# Swardman Problems



## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

*Please understand before reading this post it is not my intention to imply that Swardman is a bad product or that it is unreliable. It very well could be that I have just been the one in a million customer that has had multiple things go wrong. It could be a fluke. Nobody else using Swardman has had any issues that I know of.

I still think Swardman is a great reel mower and intend to keep mine. This post was only intended to share my experience with members here, otherwise it would seem like I was hiding something and that's what we do here: we share the good and the bad.

Please don't jump to conclusions that Swardman is unreliable based on my experience. Lee and Michal have gone above and beyond in trying to help me, even offering a full refund. You will not get screwed by going with a Swardman. It would take more people coming forward to come to any sort of conclusion. So please read my post with a grain of salt, knowing that these issues could be rare and that I may just be the unlucky guy that caught them all. *

First off let me say I hate making this post. I love my Swardman, but I feel a need to share the problems I've had with it to the members here. In a nutshell I can't keep this thing operational. In the middle of my first mow the cylinder pulley broke. I temporarily fixed it with a paper clip.




Swardman sent me a replacement cable which now works fine.

Even before the first mow the reel was noticeably stiff. It didn't spin freely and made a grinding sound when you tried to spin it. I backed it off the bedknife and spent the next week trying to bring the reel to the bedknife to cut paper and spin more freely. I could not get it to cut paper without being extremely stiff and grinding. 2 blades were contacting the bedknife while others were not. This thing was out of round.

Swardman sent me a new one, which works fine.

So back to the drawing board on scalping the yard. It mowed the whole yard one time at 3/4 inch, then I verticut and scarified. Those cartridges are awesome. However, as I want to maintain at 3/4 inch I needed to go lower, so I cut at 1/2 inch. I got 1/3 of the way through the yard and the mower stopped suddenly. The bolt holding the drive shaft snapped off inside the shaft



I took it to be repaired, the shaft needed to be removed to machine the bolt out, they replaced it with a strength 8 bolt, which works fine at the moment, and Swardman paid the repair bill





After getting it home full of mowing anticipation I noticed this



Well damn. I mean just damn. I was worried about the 3M adhesive eventually wearing off, but I haven't had this thing but a month and have only used it a few times. At Swardmans urging I pulled the rubber completely off the drum and went to mow. The drum was sticky, but surprisingly wasn't picking up any debris.

I decide to cut the yard at 1/2 inch again by golly, I'm going to cut it that low so I can let it green in to 3/4 inch! It was cutting beautifully. Handling like a dream. It was slipping the slightest bit on the slight slope, but not enough to get bent out of shape about. It was even striping a little, something I've never done before



I was happy and enthusiastic about my Swardman. All the fluky problems were over! We're on our way now!



The mower stopped propelling forward. I took the magnet cover off and found the drive belt broken. My heart sank.

I have never hit anything hard with the reel or pushed it through anything too thick. I don't have anything hard in my yard. I will admit to denting the grass catcher on the front after hitting a fence post (the speed of this thing has quite the learning curve), but that impact was minor, not enough to cause any mower to fall apart. I haven't hit any concrete, you can see the edge of my yard hasn't been touched this year in the video below






After all of this, I still love the Swardman. When it's working it is the easiest reel mower to use, maneuver, adjust and care for. The cartridges are superb.....anyone getting a Swardman really needs to get the other cartridges to really appreciate the entire system.

Lee Purcell and Michal Dozbaba have been great representatives of Swardman and have backed their product. But I can't even get the seasons first scalping done, heck at 1/2 inch it's not really even a scalping. Not sure what to do, but wanted people to know my story.


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## gpbrown60 (Apr 7, 2018)

Feel your frustration with the mower. I have to say that you are a much better man than me!

gpbrown60


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

I'm in Atlanta, and I think as sort of interested in this mower. More so since there was a dealer close.

Your mower sounds like a lemon POS, after all the problems I wouldn't be singing many praises. When it works it's good, but appears it just does work often so it's often not good... right?

Hate to hear about more trouble. I would have it on a pallet at a dock at work asking swordsman where to return it.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

That's an insane amount of issues to be having with a brand new and very expensive mower.


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## Guest (May 10, 2018)

Get a replacement seems you got the beta model.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Wow, when it rains it pours. Thank you for sharing your experiences.


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## Fishnugget (Sep 29, 2017)

Sounds like they need to work on quality control. I am sure Swardman will get it right. They seem to be a reputable company.


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## Guest (May 10, 2018)

FATC1TY said:


> I'm in Atlanta, and I think as sort of interested in this mower. More so since there was a dealer close.
> 
> Your mower sounds like a lemon POS, after all the problems I wouldn't be singing many praises. When it works it's good, but appears it just does work often so it's often not good... right?
> 
> Hate to hear about more trouble. I would have it on a pallet at a dock at work asking swordsman where to return it.


