As I recall, there is only one way it can work. When the drum axle rotates forward, the pawls that are below the axle drop downward, and engage the ratchet wheel in the drum, so the drum can be driven forward. If you put the pawls in upside down they will have difficulty dropping down fully.
When the pawls engage, they drive the drum forward if the landroll clutch is engaged - but the mower can be pushed forward freely whether or not the landroll clutch is engaged, since the pawls will disengage if you push it when it is not being driven. This implies that the drum can only be pulled backward when the landroll clutch is disengaged, because the driven plate of that clutch will have to spin backwards for the mower to move backwards. If the mower could not be pulled backwards, might that mean that the landroll clutch was not freeing properly, or you weren't pulling hard enough? It will obviously be quite a bit harder to pull it backwards than to push it forwards, because you have to turn the drive mechanism and half of the clutch - which you don't have to do to push it forwards.
