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Honda HRX review

81K views 79 replies 33 participants last post by  weeze 
#1 ·
As some of you know, I've been discussing hand mowers for the past year. My LawnBoy DuraForce was a very big hassle last season, and I was waiting for the new LB Commercial mower entry. We all know that didn't happen because of no engines for these machines. Now, as discussed in another current thread, these machines are red, being branded as Toro mowers.

After much discussion with many on LS, and doing my own research, I ended up with a Honda HRX, self-propelled model. This is not the machine of my desire, but was the "last one standing." I didn't want the former LB entry, now a Toro, fearing it would soon be an orphan. Of all the criteria, weight of the machine was very important. Also, it has to be a good bagging machine. We use a hand mower at least 600 hours per season, mostly bagging. [Save all the discussion of bagging vs. mulching, vs. discharge for another thread -- been through that valley far too many times to repeat here. Also, save all the discussion about "no need to use a 21" mower, use a w/b instead." Again, been down that path far too many times too. Thanks.]

The HRX is 90-95#, about the lightest one that might have a chance of standing up to our needs. I do not like the idea of the Honda GCV engine, but that is all that is offered.

So this is what I have for the 2009 season. Let's also not debate the "shudda" machines either. I've spent far too much time discussing all other choices, and this is the only one that emerged as a choice.

I picked it up more than a week ago. I tried it out a little last week, but today was the first day out. I only worked three properties, but came away some initial impressions. We don't have much growth here yet, and only the "early" ones are candidates to make a mowing pass.

Engine: I like the starting, and power. I don't like the way it runs. It seems very rough, will not idle well at all (surges). Also, it seems to have quite a knock.

Fuel: The small tank is a real problem. All it will run is about 1.5 hours on a tank. That will be a problem when we run it 6-8 hours per day -- perhaps will need five refueling stops. I think the tank is only one quart.

Ground drive: It is very easy to select the speed desired, able to change speeds on the fly with the hydro transmission. Top speed is a little disappointing -- only a good brisk walk. I am doubting this will be a problem when the real heavy mowing is at hand in a couple of weeks.

Handling: It seems very cumbersome to make turns. Yes, it is a much different setup than my old LB. But, it just seems awkward to be sure to manage two handles - one to keep the BBC engaged, the other for ground drive. I'm sure time will help find better ways to handle this machine, especially on slopes and tight places.

Cut: The quality of cut was much better than expected. To be sure, I'm cutting pretty low on the first cut. But, whether in bag mode, or mulch mode, the cut surface was picture perfect. This may change when we start to work at higher cutting heights, and have heavier cutting requirements. But, at first cuts, I am pleasantly surprised. It is on par with my old LB, and that is one of the LB's greatest assets.

Clipping handling: I tried some areas with the Versa-cut knob in the full mulch position. The results were good, but not much clipping burden to handle now. I am doubtful much work will be done in mulch mode in a couple of weeks. Other areas, I went to full bag mode. I can quickly see that the bag will not fill completely. I was excited about having a large bag, but now I can see all that volume cannot be utilized. The clippings enter the bag on the right side, blowing them to the rear of the bag. However, the flow of debris inside the bag must swirl some of the debris up the the front, on the left side. With the bag partially full, the front of the bag on the left side will have a wall of debris. When lifting the bag out, that wall of debris will falter, and some debris will fall out. It looks like there will always be a small pile of debris fall from the front of the open bag to the ground, even when the bag is partially full. This can lead to a mess to be cleaned up after every bag change. Maybe I will find a better way to remove the bag.

I did try the partial bag/partial mulch function, putting the knob at the 8/10 position toward full mulch. This left only a small opening in the discharge chute for debris. I don't know how much savings this meant. I suspect not very much. All the other openings (e.g. 1/10, 4/10, 6/10), are probably worthless. But, in more difficult cutting, I envision the small opening to quickly clog, putting the mower into full mulch mode. Time will tell how well this feature works for grass cutting. I'm not optimistic.

I did have one lawn that had some Fall leaves that blew into a hedge, and along a bed. I raked/blowed them out onto the turf, put the knob into full mulch mode, made a couple of passes, and swung the knob to full bag, and made another pass -- zippo, mulched leaves were quickly put into the bag! A half tarp of leaves was gone into a quarter of a bag on the mower. Great!

