Honda Select Drive

[gotomow]

Today and only one other time have I experienced my right hand tingling while cutting grass so a padded handle would be a suggested improvement

I almost forgot about the tingling numbing of my hands when using my HRX217.

 

[oillogger]

I almost forgot about the tingling numbing of my hands when using my HRX217.

The Toro Personal Pace systems absorbs most of the vibration in the tension of the drive cable as the handle slides back and forth so advantage Toro there in the mower wars. My old Honda HRR216 had foam padding on the handle which worked well to eliminate the vibration. Right now for me it is only effects my right hand for whatever reason for about 15-20% of the times I cut my lawn and only towards the end of the cutting. If it continues exactly the same I may one day start doing my best Michael Jackson impersonation by wearing only one glove. I still prefer the older Smart Drive over the Select Drive as I only treat the Select Drive as a throttle lever instead of a cruise control. I adjust my speed constantly as I go without really thinking about it so cruise control is not needed for me. After a little over 10 cuttings I still am glad I purchased my HRX217. As with any product there could always be improvements all subjective to someone's opinion.

 

[oillogger]

We are well into the monsoon season here so I have had to cut my lawn a few times when it is mushy leaving mud tracks everywhere like all the other folks here. Along the fence where my old Toro and Honda 216 would drag a lot from the tires sinking in the mud the Honda HRX217 does much better. I attribute that to the longer wheelbase and the wheels being set 1/4" higher. I have also mulched most of the time which has worked out well despite how wet the grass is or how short I cut it. The last two times I mulched the lawn and after both times there was only a small pinch of grass in the chute unlike I had read on other reviews so I guess my chute closes off well for mulching. I have never mulched with my old Toro and Honda so I cannot compare to them. I did have tingling in my right hand one more time but started managing the Select Drive with my left hand which eliminated the problem. My left hand is a slow learner so it will take a few more times until mindless operated muscle memory kicks in. My HRX217 cranks on 1-2 pulls whereas my old Honda 216 usually without fail cranked on one pull.

 

[oillogger]

My mower has gotten a tested quite a bit this year so far. Quite a few soggy lawn cuttings and three debris filled lawn cuttings after Hurricane Ida. It takes some time for the small debris to finally go away as new debris gets scattered on your yard as trees get cut, your home gets roofed, fences built, inside demo, etc. Only one time did the mower ever bogged down and it was tall dripping wet grass on a low cut level. The chute also had clogged up with grass at the time. The plastic deck held up thru two cuttings around the area where I had a large 40 year old pine tree that fell during Hurricane Ida chopped up and the stump ground down. There were wood chips everywhere. All I did was pick up the big chips and allowed the mower to pick up the rest. My HRX217 still usually cranks on the first pull and the hand numbing is no longer a problem since I changed the way I control the mower. The Select Drive cable has slowed down on stretching and has not needed adjusting yet. Maybe next year the cable will need adjusting. I love the fuel tank opening which makes refilling the tank super easy. The 200cc Honda engine is definitely more powerful than any of the mowers I have had in the past. I also find the mower mulches well. Overall I am happy with my HRX217 with the several good points it has. The minor improvements I would like are not deal breakers in any way but here they are:

• About a 20% smaller grass bag as the current bag is quite heavy when full of wet grass for this old retired fart. I always know when the bag is plum full of wet grass as the front wheels start to float a little.
• Shorter wheel base of 1-2 inches for tighter areas.
• Padded handle bars to ease numbing of the hands.
• Remove the fingernail murderer 1/4” edge on the handle where plastic handle meets the handle metal tubing on the pull crank side. I am now very much aware of that edge while cranking the mower.

Hopefully my posting will assist someone else when considering purchasing a Honda HRX217 mower.

 

[oillogger]

My mower has been doing well. After Hurricane Ida we had to have a bunch of work done inside, take a tree down, replace my fence, and now waiting for the patio to be replaced. When the fence was replaced I told the guys I would spread the dirt/clay from the fence post holes. Well I did that and finally got to cut my grass again on a mulch setting after a couple of good rains that had helped to beat the dirt/clay I had spread around into the grass. The dirt/clay was still moist but the wheels of my mower did not sink very far into the dirt/clay. Today, a week later, I went to cut my grass again but on the bagging setting and I could not move the lever. Much to my surprise there was about 1-1/2 gallons in volume of clay underneath the deck of the mower all the way up to the blades. When I had cut grass the last time the mower did fine despite all of the attached clay on the underside. After removing the clay on the underside the selection lever for mulching or bagging worked as it should. I went on to cut the grass with zero issues. Cranked on first pull. Still a happy camper with my HRX217 mower.

 

[oillogger]

Another long term update. Still have not had to adjust my Select Drive cable and I still have some 2-3 dial increases I can go. The HRX217 handles the wet ground from the summer monsoons much better my HRN216 did. The mower will not always crank on the first pull so I do a gentle slow pull then she starts right up on a half way good pull. The mulch/bag lever has a hard time making the last half notch to the much position but I only find a small handful of grass in the bag once finish cutting my lawn so it is not a concern. The other day I did manage to whack the end of one of my water hoses into two metal pieces. And a couple of weeks prior the mower sent 5" industrial stainless steel safety pin flying and heavily bent. I have not found any cracks or missing sections of plastic mower deck. Still a happy camper with my HRX217 mower.