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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 16 customer reviews )
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42 of 43 found the following review helpful:
 My new Little Friend. May 23, 2007
By James Garfield
I flashed the plastic and my Swisher DXQ was delivered less than a week later. Having used it for several days now, I'll post my review here.
Some assembly is required. You'll put on the wheels, and the handle. I noted what another reviewer said here previously about the handle coming loose, so I used lock-tite on the handle nuts, and they have not come loose yet. Yes, the wheels are plastic, but remember this unit is under $400. Besides, you'll appreciate the lighter weight (no self-propel on this model).
The unit comes with a small can of Briggs oil, just enough to fill the crankcase, nice touch. Put in some gas and the engine cranked right up for me and ran well.
What I use it for: I have some open areas (septic fields, horse barn areas, etc) which tend to get overgrown with high thick weeds. I use the Swisher to 'pre-cut' those areas, going in and knocking down chest-high overgrowth to about 4 inches. After this, I follow up with the rider mower and put on the finish cut.
I have found the DXQ is adequate for this task. The 6.5HP Briggs flat-head (not OHV) engine is just about the smallest motor acceptable for this work. In very thick or high overgrowth you'll find this motor challenged with the the load, and you can even stall it if you push too fast. But if you slow down your pace a little it will pull through it fine. For most knee-high weeds and overgrowth, this motor is sufficient to take you through it at a steady slow walking pace (yeah, just like the TV commericals for the DR mowers :).
You won't make a smooth pretty cut with this machine. When you're done with an area that had substantial heavy overgrowth, it will look rough and overlaid with 'hay', like a tractor had gone over it with a bush-hog cutter. If this is what you want, you're good to go. For me, I wait a couple of hours for the hay and clippings to dry out, then I go over it with the rider mower. It's a lot easier on the mower than plowing through the high stuff straight off, and the results look beautiful.
The trimmer head spins clockwise, as viewed from operator's position. I have found it helps to 'outline' an area, then go around it in shrinking counter-clockwise loops. This lets you throw the cut debris to your right, away from the uncut area that you will cut on the next pass.
The machine is LOUD. There's the engine noise, plus a nearly ultrasonic noise from the trimmer line. You will definately want earplugs, or some form of hearing protection.
The size of the trimmer line is .130 or .150. I've found this size line blazes away through vegetation overgrowth, but it doesn't like trimming up against hard solid objects such as concrete foundations or wooden fence posts. Doing that makes flex too much and it breaks off quickly, back at the spindle. You'll want to carry some spare pieces of line in your pocket, for those instances. Or just keep the Swisher in the open overgrowth areas, and it'll be fine.
I removed the guard around the trimmer head, in order to let the machine 'breathe' better and more easily eject the cut vegetation. I'm not recommending this for everyone, but just saying it works better for me. The Swisher comes with a free set of eye protection goggles. You'll need them. Stuff flies everywhere.
Another reviewer mentioned the cooling air intake on top of the engine getting clogged, and this does happen. This Briggs engine cover has a fixed stationary grille over the air intake. With all the debris blowing around, a lot of it will get stuck on that grille and it will reduce airflow into the cooling fins. Other Briggs engine models have the grille attached to the flywheel, so it's spinning around at engine speed, and tends to be more self-cleaning. That would have been helpful here. So every so often you'll want to reach down with your (gloved) hand and brush debris away from the intake grille. It comes off with two small phillips screws, so remove it and clean it out good every few hours.
This is a hard-working engine when you're cutting substantial overgrowth, so it goes through a tank of gas pretty quickly. In addition, I'd suggest doing about a 5 hour oil change interval for the same reason. The machine gets dirty. Keep a brush handy for removing debris from the air cleaner, carb, gas cap, etc.
When you're buying equipment like this, it's important to analyze your needs honestly, and choose the appropriate machine for the task. With that said, the DXQ is basically a decent ENTRY LEVEL machine. It has the smallest size engine acceptable, no electric start, and no self propel. It's not going to have the power or features of it's big brothers. (That is, if you're planning to knock down multiple acres of heavy overgrowth, or have challenging terrain to deal with, you maybe should be looking at a bigger machine.) But you're not going to be paying $1500 to $2000 for this machine either. Just 400 bucks lands the DXQ on your doorstep in about week. My particular needs are to control of seasonal and occasional overgrowth of smaller (sub-acre) areas. And the DXQ does that job quite well.
I found the other reviews here helpful in letting me know just what I was getting into. Based on that and the attractive price tag compared to all the other models, I felt confident in ordering this unit.
After using the Swisher DXQ for a few days, learning its strengths and limitations, I actually found myself having too much fun using it. Those bad boy gangsta weeds had tormented me long enough, and now they were goin' down before me. I was feeling a little like Al Pachino in 'Scarface': "You want a piece of this?? Well say Hello to MY LITTLE FRIEND!"
Enjoy and be safe.
20 of 21 found the following review helpful:
 Save your money Aug 08, 2004
By G. Whitfield
"Old Salt"
I purchased this model over some of the cheaper models because I thought the tiltable head would be a great option, however it is a source of frustration. The locking clamp will not hold, so while you are using it the position changes and all of a sudden you are scalping your lawn. I finally helped it some by really tightening it with a 10" cresent. So now if I need to change position of the head I have to carry a cresent wrench. Also the line does not last very long. It does not wear out on the ends but breaks at the head where you loop it. This line is also expensive even when purchased in bulk on a spool. Also when you tilt the mower back to change the line the mower seems to flood and I have some trouble restarting it. So here is the big picture I have a large lot with lots of edging, In order to get the job done I have to carry a 10" cresent and approx 4 pairs of extra line in my pocket. I spend time whenever I change line waiting to start it and if I haven't really tightened the tiltable head I wind up with many scalped areas in my yard. The one adjustment it does not have that is available on others is a height adjustment so the only height is very low. Had I purchased this item at a lawnmower shop I would have returned it and purchased a Troy built for less money.
23 of 25 found the following review helpful:
 Yes, it will chop just about anything..... Sep 29, 2004
By C. Huskinson
I have used this trimmer for the past three months to control the weeds around small trees. It will cut through just about anything (including trees!) without bogging down. The line will last quite a while as long as you are chopping weeds and not rocks, barbed wire, or anything metal. Overall a very good product. I have not ever used the tilt head. The only drawbacks are the flimsy wheels (replace with metal rimmed wheels) and the tendency to get too close to something important! The brace holding the guard did break off but a quick weld fixed the problem. My machine has been run for about 120 hours with no problems under some severe conditions (heat, dust, large amounts of vegetation, etc). I would purchase this item again but I may look at the Trail Cutter for my application in the future.
17 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Worked Great! Aug 01, 2003
Have used it over an hour now and seems to work great. Really like the tiltable head. Allows you to shave right down to the ground. I have tried a DR trimmer and I like this better because of the tiltable head. Only problem I had with it was the bottle of oil that was shipped with it leaked all over everything. Was quite a mess.
33 of 40 found the following review helpful:
 Self destructs in 15 minutes Jul 02, 2003
By Kato
I am stuck with a trimmer that had parts crack, leaked oil, threw off its drive belt, and trimmer strings in less then 15 minutes of proper use. The wheels are flimsy, the cutting height is not adjustable, the handle is uncomfortable and not padded.
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