Bought a Honda HRX-217

[darkcrisis]

I bent the shaft on my eight-ish year old Toro Recycler last fall and have been vibrating along and mowing with it since. It wasn't too bad but needed to be replaced.

I finally broke down and bought the Honda HRX-217 after researching, reading posts here, and fretting over it. I really wanted to look at a Super Recycler to compare to but there are none around here to look at.

I brought it home and used the Smith's sharpening tool to put a nice edge on the blades and then took her for spin. I love the sharpener it is cheap, quick, and easy.

The select drive, rear wheel drive, and basic maneuvering are going to take some getting used to. I expected that though...

The quality of the cut is amazing, it destroys the clippings, and it just feels like a quality machine. The entire mower feels extremely well built except the select drive lever. I think it feels cheap and flimsy. I hope I'm wrong and learn to like it.

I see what the hype is about. I'm happy with it!

Do I need a reason to mow again?

[mitten]

Maybe drop a little extra fertilizer this week! haha. Congrats on your new machine!

[ATYU]

Congrats, I heard nothing but good things about this mower (wish it came in 30" size). Mind sharing which tool model did you used to sharpen the blades?

[plynn7]

Funny, I have the HRX and can't stand it. It leaves pieces of uncut blades all over my lawn, I usually have to cut my lawn twice. There seems to be no vacuum to pull the blades back up once the wheels roll over them. I have had the mower for 4 seasons and it's time for it to go. I have been researching the Toro Super Recycler with the Blade brake and I think I am gonna pick it up this week.

[darkcrisis]

[quote=ATYU post_id=322168 time=1526268540 user_id=8410]
Congrats, I heard nothing but good things about this mower (wish it came in 30" size). Mind sharing which tool model did you used to sharpen the blades?
[/quote]

I have a pretty small lawn, so the size isn't a big deal for me.

It is the Smith's 50603 Mower Blade Sharpener from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Smiths-50603-Mow ... +sharpener

[darkcrisis]

[quote=plynn7 post_id=322198 time=1526337270 user_id=1822]
Funny, I have the HRX and can't stand it. It leaves pieces of uncut blades all over my lawn, I usually have to cut my lawn twice. There seems to be no vacuum to pull the blades back up once the wheels roll over them. I have had the mower for 4 seasons and it's time for it to go. I have been researching the Toro Super Recycler with the Blade brake and I think I am gonna pick it up this week.
[/quote]

I've read several posts about this problem on the forum but decided to take a gamble because all of the great reviews. I've only used it once and didn't seem to have any trouble. I was also surprised at the lack of wheel grooves from the HRX compared to my Toro Recycler. Suction seemed pretty good at 4". It sounds like you may have gotten a lemon or something isn't quite in spec. I'm sure you will love the Super Recycler. I may have gotten one if someone around here actually had one in stock for me to look at before purchasing. Good luck!

[plynn7]

I actually picked one up yesterday from a dealer, $575 out the door. It's definitely lighter than my Honda and the Blade brake is a nice feature and a 5 year warranty. I did cut my back yard last night even though I just cut it on Saturday, had to try it out. It seemed to do a nice job and I could tell there was much more suction than the Honda. Good luck with your Honda I'm sure your gonna love it, I did except for the uncut blade issue.

[gordon]

My dad just bought one at Home depot with the electric start...I believe it was $499.

[andy10917]

I sincerely doubt that was an HRX-217 with electric start for $499 -- that's the price of the lower-powered 160cc engine HRR-216 with electric start at HD. That machine is no match for the big-brother HRX-217.