I use an HRH536 since last week. It's a beast!

Thanks! Glad you found it helpful.

I bought an HRR back in 2005. I just this Spring replaced the transmission but otherwise the mower has been a great workhorse for me.

Frederick Zaugg of course

A plastic deck? You have got to be kidding me! I have a Toro with an aluminum deck. Its such a tank and so light.

@@misterbulger I was joking pal calm down

@@misterbulger those plastic junk ass mowers don’t last

@@misterbulger I own the newest toro super recycler with an aluminum deck it’s awesome

Haha! Your neighbour's stupidity is your win!!!

I wish I had ignorant neighbors!! :)

Eric Orlando I don’t suspect you want ignorant or stupid, perhaps “less discerning” fits? 🙂

The blade brake clutch and the throttle control are two separate features. Depending on how old the mower is, Honda has changed “feature” between levels of the model line. For safety please ensure that the blade is stopping even if the motor is running - only the noise from the blade motion (windage) should go away when you release the BLADE drive bail.

Hah! That's what I have, an HRX217 w/ the flappy paddle Smart Drive (also bought at Home Depot, but 10+ years ago!). One day, when my turf management guy showed up for an application shortly after I'd finished mowing, he looked wistfully at my Honda and blurted out that he wished he'd never sold /his/ Smart Drive 217! I also have a 2019 HRX217 with the Select Drive, and while it's fine, the older Smart Drive one makes me feel like I'm Edward Scissorhands - if he had Honda lawnmower hands instead of scissor hands lol. I can just whip it around, up and down the hills...a real pleasure to cut with!

(If you haven't already,) don't buy the lousy steel deck model. Those 8-inch wheels suck, too, in comparison to the 9-inch!

That’s interesting, do you find it tipping back on you? The drive wheels are in the back so theoretically more weight towards the rear helps with traction.

mine bounces if i get lazy and let the mower pull me...agreed, they needed a better center of gravity, especially when bagging and rear weight increases.

That’s true, when I first started to used I was feeling weird, I wanted to put some weight at front

DIY Dad got a hrx215 for free off Craigslist. guy probably dumped it because the drive didn't work and the pull cord broke. put a new cord on it and started up after a few pulls and runs great. pulled out all the grass buildup underneath and found a broken belt. trans works fine. so ordered a new belt and good to mow.

@@berardia4 you cant beat that deal! Ran into a bit of trouble with mine this weekend mowing though, belt is still good but I might have to pull off that plastic cover to access the belt and gear box, the drive bar doesnt always fully return to the disengaged position when I let off the drive, so sometimes it sticks, which also makes it so the self propelled stops working half way through mowing once in a while. So I'll have to try and fix that, taking that plastic belt guard off is kind of crazy, two bolts holding it on also holds the engine to the deck, and had to take the right wheel off to remove the other nut, and one more on the inside of the grass bag chute. Still couldn't get it off. Might try again in a few days I think it's just really stuck on there. Luckily the belt is fine yet, I think the cable that engages the drive might be hung up somewhere but I cant see it without tearing it apart! Oh well, at least the engine is rock solid :)

@@DIYDad1 yeah that shield was tough to get off. The one 12mm bolt was frozen. I recently got an impact gun and would not have been able to get it off otherwise even after using penetrating oil.

Thank you, glad you liked it! I am not sure I agree with you on the drive system though. In my experience if you have “full speed” selected on the HRX you can’t go slowly by just pressing the lever a little. At least on mine it basically either engages or not, very little in between... whereas on the HRR no adjustment needed to go slow on parts or max drive power uphill.

@@garagedad4540 I think it depends on how much slack you have in the clutch cable. Two rotations in or out of the barrel adjuster can be the difference b/w the Select Drive functioning as basically an on/off lever for the transmission, or allowing more granular control (though it doesn't match the variable control offered by Smart Drive).

I'm thinking of buying the HRN216VYA with the blade clutch.

madcow usa get a toro timemaster

I've had my Toro w/electric start, self propulsion going on 19 years, only thing the propulsion went out, been pushing it for two yrs now and It wears me out, very heavy, this woman is selling her Honda so I'm going to check it out on Saturday.

Stephen Lambrecht if gas mowers become illegal I’m buying a stockpile battery mowers are shit

Gas mowers being illegal in the next 10-15 years isnt too far fetched of an imagination since government can shut anything down @ will..

Big Texas: I was thinking about doing that too, I’m glad you posted that. Did you have any problems or need any modifications?

