Ok for the record I have 3 mowers and was a Honda fan so I decided to upgrade to the self propelled HRX 21. I have lawn all year round thanks to living in the tropics, so at times my lawn gets think.
Honda HRX217HYU (Recoil Start): 14 customer reviews on Australia's largest opinion site ProductReview.com.au. 4.1 out of 5 stars for Honda HRX217HYU (Recoil Start) in Petrol Lawn Mowers.
I mow regaruly weekly or more. But even mowing at a high cut and a very low travel speed the mower struggles to bag the clippings. I have probably the greenest lawn in the street and my lawn is usually the envy of most lawn nerds, I now have to half cut the lawn then cross mow to get the finish I was use to and taking a lot longer. I’m not a big fan of the small bag shute and obviously the new blade setup is not suited to think buffalo grass. Leaving clumps of clippings over my nice lawn wouldn’t be doing Honda any good advertising.I think this mower is more suited to the American market, maybe their grass jumps into the catcher. This mower is great, no issues, plenty of power in the 190cc engine and starts 1st or 2nd pull.
I've had this mower about 18 months, used for 250m2 flat lawn weekly, sometimes twice a week and the cut is great. I'd never go a non-self propelled mower after this.
The variable speed settings makes it easy to get the right speed and the ability to have the engine and self propelled on while the blade is not spinning is exactly what i needed to get up my steep driveway. The composite deck is not a problem, i was slightly concerned at the start. My only concern is the fixed blade, if it hits anything I've read it destroys the engine/mower, if that happens the cost of replacing will hurt. Three improvements would make it great.Individual wheel adjustments. Front are easy to adjust but the rear are an absolute wrestling nightmare! A lot of skinned knuckles right there!When the bag starts to get full, the rear end becomes too heavy.
You have to put pressure on the handlebars to keep the front wheels on the ground.The mulch/catcher adjustment jams with build up. Have to physically stop the mower, clean out and adjust. Can't do on the run unless you give the lever a good kick. Im a mowing contractor and have been using Hondas for many years now.
The 216 was very good but when the front wheel axle grommets wear you start getting an uneven cut.I was very cautious about buying a plastic mower but when I saw Honda was providing excellent warranty conditions I was finally persuaded.The individual wheel height adjustment gives much better stable even cut, I'm always impressed when I look back at the lawn I just cut. With careful adjustment to the mulcher control you can seriously reduce the amount of clippings without the lawn looking like it was mown without a catcher.The weight distribution (light front ) makes it easy to turn.Would like to see a 2.5 litre fuel tank.Blades seem to be wearing well, Its still early on so I'm going to find out how the transmission holds out and also all those extra springs.I'm very impressed so far.Michael. I picked this mower up used (but only a year old) a few days ago and got to use it on one of my jobs yesterday.
I must say Honda has definitely lived up to my expectations, and in many ways exceeded them! This mower is a dream come true compared to my old 19' Morrison and 16' Rockwell push mowers. The Honda is light, massive, powerful and fast (at times I was jogging to keep up with it!). The transmission is fantastic and I love the blade brake system.
I have not played around with the Versamow function much yet but it looks great. Starting the mower is very easy and I don't need to choke it which is great. One thing I really liked was the HUGE 88L catcher. I can mow so much more now without having to empty the catcher. This and the self-propelled function have cut my mowing time in half! Overall I am very impressed with this mower and I really look forward to using it again next weekend!:D. I purchased a top-of-the-range Honda HRX217HYU a few months back, so I've now had time to give it a fair working out on my large lawn.
I decided to replace my EGO Electric mower which was simply too underpowered for the job, and which lacked the battery capacity to cut such a large lawn area, around 1000m2.I'm happy to say that the Honda is an overall excellent mower. It does a great job of getting through my tall grass, even when it's been damp throughout the Tassie winter. The mower starts pretty well, though not always on the first pull. Once you get used to the speed control it works well and gives you a good range of speeds to choose from depending on how fast you want to walk. While the Honda is louder than my previous electric mower it's not overly noisy and I must admit to liking the distinctive 'Honda' engine sound. The bag is quite large and so takes a lot of clippings before needing to be emptied, and the whole mower has a nice solid feel about it.