Conditions today were very good. The grass was not high, it was not wet, sappy growth. The sun was out (albeit only low 40s), and all was dry.

Stay tuned. I'm sure that I will have more comments as the weeks pass, and this machine gets some real service hours, under more extreme conditions.

If this information is useful to somebody else making a decision, good! If anybody who has an HRX has any comments about some of my first negative impressions, let me hear what you think, or different thoughts. Thanks.

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#55 ·
ok maybe only 500

i doubt they will make one. they don't really make commercial ztr engines yet so i would think that would be their first step. they were making semi-commercial engines like for the hustler fast trak super duty and such. i don't know if they still do or not. they make every other kind of engine so a ztr engine seems like it would be their first thing to do. seems to me they could make a better engine than kawi, kohler, or vanguard, or whoever. i've always wondered why they don't do it? would probably run smoother, last longer, and get better gas mileage too.
 
#56 ·
I have owned a HRX217HYA for less than 1 day. I have about .5 acres of lawn and about 1.5 acres of rough grass with a couple dozen trees (mostly junipers but some pines and some deciduous trees) on my 5 acre lot in central Oregon. Other personal details relevant to this review: I am 6'3" and have pretty large hands. I am a tool nut and love to own the best but I am usually very opposed to paying for the best.

I spent a lot of time comparing the $700 HRX217HYA to the top of the line Toro residential mower 20332 at $360. I couldn't justify spending nearly double on the Honda so I purchased the Toro personal pace mower. The 5 hours I spent doing my spring mow behind the Toro was enough for me to come to hate it and ultimately return it. After 5 additional weeks of unusually high precipitation, major lawn growth and no signs of any decent mower deal on Craigs list I went back to HomeDepot and purchased the Honda HRX217HYA.

Pulling into my driveway with the Honda hanging out of the trunk of my Maxima (the Toro with it's double folding handle fit neatly into the trunk and allowed the trunk to close) I arrived just in time for zone 2 of my sprinklers to finish soaking the 12" high grass and weeds. I figured this was the perfect test for the 190cc Honda engine (The Toro has a 190cc Briggs and Stratton engine).

Pulling the Honda out of the trunk I found it seemed about the same weight as the Toro although the specs say it is 96lbs compared to the Toro 80 lbs.

I am a mechanically inclined person and firmly believe that any product that requires a good read of the manual before operation to be a very poorly designed product. So I filled the engine with the supplied oil , filled the gas tank with last years gas and pulled the start cord. In accordance with Honda's reputation the engine amazingly started on the very first pull. I am still a little mystified about how this was accomplished as I know a fuel systems need priming before the engine will come to life.

My recollection of the Toro mower was the Briggs and Straton engine needed 3 pulls to work the gas through the fuel system before it came to life for the first time... which is what I would expect for a dry engine.

When I was 15 my father finally sold our McClane Reel mower and purchased the then consumer reports number one rated Mower, a Honda. At almost 30 years later the same Honda humm delighted my ears. The Briggs on the Toro had a clanky growl compared to the Honda's whirly humm.
I immediately set to work at knocking down the freshly soaked lawn portion of my yard. On the second lap I noticed the bag to be very heavy and the mower to be very back heavy. So I pulled the bag (This bag is huge in comparison to the Toro!!!) and lugged it over to the grass disposal pile (Man was the bag heavy!). Upon inspecting the first two passes I was not very impressed with the cut!!! I looked at the wheels to find that the front wheels were set 1 notch below top height and the rear wheels were set 1 notch above the lowest height (Stupid me, I should have checked the wheel height in a bit more detail before I started to mow.) After setting the wheels properly in about the middle the cut quality expectedly completely cleared up. The Honda ripped through the soaking grass without flinching. The huge mouth on the bag made emptying it very easy without the heavy wet grass gettting stuck in the bag.

I distinctly remember having a couple problems with the Toro chokeing on the thick lawn which I did not experence at all with the Honda. After the first lap with the Toro I immediately switched it to side discharge mode which aleviated its choking problem. Side discharge is not an option on the Honda and it is defintiely not needed. Side discharge allows the mower to easily move large amounts of clippings out of the way quickly keeping them from clogging the blade causing the engine to stall. The Honda never choked and never stalled.