@@matthewinga9546 The only problem is the gears on the back of the actual wheels are a different size so I used the gears from the factory hrr wheels and put them on the new hrx wheels and they work perfect and have been since I did this modification 2 years ago. The gears are held on to the wheels via plastic tabs so I just used my soldering iron the heat the plastic tabs and fold them up to be able to remove the gears then heated them again the push the tabs back down once the gears were installed. You only have to do this to the 2 back wheels so it's not hard at all. I use my mower everyday for commercial use and the wheels have been holding up for over 2 years now and the tread on the hrx wheels seems to be actual rubber as opposed to the factory plastic hrr wheels so they are very durable and the tread still looks new even after all of the use I've put on them.

John McLain At just 6 months it is still under warranty, so bring it back to your dealer. It sounds as though the carb. Needs an adjustment. Pretty simple fix, then you will be up and running again.

Randy Jorgensen I called up Home Depot what’s where I bought it from. They actually took it back Now I don’t have a lawnmower. I don’t know if I should buy the same one again or upgrade to HRX model. I don’t have hills on my lawn it’s square and level. I’m confused. HRX is few hundred more. Or just buy a toro or something. Il not sure what kind to buy now because of my bad experience with Honda.

John McLain Mowers are mechanical things, and mechanical things can have problems occasionally. This don’t mean it’s a bad product. My new toro had the rear wheel drive system fail after just one lap around my yard, big bummer. But I had it fixed under warranty and it has worked fine ever since. I guess my point is, don’t stress over it too much. There is no such thing as the perfect mower, but they are truly ALL good enough. So pick one based on “does it have the most important features to me”, then consummate the marriage with your credit card, and live happily ever after!

Randy Jorgensen Yeh you are right. I’m gona buy it again cuz I loved it. Thanks for the advice.

@@Jigsawmaster1 Yep, same here, I bought a new Honda HRX, and after a month, it developed a problem & became hard to start when the engine was first started for the day. It actually turned out to be the gas, it had absorbed water or something, and so it wouldn't fire easily. Drained the old gas out thru the carb drain plug, used fresh non-ethanol gas (ie expensive), and she fired on the first pull, and ever since! Was very close to returning it, but called up a Honda mower dealer and they said to try that trick first, and it worked and then to NEVER, EVER put ethanol gas in it! It's very hard to find non-ethanol gas in this corn belt state!

I have the HRR mower. It has the dual blades. I believe all Honda’s have dual blades. The HRR mulches great. The 160 CC engine is a beast.

Did you get used to the newer Select Drive control? Just curious, because I have an 11-year old HRX217 w/ the Smart Drive, and a 2-year old HRX217 w/ the newer Select Drive clutch grip. The definitely feel different in the hand!

@@joepapp01 After a few months, I sold the new one and bought another older HRX in good shape w the older control. I didn't like the new one, never got used to it, and read a lot of reviews from people that didn't like it either. Another issue was the new HRX didn't have a blade clutch that shut off the blade while the engine continues to run. I really like that feature, especially since my son is 7 and there are usually at least a few small toys that have to be picked up while mowing. The "old" HRX I now use has the blade clutch.

@@mickm5097 so does your HRX with the blade brake clutch have neither the smart drive controller nor the select…just a “standard” clutch lever? My neighbor has an electric start HRX217 with the blade brake clutch, and I’ve used it a couple of times this season. The BBC isn’t a feature that I value, but totally see the utility of it if you have kids. My brother’s lawn always has toys and balls on it from his kids lol. I was surprised with the additional weight of the BBC/electric start model…at least +10lbs on my “standard” smart drive hrx. Will you try to keep yours for as many years as possible? I’m not that much of a lawn care fanatic, but I do cut my yard + 2 of my elderly neighbors’ yards weekly, so…idk, it’s kinda fun to have have a preferred brand of mower and be in a decade+ long rhythm of cutting efficiently with it lol

@@joepapp01 Mine is probably just like your neighbor's. It has the electric start (not something I need really) and the orange handle speed control w 6 or so notches to set the speed, in addition to the blade clutch. I will keep it for as long as it is reliable, I think. My lawn has a mild slope, and the newer HRX control was inconsistent on it- pressing down sometimes made it move a lot slower or faster than I preferred in different areas of the lawn, whereas the older notched control always moves the mower at the same pace, no matter what. The HRX feels sturdy too, like a tank compared to other mowers, which is good, as long as the self propel keeps working. I used to have Craftsman mowers, which I liked a lot- to me the front wheel drive was easier to control. Just pressing down on the handle to lift the front wheels slightly if I wanted to stop the self propel, never had to let go of the propel lever. And it was easy to pull backwards- in contrast, every Honda mower I've had at some point has the intermittent wheel dragging when pulling them backward. Not sure why Honda never fixed that issue. Still, Honda quality and reliability tops other mowers that I know of, so it's nice to have one.

