Old 1950's Swisher Ride King

Hello Everyone,

Posted a message on the "Lesser known classics" page and then I saw there was a garden tractor page.

I was looking for info on a swisher ride king that I own. I have been using it for a couple of years and am curious about how old it is.
I wrote the Swisher customer service dept and a person wrote me back and said they had worked for them a long time but never heard of my model number. She requested I send in a photo. I ran outside and took a picture and emailed it. She wrote back and said she was very suprised at the picture. It was made in the 50"s and they didn"t have much info on them. She said she was going to keep the photo and thanked me for proving that there were some of these still being used today. I told her I would clean it up and take a nicer photo for her. I also suggested that they use me in an ad for swisher. (I doubt they take me up on that one.) I feel I"m driving a piece of history around the farm. Now I"m curious what it"s worth. I need a new big mower and I may try sell it to help pay for a new one if it"s worth anything. (My kids will be mad, they love this mower) Any suggestions on a Value? I haven't been able to find any for sale to compare to.

Thanks
Nobel

Swishers RideKing and/or Big Mow were around for like 30 yrs(50s-80s)without many changes other than minor improvements.If mowin can be "fun" the Swisher is the ride to getcha there.Sadly their small size,simplicity and mfg rules spelled their demise.Collector"value"prolly not real high,but they are a fascinating lil piece of mowing history.Would be kinda neat to have a flock of em from the original with tires made of belting,flat steering wheel and up through the 1&2 speed,Tec & Briggs versions,built-in sweeper/bagger version,and late(final)version.
As you know,it's a cool lil mower,and not all that common.If yer kids enjoy it,I'd keep and maintain it

I have to agree with you. I have other larger , faster mowers, but this one is the most entertaining to drive. My dad removed the 5hp motor and put a newer 8hp motor so even tall grass doesn"t even slow me down. I"ll probably keep it for the kids to tinker on as they get older. I"m going to wash it up and take some photos of me mowing to send to Swisher. Maybe I"ll make the company calendar. (They"ll probably photoshop me out of the picture first)