I'd be pissed and requesting pickup of said mower and a replacement model at a substantial discount..if swardman is expecting me to be their guinea pig for testing their roleout beta model.


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## Ganny (Apr 16, 2018)

All these reliability issues are really disappointing. I was thinking about buying the electric model (to replace my TruCut that has had zero problems in 5 years).


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## rrmiller32 (Feb 20, 2018)

I ordered the same one, same color (love the blue). It's been sitting in customs for 2 weeks now. Ordered it 4 weeks ago. I'll flip out if it ain't perfect once I get it. I think they (Swardman/reel rollers) are definitely in the "figuring it out" stage but all these problems seem to be isolated. I haven't heard of anyone else having issues with the mower, just great praise on how well they work.

I'd ask for an entire new one and at minimum a few years of free reel maintenance/replacement. To much money for too many problems. I'd agree with your statement that Lee at reel rollers is awesome. Very accommodating and responsive, but that will only go so far.


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## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

I am one of the first in the US to get one of these mowers. Mine has worked flawlessly. I did have one incident that was totally my fault - I went over a meter cover and damaged the reel. I have a new one on the way, but as stated, mine has been flawless. I really think this one is a one off and hopefully Swardman will make it right.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

I appreciate the responses, but anyone having already read this thread I made an amendment at the top in red. Please read that. Thank you.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Great response, but it still stands the mower you have is currently a clunker. While I know and expect there to always be individual issues with mechanical stuff, you shouldn't feel the need to pamper the company.

They came here to hock their wares, and build a following. It's natural to expect issues, good or bad. They gave out mowers to build hype and share info on them. It happens, and I'm sure being new and small, they'll make it right for all parties.


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## Guest (May 10, 2018)

FATC1TY said:


> Great response, but it still stands the mower you have is currently a clunker. While I know and expect there to always be individual issues with mechanical stuff, you shouldn't feel the need to pamper the company.
> 
> They came here to hock their wares, and build a following. It's natural to expect issues, good or bad. They gave out mowers to build hype and share info on them. It happens, and I'm sure being new and small, they'll make it right for all parties.


Swardman will make it right I'm sure there is too much at stake marketshare wise for them not too. I look forward to the many reviews on their equipment.


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## Llano Estacado (Jul 18, 2017)

gatormac2112 said:


> I appreciate the responses, but anyone having already read this thread I made an amendment at the top in red. Please read that. Thank you.


Stand up way to be, but I didn't see anything negative about your original post. You shared the good and the bad, not sour grapes.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Looking at the metal parts only, heres what I can say:

-That spring is cheap metal and not meant to last, it looks like they took one off a screen porch door. A solidly built steel spring would last forever. Literally.
-That bolt should never have been placed on that mower, that's the kind of bolts you use for attaching an overhead rack to the 2x4's in your garage or something. Grade 8 bolts shouldn't be an "upgrade".
-The rubber should either be solid, or overmolded to the metal. It shouldn't be glued on strips. It should probably be 1/4"-1/2" thick as well.

This mower looks like it would be solidly built to cut indoor carpet.

Not to trash talk it, but when I compare to the hardware on my GM1600, I'm always much more worried about what its going to BREAK when I hit things with it, rather than the other way around.

I'd agree it seems like a Beta version (or maybe Alpha), but with a lot of promise. However, they do have two things going for them, which is the excellent customer service, and the fact that they seem to WANT to improve their product.


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## Guest (May 11, 2018)

Amen brother


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Well, yeah, if you compare it to a greens mower it isn't built like those tanks. But I don't think it's as bad as the problems I've had would indicate either. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I would say this may not be the mower for a typical American lawn, but a lawn that is fairly level and cared for Swardman should do fine on.

Lee Purcell at Reel Rollers just sent me a replacement belt, as with most everything on this mower it was easy to replace. Thanks Lee! I finished up the rest of the yard at 1/2 inch, now I'm ready for the lawn to fill in to 3/4 inch and probably do some leveling in June


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## TigerinFL (Mar 29, 2018)

great customer service again! that means a lot!


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

I've said it before about other products that I've spent my hard-earned money on: service after the sale sells more than the salesman. Everyone has been up-front with taking care of problems, and at this infancy state of the company, they've got to make that a priority. Even with some of the issues that have been presented, if I had a need for a brand new reel mower, I'd definitely go for a Swardman. The interchangeable cartridges that take the place of multiple machines is a great selling point. That's similar what Echo and Sthil went for with the powerhead setups and attachments in the Kombi system, and they seem to be catching on.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Maybe I'm just being a devils advocate here. I see this place as a swordman haven due to the site owner trialing this for free, who already has a smallish lawn void of any trees and obstacles and that's been prepped and absolutely taken care of to a degree well above "normal".

