$40 Craigslist-find HR215 giving my 3y/o HRC216 a run for its money?

[Scrubcadet10]

Those Quantums are pretty tough. Good old Briggs L-head design. Keep the, here we go again. Keep the dirt, oil and grass off the block cooling fins. LOL My dad gave me his Toro Super Recycler that had a 190cc Quantum. He never removed the blower cover. I had to put a new short block on it. Exhaust valve seat popped out. Tried restaking it, no dice. Engine made good torque.

slomo

I recently installed a Short Block on one my Poulan pusher, other quantum threw a rod, and a member on here sold me a Short for $90.

 

[slomo]

Think my short block was a hund-o, roughly same as yours. Got mine from Briggs. Man that little guy was CLEAN.

slomo

 

[Scrubcadet10]

I would like to get my hands on whoever designed the GCV engines... Split the dang crankcase in half, remove piston to do a dern valves job... I'd rather take out 8 bolts and replace a head gasket.

 

[dfbrown]

I'm a big fan of my HRC216, but I admit its flaws.

I bought mine brand new about 4 years ago, and it's been sturdy and reliable. But I always felt the motor was a bit weak. I guess I chalked it up to trading raw power for refinement and elegant design. I mean, this thing ain't meant to hack down 2ft overgrown grass every day, right? It's more meant for gentle trimming every 4 days of a golf course. A very refined tool. The HRC is a surgeon's scalpel while the Toro/Exmark 21" is like a chainsaw.
And with the bagger, mowing a well kept lawn, it really does do a good job. The stripes could be better, but it's more than decent.
With either the side discharge, or mulch plug, it's nothing to write home about.

But pretty much, no matter what, if it was wet, mowing was miserable. The motor would very quickly bog down, stall, etc. Really a headache, but I thought that's just how it was.
2 years back, I used a brand new Exmark Commercial 30" mower for a while. That one has the Kawasaki FJ180v motor, which is approximately equal to the Honda GXV160 I thought. Similar displacement, similar power output. I though the Exmark even had a handicap because it was the 30" vs 21".

Man, THAT thing had power. It was shocking how much more powerful it seemed. It also moved a LOT faster, even though they are both rated at like 4.1 or 4.2mph.

I've adjusted my clutch cable and engine throttle cable several times. I even bought a cheap tachometer off Amazon and checked the RPMs. At full speed, it hovers right at 3k rpm, which I thought was within the acceptable range stated in the manual.
I went on as normal.

Then, I saw an old HR215 for sale for $40. One of those really on-top-of-things older couple. They bought it new almost 30 years ago, and used it to mow their lawn that was about 20x5' feet. They maintained it religiously.
That thing is a tank! You put it in 3rd gear and it's bound to rip your arms off it moves so fast. I'm 25 years old in extremely good shape, mow lawns every day, and I cannot use it in 3rd gear. It's too fast.

I got it home and mowed a few lines to really see how it cut.
This thing is amazing!
I was quickly thinking "does my HRC mow this good....?"
Then I put the discharge chute on, and that thing powered through anything. It spit the grass a good 15ft. I was shocked. My 216 would have been on the verge of bogging down.
Then I thought about a suspicion I had of the 215 while I was using it. "This thing sounds like it's running pretty fast..."
I got the tach out, and, sure enough, it was pushing 3700-3800 rpm.
I measured my HRC again and it was showing 2950.

So, did someone crank up the RPM on the HR? And Is there a way for me to get my HRC up to 3150 or 3200?

Before I even finished reading your post I thought. Better check the hrc216 rpm. Book is 3250rpm with blades engaged. Off the record you can cheat it up another 100 and be fine. It will be a huge improvement over 2950rpm. Not so much hp but blade tip speed. I had a toro turfmaster 30 and it was underpowered and that spins at 3600rpm. I liked the concept but the pulleys and BBC was complete garbage you had to be all on top of the adjustment and they still failed and blades hit 2 different times. I know they improved it since so I hear but if Honda made one I'd buy it tomorrow. They would never allow it to have all the recalls that it did and tarnish there name. Hr215 good machine I had several but it's no hrc216. I'd turn the rpm down on it to 3250. It will still run very well. Great bagging mower and side discharge but not good mulchers. Just the design but those mowers are way old technology same deck as hr214 which was first out 1984. Good luck with both units. Awsome machines and will run forever if properly maintained. I had toro 21" commercial mowers with Kawasaki fj180v kai and yes a little more hp and 20cc more. If both are at correct rpm it's hard to tell it's much more honestly. They are good but lack fine detail build quality of the honda and not as smooth over the long haul of engine life.

 

[slomo]

Before I even finished reading your post I thought. Better check the hrc216 rpm. Book is 3250rpm with blades engaged. Off the record you can cheat it up another 100 and be fine. It will be a huge improvement over 2950rpm. Not so much hp but blade tip speed. I had a toro turfmaster 30 and it was underpowered and that spins at 3600rpm. I liked the concept but the pulleys and BBC was complete garbage you had to be all on top of the adjustment and they still failed and blades hit 2 different times. I know they improved it since so I hear but if Honda made one I'd buy it tomorrow. They would never allow it to have all the recalls that it did and tarnish there name. Hr215 good machine I had several but it's no hrc216. I'd turn the rpm down on it to 3250. It will still run very well. Great bagging mower and side discharge but not good mulchers. Just the design but those mowers are way old technology same deck as hr214 which was first out 1984. Good luck with both units. Awsome machines and will run forever if properly maintained. I had toro 21" commercial mowers with Kawasaki fj180v kai and yes a little more hp and 20cc more. If both are at correct rpm it's hard to tell it's much more honestly. They are good but lack fine detail build quality of the honda and not as smooth over the long haul of engine life.

Are you saying the HRC216 Commercial mulches poorly? You were talking about the hr215 then compared to the hrc216.

IMO, this is just me, the FJ180V has a ton more torque than the GXV160 or the GCV160. That is like comparing a small block Chuby to a big block in my opinion. On my Tifway Bermuda, the most dense grass out there, only a Briggs with 8.50 or 8.75 ft lbs of torque or the FJ180V do not bog. All other engines, on MY grass bog down hard. Some people think Kentucky Blue and St. Aug are tough cutters LOL. My yard is a Chia-pet. My wife uses a Snapper with the Kawasaki FC150V (same torque as a GXV160). Every 5 feet I look over and see her lifting the front of the mower up. We mow weekly if not twice per. "So romantic having his and hers push mowers". LOL

slomo

 

[dfbrown]

Are you saying the HRC216 Commercial mulches poorly? You were talking about the hr215 then compared to the hrc216.

IMO, this is just me, the FJ180V has a ton more torque than the GXV160 or the GCV160. That is like comparing a small block Chuby to a big block in my opinion. On my Tifway Bermuda, the most dense grass out there, only a Briggs with 8.50 or 8.75 ft lbs of torque or the FJ180V do not bog. All other engines, on MY grass bog down hard. Some people think Kentucky Blue and St. Aug are tough cutters LOL. My yard is a Chia-pet. My wife uses a Snapper with the Kawasaki FC150V (same torque as a GXV160). Every 5 feet I look over and see her lifting the front of the mower up. We mow weekly if not twice per. "So romantic having his and hers push mowers". LOL

slomo

No what I’m saying is a hr215 doesn’t mulch well compared to a hrc216 or a hrx217. hr215 is really a good bagger. Fj180v does have more torque I’m not denying that but I don’t like the build quality of it compared to a Honda engine. I don’t have the same trust level as I do in Honda stuff. There not perfect but there real good. I’ve had them on John Deere jx75 and jx85 and toro 22198s 22298s and 22177.