Honda hrr216 cutting problem

[HoosierDaddy]

My 217 works great. I can actually see it sucking blades under the deck when I'm mowing around a tree for example.

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[Overfloater]

Just dropped the hammer on an HRX217VKA to replace my 10 year old Craftsman budget mower that I bought used.

Looking forward to the first cut!

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[HoosierDaddy]

That's exactly what I did last fall, Over. Took a few mows to get used to it but love it now.

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[plynn7]

I'm done with my 2 year old Honda, no matter what I have tried and I have tried every suggestion that I could find, it is still leaving random blades of uncut grass, it's so noticeable that my way made a comment after I cut yesterday and she has never comments on the lawn. I put up with it for two seasons and wont do it again. I have been looking at this one the Cub Cadet SC500EZ. Does anyone have experience with this mower? It has mostly positive reviews everywhere I look. The Honda HRX217 will be going up on Craigslist. It's a shame, I really like this mower but tired of cutting my lawn twice to get all the missing blades.

[LoneRanger]

^ SC 500EZ looks to be a great mower, if you have many obstacles. I don't own one, but I'm looking at that or the CC 600. They discontinued the SC 500EZ+, before I could purchase it last year. That model had a 190cc engine.

[plynn7]

I saw the SC 500EZ+ and really liked that but no one has them locally, I even called the manufacture and there are no plans to produce them again. I looked at the Toro's but after spending $700 on the Honda I'm not going to spend that kind of money again just to be disappointed. The Cub Cadet is only $449. I had a Cub Cadet prior to the Honda and never had any issues with it, nice even cut. Added a pic of the wonderful job my Honda does!

[LoneRanger]

^ Where are you seeing it for $449?

[ligrass]

To the people who have no issues with their Honda mower- does it ever miss small things in the lawn? Like a small twig or an acorn or bouncy ball? or does it vacuum up everything perfectly?

[plynn7]

^ Where are you seeing it for $449?

It's on local dealer sites and Cub Cadet's site. Home Depot has it for $499 so I did an online chat with them and they price matched the $449, so I ordered it through them and will pick up in store. Buying through HD I have 30 days to return it if I don't like it. http://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/cubca ... 500ez-2014

[plynn7]

To the people who have no issues with their Honda mower- does it ever miss small things in the lawn? Like a small twig or an acorn or bouncy ball? or does it vacuum up everything perfectly?

I can tell you that my Honda would never pick up anything like that, it barely would pick up leaves. It would only pick up leaves if they were lying on top of the grass, if they were in between the blades the mower would just pass right over them. There was plenty of times where I had the oh Sh*t moment right before I ran over one of my kids toys, but the Honda just passed right over it.

[ken-n-nancy]

I can tell you that my Honda would never pick up anything like that, it barely would pick up leaves. It would only pick up leaves if they were lying on top of the grass, if they were in between the blades the mower would just pass right over them.

I wonder if there's something wrong with the mower blade - like is it the wrong type for the mower, or is it mounted upside down, or ?

[plynn7]

I can tell you that my Honda would never pick up anything like that, it barely would pick up leaves. It would only pick up leaves if they were lying on top of the grass, if they were in between the blades the mower would just pass right over them.

I wonder if there's something wrong with the mower blade - like is it the wrong type for the mower, or is it mounted upside down, or ?

There are two blades mounted and it is not possible to mount them wrong they can only go on one way. The Honda service guy also verified that the blades were ok. I even tried taking the top blade off as suggested by Honda to another owner and still the same bad cut. At this point I am thinking maybe there is an issue with the sliding mulching/bagger door, maybe is causing some kind of lost vacuum or something IDK.

[ligrass]

To the people who have no issues with their Honda mower- does it ever miss small things in the lawn? Like a small twig or an acorn or bouncy ball? or does it vacuum up everything perfectly?

