Walk behind mowers/ front or rear wheel drive discussion

scootr · Wednesday at 1:21 PM

Took delivery of a Toro TB230C. It's rear wheel drive. I'm replacing an older Troy Bilt TB210 front wheel drive.
I find the front wheel drive much easier to maneuver around obstacles where you just press down on the handle and let the wheels loose traction as you slow and turn vs having to clutch the drive...Is it just me?
Maybe I'm not mowing right

Mtsoxfan · Wednesday at 1:28 PM

Just a personal preference, I prefer FWD. I don't always release the drive bar when navigating hilly areas, around trees etc. Tilting back lifts front wheels so I can twist around a tree for example. I don't like pull/release/pull/release for my style mowing. That's just me though.

whitenorth · Wednesday at 1:41 PM

I'm a fan of rear wheel drive. Especially going up a hill. Plus, I am a fan of Toro's Personal Pace system.

ruffdog · Wednesday at 1:55 PM

I have one of the classic Ariens rear drive mowers. I guess after 34 years it has paid for itself. Yes, I have to engage the handle every time but it has been working. I do wonder about front wheel traction though.

bigtiller · Wednesday at 2:35 PM

I haven't ran either one since I was about 30 but back then I preferred the rear wheel drive ones.

After getting hot and tired, sometimes when mowing uphill I would let the mower pull me a little bit. Then I had to play catch-up to get the front wheels back on the ground.

scootr · Wednesday at 8:53 PM

My last 2 front wheel drives had one speed on/off. And it was easy to control ground speed by pushing the handle down and loosing some traction.
The new Pace lever will definitely take some getting used to

whitenorth · Wednesday at 9:06 PM

scootr said:
My last 2 front wheel drives had one speed on/off. And it was easy to control ground speed by pushing the handle down and loosing some traction.
The new Pace lever will definitely take some getting used to

I like it because it matches your pace. Best advice is plan ahead when wanting to back up. Let it roll forward a bit as that will unbind the wheels and they won't be locked up when you try to pull it back. That is my only real complaint on the system.