No, the swivel wheels never really took off. In many cases, the little extra weight on these machines changed the balance enough to make the handling undesirable. The Ariens used to be built like tanks. If you liked your MTD, the Cub is built by the same company. My 5 cents worth is to get a feel of the machine, and if you can't try one out- you can at least envision how it would work in your world.

High wheels are heavier, more expensive, and more susceptible to damage and breakage from lateral forces. They were intended to make a mower easier to push so they wouldn't be needed so much on a self propelled unit. The older pneumatic types were susceptible to getting leaks and flats too which was a real pain.

'Manuevering advantage to front wheel drive' No. There is no advantage except cost in a FWD mower, and you pay much more than the difference over a couple of years in downtime, parts and aggravation. I really don't get how people have that idea about the FWD being easier to maneuver than RWD. Approaching a turn-around, you let go of the bail, which disconnects the drive. At the same time you push down on the handle to raise the front wheels and you pivot. As the mower lands on the ground, you just squeeze the drive bail to drive off down the new row. It is actually the exact same procedure as with the FWD, except on the FWD you don't have to let go of the drive bail. And for this you would suffer with an inferior product plus pay to replace it before its time after you get tired of replacing belts, wheels and axles?

Just a bit more information: Last night I discovered that the right rear wheel is also a drive wheel, but did not work. I found that where the pawl plate attached to the plastic wheel it was damaged causing the pawl not to align with the ratchet wheel (I had to lookup these part names). I was able to drill a new hole in the wheel and attach the pawl plate in a different spot on the wheel. So what I would like to understand more is how the rear wheel drive is suppose to work, When I manually turn the pulley clockwise, the wheels turn one directiosn. When I turn the pully counter-clockwise, the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction. This seems logical and seems to all work. WHen I let go of the drive bail I am able to push the mower forward and the wheels move freely as the pawl skips over the ratchet wheel. However, when I pull the mower backward, the pawl will engauge the ratchet wheel and thus takes some effort to pull in reverse. Is this the way the mower is suppose to work? Or when pulling in reverse is it suppose to disengauge from the gears somehow so the wheels spin freely?