The quality of the cut is excellent, though the weight of this mower leaves deepish tracks when the ground is damp.There are a few downsides however and these should be considered before you decide to buy. This machine is heavy and large and so despite it being self propelled, it's not the easiest machine to manoeuvre around tight spots.
I dislike that one has to adjust the height of each wheel rather than a single height adjuster. I've also found the wheels slip on a mild slope if the grass is damp (about 20 degree slope), requiring the operator to push against the slip. I bought the self propelled model because I felt it would make the job easier, especially as I get older, but I'm not totally convinced it does. The weight of this mower, at least for me, partially offsets the benefit of the self propelled engine. Maybe it would have been just as easy (and cheaper) to buy one of the lighter non-self propelled Honda mowers. I feel this mower is best suited to large lawns, with minimal slope.Either way I'm happy I have a Honda because I feel they are the best quality mower on the market at present.
For anyone looking for a self propelled mower you simply won't find better than this. It is so flexible In regard to speed, cutting modes (rear discharge, bag or mulch, or combinations of these) with plenty of power. This enables the user to find a mowing mode that suits exactly the type of lawn, terrain and physical ability of the operator.
These modes can be easily changed on the go as conditions change. A truly magnificent, safe machine with legendary Honda reliability.
It may cost a little more than some others, but it is worth it. The mower I purchased is the one with the yellow button on the lever.
( HRX217) That button is pushed in to engage the blade while the motor is running. The mower with the drive levers is the HRR216 and comes in 2 versions. One with a Blade brake and the other with an Engine brake. I am not familiar with a mower with a knob selector, unless you refer to the mulch selector lever (which has a green knob on the end of it) which is feature of the HRX 217 model. If it is a black knob, then that is the fuel tank cap on the HRU196 and 216 models. The latter are designed for the commercial market. Which is best?
I guess that is a personal thing. None of these mowers are light, which is why I chose a self propelled version.
As my wife will use it from time to time, I also went for the electric start as she is just not strong enough to pull start a mower engine. One was Hydrostatic drive Then there was a select drive Then therewas a smart drive.
Posted by on October 25, 2011 at 9:59pmAlthough I probably won't buy a new mower until next year i'm trying to get as much info on the ones i'm looking at as possible. Basically I think i'm down to either the Honda HRX476 or an Etesia Pro 46. I've got a couple questions about both mowers but mainly the Etesia so i'll start with this:- How much roughly would you expect to pay for a new/ nearly new pro 46- Can you easily mulch?- How good is the forward speed of the pro 46? Does it have a range of speeds?- Does the pro 46 have a blade brake?Ive found quite a bit of info on the Honda HRX476 and I really like the idea of the versa mow system (half collect half mulch).
I have also found that it comes with two drive systems either the Hydro static or the hydro static variable speed and i'm wondering which is best?, any advice on either machine much appreciated. I have an hrx537 with all the features you mentioned. The blade brake is a great addition and really speeds up cuts on larger lawns and on mine it has a 70l grass bag which holds a good deal.The versamow as you mentioned is very useful as you can half collect half mulch, my default setting is about 80% collect 20 mulch.The variable drive can go from barely moving to a a light jog. Mine has never been past about 80% of the top speed as it gets pretty silly above that.Lastly i love the massive cutting height adjustment range which really helps on longer lawns where my rover is could do with another few notches to go up.Overall its a great mower but not as good on really course grass especially when damp due to the smaller aperture caused by the versa-mow system. You'll know what i mean if you look in the chute of one. My experience of the pro 46 is that it's slow.
