Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

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Overfloater
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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by Overfloater » June 5th, 2017, 12:28 pm

I bought a Toro recycler to try out.

I won't know anything for sure until I use it more as I've only mowed once. However, I do have a few observations.

It seems quieter than the HRX. Maybe not quite, but the exhaust note tone is deeper and IMO less noticeable.

It's definitely lighter. I haven't looked at specs but there is significantly less flattening of the grass by the wheels so it doesn't need to be lifted on a return pass. This is probably a function of the lighter weight and the rest wheels being much larger.

The big question, vacuum. Suction is definitely better but it will not completely lift flattened blades. This may be do to the fact that the flattened areas have been flattened for some time and and are very resistant to being lifted. This will probably get better as the grass adjusts.

The build quality of the Recycler is a few steps below the HRX but considering it is only 2/3 the price, that makes sense.

I bought the model with personal pace and the smart stow because space is at a premium in my garage. It seems to be a fantastic feature. Getting under the deck for cleaning and blade changes is absolutely no issue now.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by Paul » June 5th, 2017, 4:05 pm

If you want to use this mower in a "Suction mode" and use the bag instead of mulching you need to get a high lift blade and not use the twin mulching blades. This will greatly increase how much stuff gets sucked into the bag. This mower is designed to mulch, and in my opinion does an excellent job. The twin blades are not designed as high lift blades. I can honestly say the only time I used my Honda with the bag is when the lawn grows so fast, I need to part bag, and it works like a champ.

And if you have small twigs and sticks, the Honda just mulches them just as good as the grass. I have a big Oak that drops twigs on a weekly basis and it mulches them without any issues. Big sticks should be picked up before mowing, or your blade will take a beating.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by Riverpilot » June 5th, 2017, 5:20 pm

Keep us updated please. Next year I think I'll bite the bullet and get something different. I may just go to a John Deere commercial walk-behind and be done with it. :)

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by ligrass » June 5th, 2017, 11:21 pm

Paul wrote:
June 5th, 2017, 4:05 pm
If you want to use this mower in a "Suction mode" and use the bag instead of mulching you need to get a high lift blade and not use the twin mulching blades. This will greatly increase how much stuff gets sucked into the bag. This mower is designed to mulch, and in my opinion does an excellent job. The twin blades are not designed as high lift blades. I can honestly say the only time I used my Honda with the bag is when the lawn grows so fast, I need to part bag, and it works like a champ.

And if you have small twigs and sticks, the Honda just mulches them just as good as the grass. I have a big Oak that drops twigs on a weekly basis and it mulches them without any issues. Big sticks should be picked up before mowing, or your blade will take a beating.
Does Honda offer a high lift blade for the HRX217 here in the US?

I have 4 big oaks on my property. I'm fully aware what it does to them when it actually sucks them up. I'd rather sharpen the blade more often than pick up every little stick on my property. (obviously I pick up the big sticks). Check out the pic and look at the 5 smallish sticks left in the turf after mowing....

anyway, I think I figured out what part of the problem is.





Image

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by marshalltj » June 6th, 2017, 9:37 am

Just curious, has anyone tried replacing the stock two blade setup with an Oregon single Gator blade?


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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by lawndad » June 6th, 2017, 9:44 pm

marshalltj wrote:
June 6th, 2017, 9:37 am
Just curious, has anyone tried replacing the stock two blade setup with an Oregon single Gator blade?

I haven't but it that suppose to be a high lift blade and better than the two quadro cut blades?

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by Owlnsr » June 9th, 2017, 7:55 am

To those who have suction issues,

How well established is the lawn?

Sometimes it takes grass a while to "learn" to grow upright at a higher cut. Maybe some of the "stragglers" are turf that hasn't quite "learned" this yet. I'd imagine that an older, more established lawn would harden up and be a little more stiff, making it easier to stand upright. Meanwhile the newer plants might be a little more flimsy and therefore have a harder time standing back up after the wheels roll over them. Perhaps those blades get trapped under the canopy and they don't get free until the next cut, which is why they look like stragglers?

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by krusej23 » June 9th, 2017, 9:11 am

My lawn is the greatest lawn in the world but it's about 3 years old and has been mowed with 2 mowers at 3 inches constantly. I just decided to bite the bullet and get a riding mower and that has a cut 10x better than the Honda. It doesn't leave anything uncut or bent over. It is just the design of that mower deck on the Honda.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by lawndad » June 9th, 2017, 11:05 am

Owlnsr wrote:
June 9th, 2017, 7:55 am
To those who have suction issues,

How well established is the lawn?

Sometimes it takes grass a while to "learn" to grow upright at a higher cut. Maybe some of the "stragglers" are turf that hasn't quite "learned" this yet. I'd imagine that an older, more established lawn would harden up and be a little more stiff, making it easier to stand upright. Meanwhile the newer plants might be a little more flimsy and therefore have a harder time standing back up after the wheels roll over them. Perhaps those blades get trapped under the canopy and they don't get free until the next cut, which is why they look like stragglers?
My lawn was originally sodded in 2010 (TTTF). I normally double cut it and it's fine. Again, I like the mower but not thrilled with it's suction power. One day I will try another mower out but until then I'll just walk more... Hope this helps.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by merrimack » June 9th, 2017, 4:36 pm

