Front Wheel Drive Vs. Rear Wheel Drive Lawn Mower
With self-propelled lawn mowers, the user does not have to push the mower. They simply guide it along. There are two types of self-propelled mowers: rear-wheel drive and front-wheel drive. In a rear-wheel-drive mower, the rear wheels are propelled by a small gearbox located above the wheels. In a front-wheel-drive mower, the gearbox propels the front wheels. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Hilly Terrain
-
Front-wheel-drive lawn mowers lose traction on hills, causing the user to have to push the mower instead of simply guiding it. Rear-wheel-drive mowers are designed for hilly terrain in mind. Their traction never leaves, which makes them better for homeowners with hills.
Flat Terrain
-
Both styles have equal traction on flat land, which makes them both suitable for homeowners with flat terrain.
-
Maneuverability
-
Front-wheel-drive mowers cannot make hard corners without the user lifting the front wheels up. This is because the front drive wheels constantly wants to move the mower forward. Since the rear-wheel-drive mower's gearbox is in the back, the user can turn the mower more quickly.
Speed
-
Both types of mower come in one-speed and variable-speed versions. A one-speed mower goes 3 miles per hour. A variable-speed mower goes from 0 to 3.5 miles per hour.
Bagger
-
As the bagger fills on a front-wheel-drive mower, the weight distribution will change from the front to the rear of the mower. This causes the front wheels to spin. Rear-wheel-drive mowers gain traction as the bag fills.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit mower image by Tomasz Wojnarowicz from Fotolia.com
More Like This
Comments
-
Just to throw in a tid bit of info... Rear wheel drive is more likely to be worse on turns because while you are trying to turn the mower (pushing the handle down and lifting up the front) the rear wheels continue to move not allowing you to perfect your cutting line or even having much of a chance to. In order to avoid this you have to lift up on the handle and swing the back of the mower around keeping the rear wheels off the ground (they are moving), line up your cut, then put the wheels back down. This situation is avoided with either FWD or RWD by having a sensitive pull handle to engage the self-propell and not one of the locked-in-engaged ones. Secondly, The weight issue about the bagger cannot be disputed. It is basic logic. Thirdly, the traction going up hill is virtually the same. The method for FWD is to simply lift on the handle a bit to make a good connection with the ground. Pushing up when walking up a hill is easier to me then pushing down (potentially pulling slightly backwards) on a RWD up a hill.