I can tell you that my Honda would never pick up anything like that, it barely would pick up leaves. It would only pick up leaves if they were lying on top of the grass, if they were in between the blades the mower would just pass right over them. There was plenty of times where I had the oh Sh*t moment right before I ran over one of my kids toys, but the Honda just passed right over it.

By any chance do you have the model #? Was it an HD exclusive model? Mine will pick up leaves, but it misses some things like tiny twigs under the HOC. Everything else about it is perfect, especially in thick turf it gives a perfect cut. I suspect that the twin blade doesn't produce the best suction power like some other mowers (particularly in full mulch). It seems to push air down and out in spots for some reason. I'm curious to hear what others who are happy with theirs have to say about the suction power issue.

[mtlcafan79]

Have you actually sharpened the blades? Your comment that they are "factory installed" makes me think they aren't. I sharpened mine before I even put gas and oil in the mower. They are far from sharp out of the box. Somebody was extra generous with the paint on mine and left them with a pretty rounded cutting edge.

[krusej23]

Mine is the HRR216VKA. I have always had problems with suction with small twigs that are left in the grass and grass that is bent over. I'm going to take mine in for a warranty issue of the knob that holds the handle in place fell off so I'm going to ask about the suction problem too. I am also going to get my blades sharpened and just a good tuneup.

I have seen some of the air being pushed down like ligrass is explaining when in full mulch mode. I did notice that last year there was some grass preventing the mulch door from completely closing and removing that might have helped a little or it was just the placebo effect on me. You can really see the problem when I'm in thick grass and the wheels on the right side lay the grass down and then I turn right and run an overlap over the laid down grass, it won't pick that grass up so it just ends up not getting mowed. It seems like the far right side of my mower has no suction while the left side is okay suction.

I have attached a picture of the bottom of my mower from the left side. Ignore the grass that is stuck to the bottom, I was going to clean that up after mowing last night and then my 1 year old son started eating the grass so I didn't get it done. The blades can't be installed incorrectly on these mowers.

[LoneRanger]

Hmm. Do all of you who have problems with the cut quality have blade brakes?

[plynn7]

To the people who have no issues with their Honda mower- does it ever miss small things in the lawn? Like a small twig or an acorn or bouncy ball? or does it vacuum up everything perfectly?

I can tell you that my Honda would never pick up anything like that, it barely would pick up leaves. It would only pick up leaves if they were lying on top of the grass, if they were in between the blades the mower would just pass right over them. There was plenty of times where I had the oh Sh*t moment right before I ran over one of my kids toys, but the Honda just passed right over it.

By any chance do you have the model #? Was it an HD exclusive model? Mine will pick up leaves, but it misses some things like tiny twigs under the HOC. Everything else about it is perfect, especially in thick turf it gives a perfect cut. I suspect that the twin blade doesn't produce the best suction power like some other mowers (particularly in full mulch). It seems to push air down and out in spots for some reason. I'm curious to hear what others who are happy with theirs have to say about the suction power issue.

I did purchase it from HD Model # HRX217K5VLA

[plynn7]

Have you actually sharpened the blades? Your comment that they are "factory installed" makes me think they aren't. I sharpened mine before I even put gas and oil in the mower. They are far from sharp out of the box. Somebody was extra generous with the paint on mine and left them with a pretty rounded cutting edge.

Yes, I have a bench grinder and have sharped them several times over the last two seasons including the start of this season.

[tlinden]

So doing some reading, apparently multiple people have had the problem of the cut being uneven. Make the blade go left to right, then measure each side on a flat surface. Then rotate it opposite and measure again.

I noticed the last 2 times I cut mine is cutting uneven. It's just noticeable on the edge of the slop because the grass with the street in the background I started to notice that the stripes were very well defined on the edges, and after looking at a video I shot I realized the cut isn't the same height, just off a tiny bit. The good news was the fix was changing the wheel bolts for that (according to one person, I haven't measured and fixed mine yet)

Anyways, something to look into before the dealer checks it out.

[plynn7]

Hmm. Do all of you who have problems with the cut quality have blade brakes?

No blade brake on mine