At 6'3" the ergopnomics of the Toro were just awful. After the first half hour I had to get my back support belt. The handle was way too low and the personal pace speed control system was fighting me the entire lawn! I despise the personal pace speed control system on the Toro. There was no way to fine control the speed of the drive wheels, even after 5 straight hours of mowing I could not find a happy speed control compromise with the system. I would push against the handle and the mower would take off pulling me along with it and jerking my back into an uncomfortable bent over position. Maybe it might work better for a shorter person but for me it was by far the worst feature of the Toro mower.

The Honda on the other hand was a dream to operate. It uses the same blade engagement lever from 30 years ago but they have added a hoop that allows you to keep the blade engaged with your left OR RIGHT hand. A great improvement! The infinite speed control lever is fantastic. Slap the wheel engagement hoop up against the blade hoop and you are off and going at the exact speed you left off at. BUT the best part of all is the speed control hoop isn't just and on/off control but also a proportional speed control on it's own!!!!! YEAH Honda!!!! So, if you hold the speed control hoop at half the distance to the fully engaged position you are moving at half of the speed selected by the speed control lever. This is just fabulous, allowing you to slow the mower down when you hit a thick patch of grass then resume the selected speed when you are through the thick patch. Another beauty of the Honda speed control system is the ability to easily reference your partial speed by opening or closing your hands around the hoop and the handle. Sounds simple but the Toro has no reference bar to loop your fingers over while you change speed with your palms and thumbs. This feature in its own justifies the extravagent price of the Honda for me!!! Another feature of the Honda speed control is how it can be used when you don't want to stand directly behind the mower like when you are next to a tree with low hanging branches. With the Honda you can simple pinch the wheel engagement bar against the handle bar with one hand while you duck under a branch and stand to the side of the mower for a couple feet while the mower goes under the branch. This is next to impossible to accomplish with the Toro. The Toro is difficult enough to regulate the speed when you are directly behind the mower and nearly impossible when you are a couple feet off to the side.

To sum it up, after equal time behind the Toro and the Honda I was crippled for a week with back pain after using the Toro. Using the Honda on the same lawn I was pretty tired but have absolutely no back pain what so ever!

A pretty big feature of my Central Oregon yard is a 20 foot by 60 foot hump in the middle of the rough grass that covers my septic field. The grass and weeds on this hump grow many times faster than the rest of the yard, I suppose due to the constant water and nutrient source from the septic system. The moles also love this soil rich portion of the yard and delight me with several new tunnels every mow. This portion of the yard is always a challenge for any mower even my recently retired John Deere F735 22hp 18 year old ex golf course front deck mower. The weeds will easily get 20 plus inches high before the rest of the lawn needs mowing.

During the initial spring mow the Toro did a very commendable job ripping down these 20" plus weeds with it's 190cc briggs engine that no 160cc mower would be capable of matching. This weed ripping power almost made the Toro a keeper despite all its other flaws. The Honda did an equally supurb job of whacking away this dense jungle but the clippings were far less evident than with the Toro. It is almost amazing at how well the clippings disappeared with the Honda.

The back pain with the Toro was but one of its ergonomic short comings. The noise from the Briggs engine on the Toro was loud enough to require hearing protection or risk atleast temporary hearing issues. The Honda was much quieter and I did not feel a need to use hearing protection. The Toro had a LOT of vibration!!! After pushing it for 5 hours my hands tingled for atleast a few hours. The Honda isn't completely void of vibration but it is MUCH less harsh and I only experenced mild tingling of my hands for 15 to 30 minutes or so. The texture on the molded plastic personal pace control bar left a dusy of a blister between my left thumb and fingers. The smooth metal finish on the Honda control bar left no blister what so ever. I did carelessly pinch my left middle finger between the speed bar and handle bar leaving a small blood blister... but having doe this once I did not do it again. The ergonomics of the Honda far outsine those of the Toro!

One complaint I have with the Honda is the placement of the throttle control. First it is too close to the speed control for the drive system. Second it is too prominant... When I stood to the side and let the mower go under a branch the mower lost all power a few times. This was due to a light brush of the branch against the throttle control reducing the engine speed to idle. I love the Honda controls but if they feel the need to make any changes this would be the place to make them!

I am cheap. At $360 for the Toro I felt ripped off!!! At $700 for the Honda I painfully feel I am atleast getting my moneys worth! My fathers Honda lasted 20 years before a stripped worm gear in the drive system rendered it a ultras heavy push mower with no replacement part available. I will be pleased if I get 20 years of service from my new Honda.
 
