Push Mower: Front or Rear Wheel Drive and Why?
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rwd is easier to go up on a hill, since you are behind the mower it's basically no effort to push down on the handle and raise the front wheels off the ground so all the traction is on the rear wheels, and you don't have to push the mower at all up the hill. But on a FWD you have to lift up on the handle to keep the front wheels on the ground, which also have little traction, and you are basically pushing the mower up the hill while the FWD does little to none of the work.
since you're location is florida (you have no hills) i can understand your point of view about rwd.
since you're location is florida (you have no hills) i can understand your point of view about rwd.
I will never buy a non-self propelled mower. never seen one had problems, except for a new belt every 7-8 years. You still get the excercise of walking behind it for a mile and a half or more.
Originally Posted By: boraticus
"Takes me about 3 hrs to do the whole lawn"
Hmmmm, let's see.....
3 hours cutting grass or 1/2 cutting grass and 2.5 hours out on the lake catching walleyes????
Any takers?
No doubt. I don't have enough daylight for that.
"Takes me about 3 hrs to do the whole lawn"
Hmmmm, let's see.....
3 hours cutting grass or 1/2 cutting grass and 2.5 hours out on the lake catching walleyes????
Any takers?
No doubt. I don't have enough daylight for that.
RWD seems to have a better balance when you lift the front of the mower to turn because you have the drive weight in the rear instead of the front.
FWD could be more reliable with the exception of tire wear.
With FWD you can turn and do a 180 with the drive being engaged. With RWD the drive is always being engaged and re-engaged when turning and could lead to the mechanism wearing out before FWD.
It went back and forth with this and ended up buying a Toro RWD because I liked the balanced feel of the mower when the front is tipped up to turn. I have accepted I might have to replace some drive mechanism parts at some point before I would in FWD.
FWD could be more reliable with the exception of tire wear.
With FWD you can turn and do a 180 with the drive being engaged. With RWD the drive is always being engaged and re-engaged when turning and could lead to the mechanism wearing out before FWD.
It went back and forth with this and ended up buying a Toro RWD because I liked the balanced feel of the mower when the front is tipped up to turn. I have accepted I might have to replace some drive mechanism parts at some point before I would in FWD.
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I have a mower with a 'high' rear wheel and FWD. Leaving the drive engaged I can make 180 degree turn in 1 sec. Works great for that striped lawn look.
Just this year I replaced 1 front wheel due to being worn. Mower is approx 12 years old and nothing besides oil change and blade sharpening once a years for maintenance. I don't even change air filters any more because I now use a cuttable filter material that I put on the outside of the filter when pushing the filter back into the plastic housing. I just air blow that a few times a year and replace once a year. I did slightly modify the mower couple years back when I purposely bent the aluminum that the the high throttle spring attaches to. The mower now runs at a higher rpm.
Just this year I replaced 1 front wheel due to being worn. Mower is approx 12 years old and nothing besides oil change and blade sharpening once a years for maintenance. I don't even change air filters any more because I now use a cuttable filter material that I put on the outside of the filter when pushing the filter back into the plastic housing. I just air blow that a few times a year and replace once a year. I did slightly modify the mower couple years back when I purposely bent the aluminum that the the high throttle spring attaches to. The mower now runs at a higher rpm.
RWD is for REAL cars and mowers. FWD is for ricers...
I think the notion used to be that RWD mowers were harder on the grass because if left engaged, and without any differential action, one wheel would always slide against the ground (usually the inside wheel would spin faster). FWD mowers, as stated earlier, can be left engaged when pivoting for a turn.
I have owned both, and both were equally reliable for me. I do prefer RWD, especially when bagging, because FWD didn't tend to keep a straight line across the lawn...it would tend to wander left/right without correction. The RWD mowers seem more direction-stable.
I do agree with the comment that a RWD Lawn-Boy is about as close to mowing perfection that you can get. My 8157 model is a very early version of the Easy Stride concept, and you push the near-vertical mower handle to get it moving. The handle is pivoted about halfway up, and as you push the top of the handle, it pulls on the drive cable. The harder you push, the faster the mower goes. You still get a decent amount of exercise because you have to truly walk the yard. With many types of drives, you can easily let the mower "pull you along".
I have owned both, and both were equally reliable for me. I do prefer RWD, especially when bagging, because FWD didn't tend to keep a straight line across the lawn...it would tend to wander left/right without correction. The RWD mowers seem more direction-stable.
I do agree with the comment that a RWD Lawn-Boy is about as close to mowing perfection that you can get. My 8157 model is a very early version of the Easy Stride concept, and you push the near-vertical mower handle to get it moving. The handle is pivoted about halfway up, and as you push the top of the handle, it pulls on the drive cable. The harder you push, the faster the mower goes. You still get a decent amount of exercise because you have to truly walk the yard. With many types of drives, you can easily let the mower "pull you along".
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