a greensmower

Thanks again guys

They are made, or designed originally for "English lawns". So not really ideal for being light weight for grasses that will grow low and horizontal. The lighter mowers will eventually just ride on top of the grass and float. This happens even to some greens mowers, too, but perhaps to a lesser degree.

One thing too I think is the reel grind... swardman makes a point to share it needs sharpened, but that's because it doesn't have a relief grind on it like other brands do, say like JD or Toro, Jacobsen, etc. those can backlap and sharpening isn't really needed as often as a swardman. The swardman will, so if you've got something tough bladed like a zoysia, you'd probably see more issues as the reel gets worn.

I doubt you'd need much maintenance, especially for just 2500 sq ft of area. Go buy what you like, do a little research in the threads and make your pick. The greens mowers are tanks, and likely overkill. The swardman is more "toy" like as alluded to, and seems to have a bit more fragile/thinner parts. Some people hate both mowers, so it's not a once size fits all.

I will say though, a swardman is not hands off. You'll need to maintain as you would others. Plenty of posts here alone about stuff rattling off, loosening up, belts slipping and reels having issues, along with the normal maintenance stuff everyone has to do like oil changes and such.

 

you forgot the other option, Allett that's what I have. Same cartridge system as the Swardman but easier to change.

 

you forgot the other option, Allett that's what I have. Same cartridge system as the Swardman but easier to change.

Not to mention they have been making high quality reel mowers for over 50 years. They are new to the states but known for maintaining soccer pitches in Europe. (Swardman started in 2013...)

 

Thanks all for the opinions/insights

Kinda surprised by @JLavoe comment on Swardman not being built well enough for warm season grasses! Is that true ?

Is the maintenance on Swardmans a dealbreaker? I certainly can appreciate the pictures from @TulsaFan about the build quality (that was kind of an eye opener for me), but the reel low lawn for me is realisically only 2500 sq feet has given me pause about needing that is blast proof like a greensmower

Thanks again guys

One thing too I think is the reel grind... swardman makes a point to share it needs sharpened, but that's because it doesn't have a relief grind on it like other brands do, say like JD or Toro, Jacobsen, etc. those can backlap and sharpening isn't really needed as often as a swardman. The swardman will, so if you've got something tough bladed like a zoysia, you'd probably see more issues as the reel gets worn.

I will say though, a swardman is not hands off. You'll need to maintain as you would others. Plenty of posts here alone about stuff rattling off, loosening up, belts slipping and reels having issues, along with the normal maintenance stuff everyone has to do like oil changes and such.

The Swardman is a spin grind but by replacing the bedknife for $22 you are accomplishing the same thing as a backlap for a relief grind. No question the greensmower is more sophisticated and makes the swardman look like a toy in comparison but it's $12,000 new vs $3,000. I wouldn't consider a Swardman cheap but things will break and when they do, you can very easily order the new part and fix it yourself. It's a simple machine which could be a positive depending on how you look at it.

 

Thanks all for the opinions/insights

Kinda surprised by @JLavoe comment on Swardman not being built well enough for warm season grasses! Is that true ?

Is the maintenance on Swardmans a dealbreaker? I certainly can appreciate the pictures from @TulsaFan about the build quality (that was kind of an eye opener for me), but the reel low lawn for me is realisically only 2500 sq feet has given me pause about needing that is blast proof like a greensmower

Thanks again guys

One thing too I think is the reel grind... swardman makes a point to share it needs sharpened, but that's because it doesn't have a relief grind on it like other brands do, say like JD or Toro, Jacobsen, etc. those can backlap and sharpening isn't really needed as often as a swardman. The swardman will, so if you've got something tough bladed like a zoysia, you'd probably see more issues as the reel gets worn.

I will say though, a swardman is not hands off. You'll need to maintain as you would others. Plenty of posts here alone about stuff rattling off, loosening up, belts slipping and reels having issues, along with the normal maintenance stuff everyone has to do like oil changes and such.

The Swardman is a spin grind but by replacing the bedknife for $22 you are accomplishing the same thing as a backlap for a relief grind. No question the greensmower is more sophisticated and makes the swardman look like a toy in comparison but it's $12,000 new vs $3,000. I wouldn't consider a Swardman cheap but things will break and when they do, you can very easily order the new part and fix it yourself. It's a simple machine which could be a positive depending on how you look at it.

Very few people are buying new greens mowers so I don't think cost comparison reflects much. Good info having to replace the bedknife as a backlap substitute.