#57 ·
. . . So I filled the engine with the supplied oil , filled the gas tank with last years gas and pulled the start cord. In accordance with Honda's reputation the engine amazingly started on the very first pull. . .

I immediately set to work at knocking down the freshly soaked lawn portion of my yard. On the second lap I noticed the bag to be very heavy and the mower to be very back heavy. So I pulled the bag (This bag is huge in comparison to the Toro!!!) and lugged it over to the grass disposal pile (Man was the bag heavy!). . . The Honda ripped through the soaking grass without flinching. The huge mouth on the bag made emptying it very easy without the heavy wet grass gettting stuck in the bag. . .
The Honda never choked and never stalled.
The best part about a Honda mower, is that you can remove every instance of the word "Honda" in that description you wrote which I quoted, and replace it with "Brand X", and every Honda owner will still know that there's only one mower than can do all that. :)

I too love the fact that I can step to the side as I run the mower under a leaning tree, and I too have had the throttle turned off a couple of times by branches. If it really bothered me, I'd probably make something that would deflect branches around it, but it hadn't happened enough for me to care.

Oh, and I mulch, but if I did bag, it would be a lot easier to disengage the blade clutch, and drive the mower over to the grass pile, rather than lug the bag all the way there. LOL.
 
#58 ·
Please describe the differences between the two Honda lawnmower models noted in the title.

Also, I recently purchased a HRX2173hya and noticed the choke has changed from my neighbor's HRX217hxa model. What has changed on the choke, and/or the carb?

Finally, the owner's manual says to add 12.0-13.5 ounces of new oil when changing the oil in my 2173hya. My neighbor's sa7hxa requires adding 15 ounces of oil when changing the oil.

What is the correct amount of oil to add to my HRX2173hya when changing the oil?
 
#59 ·
The HRC commercial engine is designed for superior reliability. It includes a cast iron cylinder sleeve, two-stage air filter, ball bearing supported crankshaft.

It lasts longer. Not uncommon for the HRC to last years of weekly service. Had one last ten years. Just change blades filter oil. Never went to the shop. It does not need more HP. Always cut what I subjected it to.
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#60 ·
Please describe the differences between the two Honda lawnmower models noted in the title.
What has changed on the choke, and/or the carb?

What is the correct amount of oil to add to my HRX2173hya when changing the oil?
• The HXA has a manual choke control.
• The HYA has Auto Choke (automatic choke).

• It's hard to say for absolute how much oil to add, as it depends on how completely the old oil has drained. Make sure the height adjusters are all set to the same point, and the mower is on a flat, level surface when checking the oil level. Start by adding 12 ounces, then use the dipstick to check the level. Continue to add a small bit of oil as necessary to bring the level of oil visible about midpoint on the hashmarks at the tip of the dipstick.

-Robert@Honda
Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
 
#62 ·
my neighbor drains the old oil for about 5 minutes, then adds 15 oz of new oil. He says the dipstick shows full.

He has has used an HRX for the last 5 years and his mower has dry fouled the plug and required a new carb a few months ago.

I mention this because I wonder if his engine problems were caused by overfilling the oil?

How sensitive is the GCV190 to overfilling with oil,
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#63 ·
my neighbor drains the old oil for about 5 minutes, then adds 15 oz of new oil. He says the dipstick shows full.

I mention this because I wonder if his engine problems were caused by overfilling the oil?

How sensitive is the GCV190 to overfilling with oil,
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Your neighbor's technique sounds spot-on. Draining warm oil for 5 minutes will likely get all but a few tablespoons worth out of the oil pan.

Overfilling the oil may cause the oil to drain through the breather tube and soak the air filter. This can cause the air supply to be reduced, resulting in a rich-running engine.

Not aware of any particular sensitivities in filling the GCV190's engine oil.

-Robert@Honda
Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
 
#65 ·
Assuming the mower is properly maintained, and used once per week to mow a medium sized lawn, what is the estimated lifespan of an HRX?
Posted via Mobile Device
Honda does not publish any lifespan values for any mowers or engines. That said, I have personally seen HRX mowers used by commercial operators easily get 1,000+ hours of use. The wheels/tires go first, mostly due to curb/sidewalk scrubbing. For routine, residential use, the HRX should last decades with proper service.