Maybe I only have a slow model (PBTS) but I wouldn't buy another based on that.Looking at getting something a bit more capable next season in the small and light category. I have a pro 53 for bigger areas but it's too heavy for certain jobs where the ground is soft or access is over a moonscape of obstacles!I am going to go for something with a blade brake, perhaps another etesia model or a wheeled honda. I guess I'm just saying I find the pbts too slow but still consider the brand for most types of work.
Put the pulley system on my 46PBTS bought the parts local for less than £10.00. Put the pulley system on my 46PBTS bought the parts local for less than £10.00. I'm really interested to get a demo on both models, but to be fair the Honda for that money has my vote already.This year i've picked up a fair amount of mowing work and i've been doing it all with my IZY 18'. As i've mentioned in other posts it's out gunned the viking (supposedly commercial range) and the AlKO we bought for around the £600 - £700.When I say out gunned I mean in every other department apart from forward speed, collection and the option to mulch. Used one of my customers ALKO's with the B&S engine the other day, so heavy, 9 months old, on start up kicking out more smoke than puff the magic dragon!!!!
Honda engine all the way!Gary RK, good idea for having a 'sh%^ing mower' the amount of times i've just sharpened and serviced mowers only to hit a non mowable object!!!!!! Well.Anyway thanks for all the responses on yet another mower topic, any sites for commercial pedestrian mower reviews yet? I'm really interested to get a demo on both models, but to be fair the Honda for that money has my vote already.This year i've picked up a fair amount of mowing work and i've been doing it all with my IZY 18'. As i've mentioned in other posts it's out gunned the viking (supposedly commercial range) and the AlKO we bought for around the £600 - £700.When I say out gunned I mean in every other department apart from forward speed, collection and the option to mulch. Used one of my customers ALKO's with the B&S engine the other day, so heavy, 9 months old, on start up kicking out more smoke than puff the magic dragon!!!!
Honda engine all the way!Gary RK, good idea for having a 'sh%^ing mower' the amount of times i've just sharpened and serviced mowers only to hit a non mowable object!!!!!! Well.Anyway thanks for all the responses on yet another mower topic, any sites for commercial pedestrian mower reviews yet? I have a small number of lawns only 12 with total cutting time about 8hrs per week. I run a combination of my honda hrx537 and a rover 18inch.The honda is faster by a stretch as its a wider but mainly the much bigger bag and blade brake really reduces time. Also with the versamow you can keep it on a few clicks of mulch which further reduces trips to empty.The rover is considerably cheaper and has swingtip blades so if you hit something nasty they swing out of the way. I bought this after hitting a steel pipe with my honda and needed a new crank-shaft. It also is a reasonably priced back up yet still professional quality mower.
I'm really interested to get a demo on both models, but to be fair the Honda for that money has my vote already.This year i've picked up a fair amount of mowing work and i've been doing it all with my IZY 18'. As i've mentioned in other posts it's out gunned the viking (supposedly commercial range) and the AlKO we bought for around the £600 - £700.When I say out gunned I mean in every other department apart from forward speed, collection and the option to mulch. Used one of my customers ALKO's with the B&S engine the other day, so heavy, 9 months old, on start up kicking out more smoke than puff the magic dragon!!!!
Honda engine all the way!Gary RK, good idea for having a 'sh%^ing mower' the amount of times i've just sharpened and serviced mowers only to hit a non mowable object!!!!!! Well.Anyway thanks for all the responses on yet another mower topic, any sites for commercial pedestrian mower reviews yet? Industry JobsWe have an open position for an experienced commercial maintenance landscape gardener, ideally with good handyman skills, to join our company due to contiuned expansion. Based in west Surrey, we work across the South/South East predominately for commercial clients. The candidate will have/be: Experience in commercial grounds / estates maintenance with practical handyman skills PresentableLawnswood Landscapes are currently looking for an experienced hard landscaper to work on a variety of projects Based in Southwick over the past 9 years we have established an excellent reputation for our work and now looking to expand due to our increased work load. The ideal candidate will need to have at least 4Seeking some temporary help at a 4.5 acre garden in Oxforshire. A friendly team, we need help with preparing the garden for an upcoming event.
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