Patent ID: 7107744

Claim:
A running mower comprising: a traveling body provided with an engine at the front part and supported by a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels; a rotary mowing unit attached to the traveling body between the front wheels and the rear wheels, the mowing unit having a laterally spaced pair of mowing blades oppositely rotating about substantially vertical axes, the mowing unit also including a housing covering the mowing blades; and an outlet duct extending backward from upside of the housing between the mowing blades past a position between the rear wheels for discharging grass mown by the mowing blades, wherein a mower input shaft is disposed offset from a center between the mowing blades toward one of the mowing blades to extend forwardly above the housing for the rotary mowing unit, engine power being transmitted to the mower input shalt via a mower transmission shaft having a respective end provided with a universal joint; wherein the mower transmission shaft has a rear end connected to the mower input shaft, the mower transmission shaft also having a front end connected to the examine via an intermediate shaft; and wherein the intermediate shalt is disposed offset from said center between the mowing blades toward said one of the mowing blade by a smaller amount than the mower in put shaft is offset from said center.