We can't compare that to "normal" and expect it works for everyone.

Perspective wise- I've got slope, and I've got less than normal. I also live on a golf course and see what happens daily. A swordman could help me or couldn't and based on those who've bought one. I certainly can't see it being cost effective over just tossing my trucut to the curb and having a greens mower used delivered to my back yard.

Happy to see the services provided after the fact however and certainly applaud it, but they are so new they have to eat any negative to gain traction. Foam roller trashed or not...


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

At this point they should ship you a new one that's been "bulletproofed" and take back the old one to study in the name of science. Aka quality control.

In a past life managing QC, this would have required a Corrective Action Request to address these issues.

Part of that would have been asking the engineer why he used cheap springs and bolts when they are things that have minimal cost to do correctly the first time.

It would also involve looking at how reels are inspected before they leave manufacturing, whether reel to bed knife is being checked and recorded along with the serial number etc.

But I digress. The issue here is design for the issues described. If your spring and bolt aren't broken yet, they probably will, and Swardman should be sending out repair kits proactively to anyone that's bought one. Probably $5 in parts and postage total.


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## Guest (May 12, 2018)

I concur swardman has an opportunity here to do right with their quality control as well as long term customer satisfaction and branding. So far they've stepped up to the plate and handled issues well. Retrofitting models with proper parts and possibly a redesign of the rubber layer(thicker?) on the back roller would be a good start.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

So did this ever get fixed or resolved ?


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## Guest (May 16, 2018)

I hope so for Swardman sake..they're the ones that are going to lose in the long run if not.


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

FATC1TY said:


> So did this ever get fixed or resolved ?


Oh yeah, I thought I mentioned that they sent me a replacement belt, I have since mowed the yard twice with no problems. Fingers crossed!


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## Guest (May 17, 2018)

gatormac2112 said:


> FATC1TY said:
> 
> 
> > So did this ever get fixed or resolved ?
> ...


Good to hear!


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## Reelrollers (Feb 6, 2018)

I'm definitely sorry you had the delays and problems with your Swardman and it is absolutely not common.

The ironic part is I've spent the past 9 months trying to break my Swardman!

I've been dead set on testing the durability of the rear drum by running it over my loose rock path, still no dents.

Mowing over sticks, mulch that's flowed into the grass, and here in Georgia we have these damn spike balls that fall from trees. All in an attempt to throw the reel out of alignment.

Today I got up early and mowed with the lawn very wet to see if I could get it to bog down or clog up the reel or roller drive... again, it just kept going.

Gatormac, we're here to help! You need anything just call! Here's some pics from today's mowing with lots of dew on grass.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Reelrollers said:


> and here in Georgia we have these damn spike balls that fall from trees.




:thumbup:


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## TigerinFL (Mar 29, 2018)

Reelrollers said:


> I'm definitely sorry you had the delays and problems with your Swardman and it is absolutely not common.
> 
> The ironic part is I've spent the past 9 months trying to break my Swardman!
> 
> ...


man that looks nice. great to hear your Swardman is doing its job


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## gatormac2112 (Sep 14, 2017)

Reelrollers said:


> I'm definitely sorry you had the delays and problems with your Swardman and it is absolutely not common.
> 
> The ironic part is I've spent the past 9 months trying to break my Swardman!
> 
> ...


I hated making this post Lee, you and Michal have been great and I still love my Swardman! But being a member of these forums I felt like it would be wrong to not share my experiences good and bad. I look forward to putting it all behind me and getting my yard in shape with my Swardman. Thanks for all the help you have given me, at the very least people considering a Swardman can see that you guys will back your product!

You have a beautiful house and yard :thumbup:


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## rrmiller32 (Feb 20, 2018)

I've only had two mows with my Swardman but it has been a dream. This machine has been amazing, super easy to use, fired up first pull out of th crate. Fit and finish are top notch. I honestly believe @gatormac2112 experience is an anomaly. I did experience some rediculous delays and issues getting my mower through customs, but this machine rocks.


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## Reelrollers (Feb 6, 2018)

gatormac2112 said:


> Reelrollers said:
> 
> 
> > I'm definitely sorry you had the delays and problems with your Swardman and it is absolutely not common.
> ...


You and I have gotten to know each other very well. You've been fantastic and I truly appreciate you being candid with the forum based on your experience. Heck, that's what I value when I visit TLF. Lots of great feedback, reviews, experiences, and opinions.


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## trc (Jun 23, 2017)

What was the resolution and now verdict on the rubber drum drive?


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## SwardmanGuy (Oct 30, 2017)

trc said:


> What was the resolution and now verdict on the rubber drum drive?


Hi, at this moment the rubber drum is not an option. We could not find the proper metal-rubber glue.


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