You won't find a rwd with large wheels, they are only installed on fwd mowers. This is because the gear ratio would have to be very low so that the operator could keep with it.Did you ever put large rear tires on your hot rod car and feel the low stop light jump go away?
Is your life insurance paid up? I would strongly suggest doing the slope with the hand push, not the rider.

I beg to differ - the model I listed above does have larger rear wheels (12"), and is RWD. And using the rider on the slope is one of the reasons I am wanting a good push...

Troybilt is now just an MTD.

There have been a few recent posts about people having problems with the new Honda automatic choke system.

If you want a rwd self propelled mower then you can't go wrong with a snapper. Snapper's self propel system has been around for about 30 years and is still one of the best around. I am also forced to use the push mower on the steep hills, my snapper does nice work of it.

Welp, other than general reviews of the company itself (I know, I know - its MTD), I couldn't find any inbiased revies for this exact model, with either the honda or kohler engine. Thanks for the tip about the autochoke on the honda engine, i'll have to make a mental note if/when it happens to me - I did buy the mower late this evening, and made a few test passes with it.

My front yard is the levelest of what I have, with a good 20' section that is perfectly flat. The fastest gear selection is a little TOO fast for me to actually mow with, but for moving it from front to back, etc, its great. out of 4 gears, #3 is just a hair faster than what I normally use on my rider - which on a brand new mower with a brand new blade, worked perfectly. #1 and #2 were fine also, just slower as expected - but nothing I would consider a 'grandmothers pace' - tho I wish it did have at least one that slow..

Even with the big 12" tires on the back of this RWD mower, I couldn't hold it still with it trying to pull. Tires wouldnt break loose and spin on level ground, it actually pulled me over the 3rd pass when I was playing with it.

It also pulled itself, and me, up a 25 degree slope, about 40 feet long. Let's hope she holds out for a long time to come - for someone used to using the $99 Murray special, it's like comparing a Pinto to a Corvette. I understand lots of folks like some of the other names like JD, Snapper, etc - and I imagine that would be like stepping from a Pinto to a 200mph Maybach - I'm fine in the middle class with the 'vette.

I have the Honda powered version of the Troybilt XP self-propelled large rear wheel. Got last April at Lowes. Starts easily, mows and picks up well. Two complaints: the transmission/wheel gears are vey noisy when the engine is not covering up the sound, don't try to push it with the engine off, it absolutely howls and draws a lot of attention, and that's after two service calls with two different TroyBilt dealers. I also am having the opposite problem of pk74 above, mine is super slow, even in the highest gear. I've changed the drive belt thinking it might have stretched, but that hasn't helped. I'm at a loss what to do next other than sell it and find something else. If you search the net, you'll find other complaints, as I did after having problems. I'm not impresssed!