Not to happy with my honda hrx 217

[Tsmith]

hey guys

Well as the time goes on i keep disliking the mower. I dont know if its my grass or the mower. But i try and sharpin the blade once a month. It just keeps leaving uncut blades of grass, im 6'3 so i may walk a little faster than normal but still. Also i wish i could find something that i could attach to the front of the mower to help bring the wheel tracks back up. Anyone having any problems with the honda hrx 217? P.S i could write more but just keeping it short and sweet

Are you mulching or bagging?

I don't have this mower but I've seen this happen with other mowers when mulch cutting and having the deck too low preventing the mower blade from properly cutting. I'd recommend raising the deck a notch or two and see how it is.


Sent from my iOS device using the Yard Help App

[Overfloater]

I'm still evaluating mine, but it does seem to stand the grass up much better when in bag mode and on the faster governor hole.

[ Post made via Android ]

[01redcrew]

sorry guys went on vacation and kind of forgot about this tread lol. But yes im mulching at 3.5 inches. Just moved the spring on the governor and the cut seems to be better, but the wheel tracks are still mashed down

[Overfloater]

Try bagging (opening the chute) and see if it stands the wheel tracks back up.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Cyrus]

That guy has a lot of extra energy. Not sure about the rest of you but by the time I prep the perimeter with the weed wacker, hand pull all visible weeds, search and remove any new rocks and large sticks, and then cut the lawn - I'm Dead Dog Tired!

[Shindoman]

I always double cut my lawn as it's only 2500 sq ft. No uncut blades that way.

[sony1998]

I am in the unhappy camp as well. I've had the mower for a year and a half now and I still get uncut blades of grass. Both on the wheel marks and also right in the middle of my pass. Walking at a comfortable speed cutting at 3.5-4 inches and mulching. I have experimented with lowering the rear one notch but that did not help. I just started to experiment with opening the clip director one notch to see if this helps. I will give some feedback on how that goes. Just ordered a tach and will try the second governor spring hole. I wish Honda had a tab you could bend to adjust the governor like on the older Briggs engines. I am concerned that the second hole will spin the engine at too high of an rpm.
The engine is very powerful and its a comfortable mower to work with. Mulches really really nice. Never any mulched grass on the surface. Mulches leaves on two passes which is also great. But this leaving blades is not right. I have an older John Deere walk behind and it has never left 1 blade standing. The deck on the Honda is just not a good design. The wheels seem to be too far out and the blade does not lift the matted down grass. I also dislike how much I have to overlap my passes just to catch the matted down grass. I paid for a 21 inch mower and can only get a 17 inch cut.

[TimmyG]

Mulches really really nice. Never any mulched grass on the surface.

I so wish this were true with my HRX 217. I've just grown accustomed to leaving a blanket of clippings.

[mtlcafan79]

My experience so far is the cut is only good below 3". Once you go above that everything just blows out from under the deck. Leaves, clippings, etc. At 4" I'm not surprised you're missing stuff. I also noticed in full bag mode that the stripe pattern looks totally different than when mulching.

[kbgfarmer]

I also get uncut blades. I'm wondering if my blades need sharpening as I don't feel like I noticed it at the beginning of the season after freshly sharpened. Stupid question but I would like to go ahead and experiment with increasing the rpm using the governor hole. Where is it located and how to adjust it? I'm otherwise happy with the mower. Engine is solid. Starts on one pull every time and doesn't burn a ton of gas. 2.5 gallon jug lasts me forever.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[kbgfarmer]

Also I notice grass in the back area where bag attaches. With discharge closed on full suction shouldn't there be no grass back in that area? Something off?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Overfloater]

The manual addresses the grass accumulation in the bag chute even on full mulch and says it's normal.

[ Post made via Android ]

[TimmyG]

Also I notice grass in the back area where bag attaches. With discharge closed on full suction shouldn't there be no grass back in that area? Something off?

Didn't like my reply the first time you asked?

Had mine about a year and am happy with it. One minor issue-not sure it's an issue at all but I've noticed that their are grass clippings inside where the bag attaches. I don't bad (sic) but use full mulch. Is that normal or should I be concerned or cleaning out that area after every mow?

It's normal. See this post, for example.

After mulching for two hours, the rear chute of my HRX is quite full of clippings. It's important to clear that out after every mow, or you'll get the stank of mold and decay from it composting in place. After every mow, I slide the lever to full bag, tip the mower over, and hit it with a leaf blower.

If it's bothersome, you may wish to try this fix.

All of these issues and fixes were already covered in the Honda hrr216 cutting problem thread, which is why I linked to it in response to the OP. For example, here's a pic of the governor spring in the first hole (stock). Move it to the second hole to increase RPM.

[tlinden]

Question.. Those having problems, are the corners of your blades squared off or rounded?

I saw a video where a landscaper said if the corner of the blade wasn't squared it would lay over the blades of grass instead of cut them.

[Owlnsr]

I'm interested to know what tachometer people are using to measure the RPM.

Mine is on the first hole, and I am curious to know what the RPM I'm getting from that.

[micvog]

I have a 2-year old HRR216VKA (for sale cheap if anyone is interested ) with the same problem. I played with the RPMs including going to the second hole, which resulted in my RPMs exceeding spec and some engine backfire.

Here is Honda's official method for adjusting RPMs:

[kbgfarmer]

I have a 2-year old HRR216VKA (for sale cheap if anyone is interested ) with the same problem. I played with the RPMs including going to the second hole, which resulted in my RPMs exceeding spec and some engine backfire.

Here is Honda's official method for adjusting RPMs:

You are awesome brother! Attached my tach and engine was running around 1930 rpms. Used the diagram you posted to bend the tab left very slightly and now it's running close to 3070 rpms which is still within the specs of the motor! Will see if we have better cuts when I mow for the first time!

[Jackpine]

I don't have any problems with uncut blades. What I am seeing is that the deck loads up with clippings and then releases them all at once instead of spreading them out evenly as you mow. This happens every few feet, seems to be a basic flaw in the deck design. Have been running it with the bag chute open which helps.