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Hi guys, Just joined and look forward on getting some knowledge dropped on me.

I have a 19 year old White 21" push mower that is on its death bed. Still runs but will use up all of the oil in the engine. For whatever reason it hasn't locked up or thrown a rod yet. The engine is a 5 horse briggs I believe. Basically I need a new mower and need some advice. I wouldn't mind a push mower but it seems like all anyone sells now are the self propelled. I'm 33, like the exercise of cutting the yard, and usually walk fairly briskly when cutting. My concern with a self propelled would be that it won't move quick enough.

I've been looking into the Hondas and Toros but they all seem to have too many bells n whistles, Like the autochoke on the Honda. Is that a good program?

I keep the maintenance up on all of my equipment and want a mower that will last another 20 years.

Any input is appreciated.

JBrzoz00 said:

Hi guys, Just joined and look forward on getting some knowledge dropped on me.

I have a 19 year old White 21" push mower that is on its death bed. Still runs but will use up all of the oil in the engine. For whatever reason it hasn't locked up or thrown a rod yet. The engine is a 5 horse briggs I believe. Basically I need a new mower and need some advice. I wouldn't mind a push mower but it seems like all anyone sells now are the self propelled. I'm 33, like the exercise of cutting the yard, and usually walk fairly briskly when cutting. My concern with a self propelled would be that it won't move quick enough.

I've been looking into the Hondas and Toros but they all seem to have too many bells n whistles, Like the autochoke on the Honda. Is that a good program?

I keep the maintenance up on all of my equipment and want a mower that will last another 20 years.

Any input is appreciated.

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Hondas and Toros are in my opinion the best brands. I have two Honda HRX217HYA's, and I can tell you that it moves quick. I am tall, and take big strides, and it is not too slow for me. Toro has the personal pace, I'm not a fan, but you can make it go as fast as you want to walk.

In my opinion the bells and whistles are what you get used to having after awhile, and then won't want a mower without them. I like the autochoke....haven't had a single problem with it running it commercially for 3 years.

Is speed on the Honda adjustable? I'm the same with being tall and taking long strides. What is the difference between your Honda HRX217HYA and the Honda HRR216K9VKA??

I've garbage picked 2 Honda mowers before. HRX I believe. Cleaned out the carb, changed plug and air filter, poured in fresh gas, and they started right up. I gave them away though.

I purchased a Honda HRR216PKA a little over a month ago and I really like it. I only use a push mower to cut around areas of the house that I cannot use my Z-turn, but like you I did not want a self propelled. The auto choke feature is amazing.

JBrzoz00 said:

Is speed on the Honda adjustable? I'm the same with being tall and taking long strides. What is the difference between your Honda HRX217HYA and the Honda HRR216K9VKA??

I've garbage picked 2 Honda mowers before. HRX I believe. Cleaned out the carb, changed plug and air filter, poured in fresh gas, and they started right up. I gave them away though.

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The speed on the HRX's is adjustable, but in different ways. Some have Select Drive, some have Smart Drive (kind of like personal pace on a Toro but you push down on paddles), and the mower I have has hydrostatic cruise control. With mine you can change the position of the "orange lever" to change the max speed you can go when you push the drive lever in all the way, OR you can just not push the drive lever in fully and that will propel you at a slower speed. I love the controls on mine, personally.

There are many differences between the HYA model of the HRX217 and the VKA model of the HRR216. First off, the HRX's use a GCV190 (190cc) engine, and they have the NeXite (some people call it plastic) deck, which I have come to love. Easier to clean, and prevents a lot of grass from sticking to it. The HRR has a steel mowing deck, and a 160cc engine. And the drive controls are different, the HRX217HYA has the hydrostatic cruise control while the HRR216VKA has the Smart Drive.

Keep the questions coming if you have any. :smile: Hope this helps.

How well do they do with leaves? as far as bagging goes?

JBrzoz00 said:

How well do they do with leaves? as far as bagging goes?

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My Honda HRX's do good with leaves. It's been like 8 months since I've bagged leaves, but I don't remember it doing bad.....it does decent.

I have 13 gum trees in my yard, so far the only thing that I've found work decent is a Yard Man leaf sucker thing, a rake, and the funnel for the paper bags. But I do clean them up once they all drop. I imagine if I keep up with it that it will be easier with the bagger.

JBrzoz00 said:

I have 13 gum trees in my yard, so far the only thing that I've found work decent is a Yard Man leaf sucker thing, a rake, and the funnel for the paper bags. But I do clean them up once they all drop. I imagine if I keep up with it that it will be easier with the bagger.

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I found some photos of 2013 leaf cleanups with my HRX that I'll post below. My HRX does good unless the leaves are like sticking to the ground (it's hard to explain, but some leaves are hard to get up). So I would say it's a decent bagger. But those gum balls would be a pain to pick up.

Thats a lot better than I would expect.

Off topic,

How often do you change your oil?

Was non ethanol fuel as big of a deal 15-20 years ago as it is now? I don't remember hearing much about it until maybe in the last 5 years. I just replaced the carburetor in an echo srm-225 that is maybe 3 years old, with 10 mins of use each week. 1st year I ran regular fuel, 2nd and 3rd I ran non ethanol. Usually I drain the fuel and run it out but I think I left fuel in it this past winter.

JBrzoz00 said:

Thats a lot better than I would expect.

Off topic,

How often do you change your oil?

Was non ethanol fuel as big of a deal 15-20 years ago as it is now? I don't remember hearing much about it until maybe in the last 5 years. I just replaced the carburetor in an echo srm-225 that is maybe 3 years old, with 10 mins of use each week. 1st year I ran regular fuel, 2nd and 3rd I ran non ethanol. Usually I drain the fuel and run it out but I think I left fuel in it this past winter.

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I change my oil every 50 hours or so, which for me is very often compared to your mower with residential use. I'm not gonna tell you what to do related to fuel, but I will say I use regular gas and have never have a problem, but I drain out the tank over winter. One year I didn't drain it, and instead ran the mower for a few minutes every week or two, and I was OK.

Are your hondas easy to push if you didn't engage the self propel?

JBrzoz00 said:

Are your hondas easy to push if you didn't engage the self propel?

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The one I have is around 95 lbs, so not really, but they do have lighter models if you really don't want self propel.