# Swardman Edwin 2.1 rear drum split - warranty claim submitted to Landzie



## RangersFC (Jul 29, 2019)

The rear drum of my Swarman just split, and I'm still in the 2 year warranty by about a month. I was disappointed to see Reel Rollers is no longer the US rep for Swardman, and having to submit a claim to Landzie is a bit unsettling because they are an unknown to me.

The separation goes from about 1/3 inch to zero depending on how it is rolling.

I submitted to the claim to Landzie this morning, so I'll keep this forum updated on how it goes. Hopefully they will be as good as reel rollers. I'm really hoping to get continued support for Swardman, and really don't want to end up with a brick.

Anyone else submit a claim to Landzie?


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## RangersFC (Jul 29, 2019)

I've been in contact with Landzie, and they've been helpful so far in trying to diagnose the problem. It's taken nearly a month of back and forth troubleshooting between clips and bolts. But this morning I was able to take the drum apart and found the welds holding the gears in place have failed. This causes the gap and the gears to slip. I've sent the pictures into Landzie, so I'm interested to hear what they say.


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## jimbeckel (May 27, 2018)

RangersFC said:


> I've been in contact with Landzie, and they've been helpful so far in trying to diagnose the problem. It's taken nearly a month of back and forth troubleshooting between clips and bolts. But this morning I was able to take the drum apart and found the welds holding the gears in place have failed. This causes the gap and the gears to slip. I've sent the pictures into Landzie, so I'm interested to hear what they say.


It sure seems like the company could've put down a longer bead weld than what I'm seeing, an inch long bead where these welds are probably would've stood the test of time.


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## lacrossekite (Aug 10, 2020)

Curious as to why they haven't sent you a new drum since you were under warranty?


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

lacrossekite said:


> Curious as to why they haven't sent you a new drum since you were under warranty?


Agree. If this was during my growing season and I had a month long back and forth of diagnostics I would be near the end of my rope.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

jimbeckel said:


> RangersFC said:
> 
> 
> > I've been in contact with Landzie, and they've been helpful so far in trying to diagnose the problem. It's taken nearly a month of back and forth troubleshooting between clips and bolts. But this morning I was able to take the drum apart and found the welds holding the gears in place have failed. This causes the gap and the gears to slip. I've sent the pictures into Landzie, so I'm interested to hear what they say.
> ...


Those look like MIG tacks. While I'm a fan of the MIG process, it's a double-edged sword in that it's laying filler material as soon as the arc is lit. The parent materials don't have time to melt (with such a short "on" time) and you get a superficial tack like that that doesn't have much in the way of strength.

Even inch-long stitches have a pretty high chance of shrinking/warping the drum material as it appears to be steel sheet metal. That's probably why we see these little MIG tacks to begin with. There's a few ways I think it could have been done better but in the end, I'm starting understand why the heavier-duty machines are cast aluminum pieces vs welded steel assemblies.


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## RangersFC (Jul 29, 2019)

Quick update - I heard from Landzie this morning, and they are going to replace the drum. Parts are a bit backed up at the moment, so we'll see how long it takes to get the replacement. I'll post an update when I get the drum.

Pretty happy that they are honoring the warranty


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## Amoo316 (Jul 8, 2021)

I don't have a horse in this race, but it's worth mentioning that I find it really sad to see that all of these reel separation problems that we have seen thread after thread of, could have been prevented if the bean counters stayed out of it.

I agree with what @MasterMech is saying in that a 1" bead could warp the drum, but you can use a combo of short beads and tacks to give the machine better durability (Or a different kind of welder). This forum has proven their tack method was a clear failure. It's sad to see them saving maybe $5 in time and materials was the difference between what could have been a good drum design and what they currently have.

Just sad.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

RangersFC said:


> Quick update - I heard from Landzie this morning, and they are going to replace the drum. Parts are a bit backed up at the moment, so we'll see how long it takes to get the replacement. I'll post an update when I get the drum.
> 
> Pretty happy that they are honoring the warranty


Glad they are taking care of that! Hopefully it's quick and you can get it swapped easily. Hopefully anyone else on the fence should reach out so they can see if their welds are failing like others, and maybe be proactive before the warranty is up.


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## Alohacessna (Sep 18, 2020)

I have had the same issue happen, warranty repair approved by Swardman and waiting on the parts to arrive in the USA. Now I' m a bit more concerned to know if this will happen again down the road. I hope that Swardman is improving the design and eliminating this design flaw.

As an aside I have had a great interaction so far with Landize and they are very responsive.


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## RangersFC (Jul 29, 2019)

****UPDATE****

Props to Landzie!

I received my replacement drum yesterday, got it installed and cut my grass this morning. Everything works great! Took a bit of time to diagnose the problem, but Landzie was great. They even sent me a video on how to remove and replace the drum. Gives me confidence working with them in the future.

I even ordered the new Swardman groomer from them (https://landzie.com/product/swardman-groomer-cartridge/)

-side note - as others have mentioned, getting one of the bearings off the old drum was challenging. I ended up cutting the old shaft at the bearing, and then using WD40 to wrestle it off. But it all came out fine.


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## atticus (Dec 30, 2021)

RangersFC said:


> ****UPDATE****
> 
> Props to Landzie!
> 
> ...


Glad to hear you got your drum issue sorted! Also good to know the folks at Landzie are good to work with.

I'm kind of nervous, my Christmas/ anniversary/ birthday present this year from my wife was a factory refurbished Edwin 55 from @Reelrollers. I have no doubts about the work they did to bring it back to factory spec- their reputation seems pretty stellar. My anxiety is just being fed by reading the horror stories in this forum, most specifically the rear drum issue you had. My wife ordered it right before Christmas but then Covid ran through our house so I haven't even gotten to pick the dang thing up yet. I've just been reading more about them as I impatiently await being able to go get mine!

Would you mind posting an update with your thoughts on the groomer once you've given it a spin? I'm interested in it, but I can't find much real world information on it outside of the Landzie site.


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## Landzie (Apr 9, 2021)

Thanks for the kudos! Your groomer should be on it's way within the next few weeks!


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