[Shop-talk] Lawn mower engine & blade question

[Jimmie Mayfield]

On Sat, Jul 17, 2010 at 06:41:13PM -0400, David Scheidt wrote:
> Mine is : don't buy a piece of shit with the blade directly coupled to
> the engine.  There's no excuse other than "we hired an idiot to design
> the thing" or "we're selling cheap shit for high end money" for it.

The problem with belt-driven mowers is their bulk.  Small (21-22") belt drive 
mowers exist but the one I saw use the same bulky design as its commercial 
walk-behind cousins -- the blade assembly sat about a foot in front of the 
engine.  Not going to find many homeowners, even those who routinely spend 
$500+ for push mowers, willing to give up that much garage space.

(Is there a reason the pulleys aren't closer together?  Are longer belts
more durable?)