ATV Pull behind mowers?

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Was looking for info on these machines. Looking at a Swisher Tail Cutter 44"  to 60". Any thoughts and opinions would be much appreciated! Will be mowing and maintaining brush trails and open grass fields.Will use quad to tow machine. Thanks!

[ChesapeakeMan]

I have the Swisher 44" Trail Cutter.  I have mowed down 1.5" trees with it but usually just cut grass and some brush.  I wondered about the durability of it but it has been going strong for 3 years now.  One thing it does do is smoke belts if you get to aggressive, which I seem to do too often.  I will often try to cut too low and run the blades into the dirt or a stump and that will break the belt pretty quickly.  If you leave the deck higher this is less of a problem.  It can also leave little strips of grass where the tow vehicles tires just traveled.  It doesn't really pickup the grass to cut it.  This hasn't been a huge problem just something to be aware of.  I just overlap my cuts a little more to try and cut the depressed grass.  I tow it with a Polaris Ranger 700 XP so I have no experience with a quad towing.  I can say the Ranger tows it like it's not even there so the quad will probably be just fine.  Overall it works really well.  It is many times more capable than a riding mower yet you don't have the huge investment of a tractor and mower.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Thanks for taking time to post that info! Probably the way we will go since we have a quad.

[huntandjeep]

How does it do on gas. I'm thinking of getting one next year along with a 4 seat RZR. I have about 3 1/2 acres I mow but the tractor and mower I have been using was sold so now I have to find a new option. Figure I would go this route instead of a tractor and mower that can only be used for jobs.

[Fishstiq]

It might be a good idea to look at a pull behind flail mower rather than just a regular mower.  The flail mower will produce just as good a result for finish mowing on a lawn as a regular mower, but in addition if you are cutting trails or rougher terrain they are much safer and take a lot less abuse.  When the flail hits something solid, like a rock or stump, it won't throw the object out at high speed or bend the blade/smoke the belts on the mower.  They are pricy, but they are great machines.

[Grit dog]

Bought a lightly used Swisher 60" finish mower. Going on 3 rd year of cutting 2.5-5ac weekly with it. Beat it up on rocks and stumps once in a while. It's the older version 12 hp I think.
It has been great. No problems. Just regular maintenance. More than I expected out of a mower I gave $900 for.
I'd bet their trail mowers are pretty tough too.