Popular Mechanics USA - 03.2020 - 04.2020

Tools

12

THE 3 TYPES OF

DRIVETRAINS

There are two ways to propel a mower:

You push, or the mower itself does. And if

you opt for one that moves forward under

its own power via a drivetrain, you’ve got to

choose between rear-wheel, front-wheel, and

all-wheel drive. Here’s how each works.

1. REAR-WHEEL
   ▶ Pull the mower’s
   handle to apply ten-
   sion to the drive
   cable and a spring
   attached to the
   transmission.
   ▶ The transmission
   pivots; the pulley at
   its top moves away
   from the engine.
   ▶ This tenses the
   drive belt coming
   from the engine
   output shaft,
   spinning the trans-
   mission pulley.
   ▶ That rotates gears
   at the rear axle,
   turning the wheels.


2. FRONT-WHEEL
   ▶ The process here
   is much the same
   as with rear-wheel
   drive, except the
   configuration is
   flipped.
   ▶ As you pull back
   on the drive han-
   dle and tension
   moves through the
   cable, spring, trans-

mission, pulleys,

and drive belts,

the gears at the

front axle turn the

wheels.

▶ This leads to bet-

ter maneuverability

but less traction

going uphill.

3. ALL-WHEEL
   ▶ Once again, pull
   the mower’s
   drive handle to
   tense the drive cable
   and the spring.
   ▶ The transmis-
   sion pivots; the two
   pulleys move away
   from the engine.
   ▶ That tenses
   two drive belts,
   spinning the trans-
   mission pulleys.
   ▶ Gears at both the
   front and rear axles
   turn all four wheels
   for better traction,
   but at greater cost
   and maintenance as
   there are more parts
   to wear out.

BACK FRONT

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78 March/April 2020