Posted by Dave Thewlis on July 09, 2006 at 16:43:28 from 70.191.49.25 user dthewlis.
In Reply to: Re: Beckfoot's Mowing Machine posted by John Wilson on July 09, 2006 at 08:49:41:
Thanks, eveyrone! The picture posted by Ian does explain the mystery (to me). U.S. push mowers are a lot more like the picture posted by John Wilson. Here's a current one that is a bit fancier than I remember in that the grass catcher trails behind with little wheels on it, whereas generally they were just slung from the handles.
It does seem as though the mechanism is quite different. Here the blades are directly attached to the wheel axle, although there may be a step-down mechanism embedded in the wheel hubs. So the blades spin in the direction of the travel, and the grass spurts out from the back.