I have an HRX 217 and it is a nice machine and I'm very happy with it. It really does a great job if you follow a little less than the one third rule. I have noticed that you run into problems if the grass is wet or if I am lazy and take off more than a third at a time. I do think the mower has a sweet spot under three or three and a half inches for cutting height.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by 01redcrew » June 14th, 2017, 11:15 pm

im going to chime in. I just sold my honda hrx 217 and bought a toro super recycler. I will say for me the toro cuts better and like said about it weights less and does better with tire tracks. I have seen very few strangers of grass blades left behind unlike the honda would do. Im mowing at 3.75 with the toro and it looks alot better behnd the mower than the honda ever thought about

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by ligrass » June 15th, 2017, 11:27 am

A big part of the problem is in bagging mode the weight gets "rear-heavy". Add a striper and it compounds the problem. Because the composite deck is so light compared to other mowers, it repeatedly bobs up on the front end on any little bump or irregular terrain without you really noticing it (The light front-end is one reason it's so easy to handle and turn with it) The steel deck on my craftsman was much heavier and stayed "firmer" to the ground (although it was much harder to maneuver than the Honda).
I usually have the paddles almost parallel to the ground and I hold the handle bars like a steering wheel (at 1 and 11 o'clock). I made a change last mow and moved the paddles more perpendicular to the ground. I'm also holding the bars more like 3 and 9 o'clock position while also making sure to always keep UPWARD pressure on the handle bar. This made a huge difference for me. It gave the nicest cut I've ever seen. Because of the suction boost It even striped the lawn without my striper on. I believe this change along with tightening the governor spring did it. That's what I've been looking for out of this thing since I bought it. Try it out and see if that makes a difference.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by OldGlory » June 15th, 2017, 12:41 pm

I have owned both Honda and Toro.

The Toro mulches better and has more suction. The cut is better when mulching on the Toro. It picks up sticks and twigs. The Honda does not.

I like the controls on the Honda better and I like the plastic deck. When mulching the Honda does miss a few blades. This appears to be coming from the wheel tracks. It seems like there is not enough suction to pull the grass back up once it is flattened by the wheels. When full bagging this is not an issue for me and the cut is fine. I did not adjust the RPMs yet.

I have also owned a Timemaster (the first version) while I loved the cut and the time savings I felt like it was underpowered and/or the design of the deck caused it to bog down. I may test out the new upgraded version at some point.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by mkefer » June 18th, 2017, 10:33 pm

Just to chime in here, I own a Honda HRX217 (pretty new, purchased fall 2016) and the cut quality while mulching is pretty mediocre. It's a fantastic machine that starts up great, handles wondefully, plenty of power, mulches incredibly fine and leaves almost no visible clippings, but it always leaves a good amount of stragglers due to no suction. I can run over sticks and rocks with no fear because this mower will never pick them up, pretty weird stuff. Things get a little better when you mow at 2.5" or less, but I'm in northern Indiana with a cool season mix of grasses, I want to mow at 3.5"+. Bagging also does better, but again, I don't want to bag, it's a lot more work and mulching is better for the grass.

I've tried upping the RPMs (even a bit too high for a while), running the mower deck tilted forward, back, and level, leaving the clip director a bit open, brand new blades - and nothing has really made me super pleased with the cut quality.

There are many different revisions of this HRX217 mower - my theory is that one particular model# (a pretty new one, late 2015-2016, maybe even current ones) they tweaked the deck slightly and it inadvertently screwed things up and eliminated any hint of suction that older models seem to have.

I really wish I had one of the "good" HRX217's - because this is really the best walk behind mower out there on paper. But in the mean time my neighbor's HRR gives a clearly superior cut, and I'm feeling cheated out of the extra $329 I spent on the HRX, spending my time researching on what I should replace it with.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by krusej23 » June 20th, 2017, 10:06 am

I completely agree with mkefer's assessment. Loved how the mower started and walked but the mowing ability was not good when you mowed higher. I have a couple pictures from last year when I had the mower. You can see the stragglers standing up still and then you can also see the laid down grass from the tires that the mower doesn't suck up.
Image

Image

Image

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by mkefer » June 20th, 2017, 2:59 pm

krusej23 - what are you using now and how does it compare? I just complained (again) to Honda, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm definitely starting to scope out the best looking lawns in the neighborhood for cut quality to see what I should go with next.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by krusej23 » June 20th, 2017, 4:45 pm

mkefer wrote:
June 20th, 2017, 2:59 pm
krusej23 - what are you using now and how does it compare? I just complained (again) to Honda, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm definitely starting to scope out the best looking lawns in the neighborhood for cut quality to see what I should go with next.
I decided to go bigger and got a John Deere D130. If you are looking for a riding lawn mower, I like this one. I just gave up on the mower ever cutting properly after trying everything people said in the other thread and this one along with what the Deere dealership said to try since I bought it from them.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by seiyafan » October 2nd, 2017, 10:39 pm

If you get the front wheels to 2.5'' and rear to 3'', or vice verse, do you get a cut in between 2.5'' and 3''?

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by krusej23 » October 3rd, 2017, 8:30 am

seiyafan wrote:
October 2nd, 2017, 10:39 pm
If you get the front wheels to 2.5'' and rear to 3'', or vice verse, do you get a cut in between 2.5'' and 3''?
I would think you would get a 2.5" cut for the most part but there might be parts that the front doesn't hit well and then you are cutting up to the 3". On the D130, John Deere suggests during the leveling process to level the front end of the deck at the level you want to cut at and then the back of the deck at 1/4" higher.

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Re: Honda HRX 217 Suction issue

Post by seiyafan » October 3rd, 2017, 10:12 am

Maybe attaching a 50-lb dumbbell with superglue to the front end can help with the cut, I will see.

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