Stiga Swift 372e Battery Garden Tractor

Stiga Battery Garden Tractor
Swift 372e: £3,249*

*Price correct at time of publishing

Tested April 2025

I hadn’t used a battery powered ride-on mower before, so I was looking forward to giving the Stiga Swift a proper go. I’m all for the benefits of quiet machines with no smelly exhaust emissions especially when Barnsdale Gardens visitors are here.

This is the smallest ride-on that Stiga offer, much larger models are available for large lawns. It’s very compact (length - 1924mm; width - 735mm and height - 1070mm).

When the mower arrived, I had no idea how to operate it and there’s a big manual which needs reading thoroughly before use. I thought I’d get it pushed into a shed and then have a good read through but here I encountered my first problem: with an electric motor there is no manual gear selection or neutral so the wheels are locked. I had no idea how to drive the thing or whether the batteries would be charged. After a bit of digging around I found that there’s a blue lever underneath, near the back wheels, which does allow the wheels to rotate freely. This must then be put back in position for normal operation. So no harm done but this should be made obvious upon delivery.

The Swift looks a tidy machine; predominantly plastic but not at all flimsy, it feels solid and well made. The benefit of plastic is that it reduces weight and cost and it'll never rust, of course the main chassis and cutting deck are all metal.

The seat is very comfortable and made from a waterproof foam material. It can be tipped up to keep it dry if there’s an unexpected rain shower mid-mow. The battery charging port is under the seat and this is protected under a plastic flap when not in use. The seat position can be adjusted forwards or backwards if needed, by loosening four screws then retightening. The wheels and tyres are removable, should they get a puncture or need replacing - instructions are provided in the manual and it sounds fairly straightforward.

This machine is very high-tech compared to the older machines I’m used to: there’s a USB port beneath the steering column should you wish to charge a device; there’s an app (Stiga.GO) which connects the Swift to a smartphone. The app allows the user to see such information as the battery levels, cutting efficiency, speed, slope angle plus more. You can add the location of its garage position for an alert should it be stolen or removed from that location. The app doesn’t need to be used but it’s there for users who want to see all the specifications and stats.

Batteries:

The mower has four battery slots beneath the seat. It came with four 48v batteries, three of the large E475 7.5 Ah and one B450 5.0 Ah. Any combination of batteries can be used in any of the slots but a minimum of three must be used together, regardless of how much charge they hold; for instance, one fully-charged battery would work but only with another two in place even if those are flat. I did try with just two batteries- this allows the mower to be driven but the blades won’t work unless there are three. There are a couple of charging options: Included with the mower is a cable that plugs directly from a mains socket into a socket under the seat which allows for charging any number of batteries in situ; another option is to remove the batteries and use a 48v Stiga ePower battery charger. I was supplied with a C 430 DFU dual fast battery charger. These options mean charging is very adaptable.

Operation:

I’ll start with safety first. I certainly feel safe on this machine as there are so many safety features built-in and it will not operate unless you tick all the boxes. It has an auto-shut-off emergency button which stops everything dead should you need it. Just getting off the seat stops everything and it won’t then start again unless the drive or cutting buttons are pressed.

To start the mower there’s a key that must be pushed into a corresponding slot, which is required for operation. Two keys are supplied. With the batteries charged and ready, insert the key whilst sitting on the seat, press the power button on the control panel, when the green 'Go' arrow illuminates its ready to use. Occasionally it’ll make a loud beep; this happens when the key is inserted, it also beeps continuously if you’re off the seat for too long without switching off or removing the key ad when the grass box is full it’ll let you know.

The Swift is really quiet and when driving without the cutter running its almost silent. When the cutter starts it makes a whirring sound but compared to a mower with a non-electric engine, its blissful.

The mower has one foot pedal on the right-hand side for forward and reverse. There’s no brake as that’s automatic when the foot is taken off the pedal – I did find that it needs to be done gently though otherwise it skids to a stop very quicky. The acceleration pedal is extremely precise and responsive, with the pedal right down it moves swiftly yet it can also be driven at a snails pace when needed. When ready to start cutting you must select the cutting height; there are six positions which are selected with a lever to the left-hand side.

The mower has three different cutter operating speeds, which doesn’t affect the drive speed but speeds up or slows down the cutter blades which affects battery life, the options are selected via the control panel: Eco; Normal and Turbo. I haven’t yet worked out battery performance with these different settings but I’d usually go for normal speed; Eco would be used for a light trim in dry conditions and Turbo for longer grass or maybe if the grass is wet. Stiga state that in Eco mode this machine can manage a 3000 m2 lawn on a single charge, this obviously depends upon how many batteries you have, I have other batteries available from other Stiga products so could prolong my cutting if needed.

Once the speed is selected its ready to cut. The drive speed is very responsive and allows for precise control when needed. When the reverse pedal is pressed the cutting blades stop but there is a button that can be pressed and held in to keep them cutting. Alternatively, just press the cutter button to restart the blades when ready to move forward. Another great function is cruise control: when driving/cutting there’s a button that can be pressed which sets the speed, this speed is maintained until it’s switched off when the same button or the pedal is pressed.

The grass collection box neatly fits on to the back of the machine and hinges at the top, the idea is that it can be reversed up to a composting area and tipped onto the ground. We like to mix our grass clippings with other compostable material so would tip in a heap then transfer to other areas. The grass box isn’t attached to the main body so it can be lifted off and stored separately if space is tight. One point to mention is that the collection box will empty its contents when removed- there’s no way to remove it with even a small amount of clippings.

For those that don’t always want to collect clippings there is a mulching plug attachment available as an extra, which finely chops the clippings and drops them back onto the lawn surface. Another available extra is a towing hitch so it could pull a small trailer when not being used for mowing.

The dual cutting deck consists of two blades, side-by-side giving a cutting width which is the same as the width of the wheelbase so cutting up to lawn edges is possible. Another great feature is the addition of a hose attachment on top of the deck, so that it can be washed straight after use (with the blades running). The collection box must be emptied first and put back onto the machine, the blades will not operate without the collection box being attached. After running the blades and water for a few minutes the box can be removed and cleaned/dried.

Usage:

Initially I felt a little out of my depth whilst getting to grip with the operation of this machine but with a little practice it all became quite familiar. If it beeps it means that the user needs to do something. At first, it can take a while to work out what that is but there are lights that flash that help to indicate the issue.

The mower can cut very short, almost bowling green short and I did find that it was better to lift the deck to avoid scalping, especially where the ground isn’t completely even. On the higher cut settings it was great for giving our paddock its first cut of the year when the grass was long. This was cut on a lower setting the next time around and the collection box worked really well. I haven’t used the Swift in the wet and would prefer to stick to dry cuts, which has worked really well, with no blockages. 

Conclusion: I really like the agility of the Swift; the combination of its size and tight turning circle means it can get around most areas of lawn. The battery life is good and it’s very quiet. I would highly recommend this machine for larger expanses of lawn where it can cut quickly and efficiently. For really tight curves such as areas where trees are planted, I would still prefer to use a pedestrian mower, though some of our tree circles are less than a metre in diameter, getting around these is possible with the Swift.