​@@mickm5097 ​ so funny that you describe the HRX as tank-like. I literally told my neighbor, "Your mower is like a Tiger tank - what a beast!!" (I don't think he's into ww2 military history like I am, so I didn't geek out and explain that I also thought mine was tank-like, but more like a Panther (44 vs 58 tons!!) lol. I also had Craftsman mowers before I bought Honda #1 (model: HRX217K2VKAA) in 2010!! Truly one of the best purchases I ever made (that Honda). In fact, the only full-retail-price purchase of a consumer item that I made that tops the HRX217K2VKAA was a Starbucks-branded, Italian-made espresso machine in about 2001. My brother and I both have them, and after 20 years they continue to pull perfect shots. I know what you mean about the drag when pulling rearward on the Honda mowers, and I'm honestly not unhappy to hear you mention this, as it makes me feel calmer about mine - both of which manifest the same drag, plus a bit of noisiness. I hope you get a ridiculous # of years out of your Honda. I lucked into being able to buy a factory service manual that's applicable to both of mine, and even has a chapter of the electric start sub-variant. This really changed the equation for me and made effective end-user maintenance w/ factory parts a long-term option. Idk where in the world you are, but I'm in suburban Pittsburgh (so southwest PA) and I never see other Honda NeXite mowers (even though of course Home Depot, and now Lowe's, have sold them here). I've seen a few "extended" neighbors using steel-decked Honda mowers, but my anecdotal experience is that this isn't a popular choice here, except ofc for my neighbor, me, and the guy I bought the used 2019 HRX from lol. OK, Be well!!

A friend of mine buys a new $199 mower every 2 or 3 years. Our Honda's cost a lot up front, but it's just oil changes and blade sharpenings for at least 5 years and probably not much more after that.

You don't want that blade stop, the clutch for that roto stop is nothing but trouble. Much more reliable without it and plus these honda mowers start so easy that it's really not worth the expensive repair to have a roto stop clutch.

I'm with you. I am an absolute *_FANATIC_* about my HRX217HZA. It's the nicest machine, of any kind, that I have ever owned. I came up with the money and decided I was going to buy the best. I change my oil every 10 hours. I put 50 hours a year on her. I've done so much work upgrading that mower it's pitiful. Magnetic dipstick, protective side rails, tach/hour meter, Plasti-dipped wheels, lawn striping kit and on and on and on. My obsession with that mower is a problem. LOL. I even named her Kathryn. It's sick, I know.

@@heinzkitzvelvet Good idea on PlastDip wheels. All my neighbors are over-pensioned retired Boomers with the best Honda mowers and nuclear green chemical lawns. It will drive them nuts thinking I have some kind of special edition orange-wheeled Honda that they somehow missed at the dealership.

@@madcowusa4277 Orange. Now that would be different. Never thought of going with wild colours. I used a black base with graphite pearl as a top coat so the wheels better match the deck. I might try something like that next season. I respray them every spring because it peels away by the end of the season and looks bad. BTW, that's an interesting phrase, "over-pensioned" retired boomers. What does that mean, over-pensioned?

@@heinzkitzvelvet To me, "over-pensioned" means they have a nice fat monthly retirement check that was part of the their previous employment's benefits package or they were offered profit sharing which they're now cashing in on, hahaha!

@@Believe231 ok. It's sounds kind of negative. Like over-privileged. I mean, it sounds like they worked the years required for that pension that they are recieving.

James LaRocque - you’re absolutely right! I never noticed those markings, thanks for catching my error! I still think they should be marked the same way on all four wheels but this is great to know!

@@garagedad4540 yeah, they don't make them easy to see, for sure. Even if they scuffed the faces of the numbers, they might show up better.

@@garagedad4540 maybe you could take a bright permenent marker and trace over the numbers to make it more visible 😎

You’re absolutely right, others have pointed this out , too! Totally missed them. Not sure how I never noticed them, guess I was looking for the same thing I saw on the front. I still think it should be the same format all around to avoid confusion but definitely not a worthy criticism of the HRX.

Haha yes, thanks for pointing that out! Others have as well. On the one hand I feel dumb for not noticing them but on the other hand I don’t think they should be labeled differently regardless.

No, but TORO’s cordless can!