I tried both and I find the rear-drive very awkward and very difficult while pivoting the mower to the other direction. With front-drive, all I do is raise the front and quickly turn the mower to the other direction. My target is to quickly and efficiently mow my lawn and not tinker with the clutch at all; who wants that? With rear-drive, I have to disengage every time when I need to turn directions ... making my expensive mower a push mower during the attempt and tremendously slowing my momentum ... and of course, I have to engage again to move forward. If you have the mower on fast while doing this, you will find yourself fighting the mower every time you want to start on the new direction. You are not controlling the mower, its controlling you. Think about it, being able to raise the front wheels will allow you to turn the mower on 2 wheels; that is turning on a dime. If you have 4 wheels, you are going to make several small movements to realign your mower to the new direction while stroking your clutch on every attempt. IÂm returning my rear-drive today for a front-wheel drive.

WPM's and riders both have historically been pitched to the front. In the early days, it was a way to get a more complete cut w/ the horsepower they had. Remember the days of 4 and 5 HP riders? A whole other topic. I've had those w/ super recyclers pitch the deck rearward that had thick lawns with good results. Especially those that left the lawn higher. Give it a try and if it helps finish your cut bit- great! If it worsens the cut, it's 10 seconds to set it back. Multiblade decks normally still play by the pitched forward rule due to other factors involving quality of cut.

There is no problem making turns or turnarounds with the RWD mower. This comes up from time to time and I cannot understand why. With Personal Pace you just push down on the handle to raise the front wheels, pivot, then push off in the new direction. When approaching the turn or turnaround, you can slow down if you wish, and Personal Pace also slows with you. When pushing the handle down to raise the front wheels to pivot on the rear wheels, be careful not to push the sliding handle down which engages the drive. Basically you simply use the mower like a push mower without trying to 'control' the drive. This is what gets people in trouble with Personal Pace. Plus, there is a general misunderstanding about making turns with a RWD mower. There is no difficulty or problem involved, and no real trick to it, particularly with PP. With a control bail as with 'Variable Speed', you simply let go of the bail at the point of making the turn and pick up the bail to go in the new direction. All mowers pivot the same, whether push, FWD or RWD; you raise the front wheels off the ground as you pivot the mower. I understand that many people seem to have some kind of 'mental block' about using a RWD mower. I've been trying to get my neighbor to switch over for years, but he keeps buying the crummy FWD mowers over and over. I suspect with him it's the same thing - he can't picture how he would make turns pivoting on the drive axle. All I can say is, it's so easy even a cave man could do it. Maybe I need to make a video. I mean, do people really have to be shown how to turn around a mower?

weshorn, I didn't take any offense at your comments. I haven't personally owned any Tecumsehs either, but my general impression is that they are not a downgrade over a new B&S engine. Compare that Tecumseh to a Briggs Quantum (the motors in the Craftsman and Troy Bilt that you first referenced) and you have two pretty similar motors. The SensaSpeed/PersonalPace drive systems are pretty simple and battle-tested. Lots of users here have them and don't report any real problems. The only controversy about them is whether you like the way it actually operates (you push a variable bar) vs a more normal drive system that pulls the mower and you along if you let it. That Lawnboy is on HD's website for the same $349, so whatever sale was on is apparently off. But it comes with everything you need to bag, mulch, or side-discharge. You should probably go check it out along with that Husqvarna and see for yourself. I will say that the drive system on the Husqvarna is probably a lot more suspect in terms of durability. I know some people with Cub Cadets and other mowers with the same system have had issues. I also don't know about the engine on it: is that an Intek or the new "Dove?" If it's the new engine, there's no way to judge its reliability yet. Let us know what you end up with and how you like it!