HRC216 blade confusion??

[DougMcK]

Greetings Honda experts!

I have resurrected a Honda HRC216 that I bought in non-working condition on CL and have passed it on to my son. It runs very well, but he'd prefer to mulch so I bought a "Genuine Honda 72511-VK6-000 & 72531-VK6-010 Mower Blade Set Fits HRC216 OEM" from ebay.

When I install them in the only plausible orientation where they seem to fit properly, the blades seem obviously too low and extend below the deck.

What am I getting wrong here?

Are these the wrong mulching blades?
Is there something else I need to do to reconfigure the machine? There's no obvious spacer to remove below the clutch assembly.

Best regards,
Doug

 

[BlazNT]

Watch this and see if it helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqpUjkzUTGI

 

[DougMcK]

Thanks for the reply.
I did watch the video, and that confirmed that I am installing the blades in the correct orientation. The problem remains that the lower blade is significantly below the level of the bottom edge of the deck, by about half an inch.
This just seems wrong.
There there is a spacer piece for single-blade use, but I've removed that.

Is it possible that there are different blades for different ages of this machine? The detailed model number and serial number have both been abraded off the deck sometime in the past.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[DougMcK]

Answering my own question: It looks like some early versions may use the 72531-VA3-S00 mulching blade, So I've ordered one of these.
Doug

 

[golfergordy]

Part # 06725-VA3-S00 is Honda's mulching blade kit and is available from Boats.net for $14.72, and fits the following models: HR214, HR215, HRC215, HRC216, and others. It contains the mulching blade which is installed together with the orig. blade, a new spacer, 2 new (and longer) bolts, and 2 spring washers. All of these parts are required for conversion to mulching. Also, if you don't have the mulching plug, you may have trouble mulching. I tried mulching w/o the plug one time with an HR215 and it didn't work out too well - I was considering other modifications to try to make mulching w/o the plug work, but very luckily I found a cheap mulching plug which solved the problem. Getting a plug for the HRC216 may be very difficult at any price - I just checked ebay and none are available. They are no longer available from Honda. Plugs for the HR214 and HR215 are very pricey on ebay.

See my pics. 2-pics are sheets included with the kit, and the other pic shows the mulching kit installed on my HRC215.