-Robert@Honda
Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
 
#67 ·
Overfilling the oil may cause the oil to drain through the breather tube and soak the air filter. This can cause the air supply to be reduced, resulting in a rich-running engine.
My Honda engines have been very reliable, but they have also appeared to be more sensitive to air filter clogging than other engines.
Filters that appeared to be relatively clean could still cause an engine to run rich. An oil soaked filter would certainly cause this issue, and overfilling can do just what you said.

One thing many people don't pay attention to, is the instructions in the manual about never tilting the engine carb side down. It is clearly written in every Honda manual, but most people read past this, and if you do that, you will also soak the air filter in oil.

The wheels/tires go first, mostly due to curb/sidewalk scrubbing.
Wow!
 
#69 ·
Honda does not publish any lifespan values for any mowers or engines. That said, I have personally seen HRX mowers used by commercial operators easily get 1,000+ hours of use. The wheels/tires go first, mostly due to curb/sidewalk scrubbing. For routine, residential use, the HRX should last decades with proper service.

-Robert@Honda
Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
What he said ^^^^^.

But, the replacement wheels are easy to get, easy to mount.

In heavy use, I change oil once per week, refilling with 16 oz of Rotella 10W-30. The dipstick shows at the "full" line. I drain it out by turning the mower on its side, over a used oil pan (holds a couple of gallons, flat, pour spout on the top, and drain hole on the side). I do not wait five minutes. But, I only drain when the engine is hot. After many hundreds of hours of service, the GCV 190 runs well, starts well, and shows no sign of burning oil, or loosing power.

The engines probably last longer (hours of service life) when run 30-40 hours per week, rather than a homeowner, running it one hour per week, sitting for 167, fire up for 1 hour, sitting for 167 hours, fire up for one hour, etc.
 
#70 ·
Years ago, Honda offered some awesome walk-behind mult-blade units, 13~20hp, 36", 48", 52" and 60" decks. There was even a sulky option, and you could get full hydrostatic drive or gear drive models. Sadly, the market at the time was starting to fall in love with commercial ZTR products, and Honda ended up discontinuing all mowers except the 21" models.
Could you post some pics? They seem cool.
 
#71 ·
Could you post some pics? They seem cool.
Here's a few photos from an old brochure....

Honda made a series of hydrostatic versions, with various deck sizes; these were based off of Bunton, Inc. designs and assembled at the Bunton plant in Louisville, KY.

• HRC7013, 13hp single-cylinder engine, 36 and 48 inch decks
• HRC7018 & HRC7020, 18hp & 20hp twin-cylinder engine, 52 and 60 inch decks

There was also a gear-transmission model, the HRC7113, also a 13hp unit with a 36 and 48 decks. It had a transmission made by the Auburn, Inc. company.

All had mulching kits and massive side-mount grass bags, as well as the ride-on Sulky...

See attached .PDF file for images..

-Robert@Honda
Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
 

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#72 ·
Here's a few photos from an old brochure....

Honda made a series of hydrostatic versions, with various deck sizes; these were based off of Bunton, Inc. designs and assembled at the Bunton plant in Louisville, KY.

• HRC7013, 13hp single-cylinder engine, 36 and 48 inch decks
• HRC7018 & HRC7020, 18hp & 20hp twin-cylinder engine, 52 and 60 inch decks

There was also a gear-transmission model, the HRC7113, also a 13hp unit with a 36 and 48 decks. It had a transmission made by the Auburn, Inc. company.

All had mulching kits and massive side-mount grass bags, as well as the ride-on Sulky...

See attached .PDF file for images..

-Robert@Honda
Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
thanks! :waving:
 
#73 ·
All other current Honda self-propelled mowers use a belt-drive design. Those with the SmartDRIVE controls use a cone-clutch, and will this year move to a slipping belt arrangement. Two of the HRX-series models use a hydrostatic-style transmission, and the third is SmartDRIVE.
Does the HRX2173VKA use a cone-clutch, or the new slipping belt arrangement that you mentioned? What was the reason for the change? Thanks for your information!
 
#74 ·
i think it uses cone clutch and a belt but i'm not 100% sure about that.

i'm glad this thread was brought back up since guys on here were bashing me about suggesting someone use an hrx model for commercial mowing. this thread proves that it is a good mower for lawn care business owners especially if they don't use a 21" mower that often which is the case for most of us.
 
#75 ·
#76 ·
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