I brought home the
Honda HRR216VXA this weekend and it's great so far. :biggrin: Here's my quick review.
Starting is so easy. It worked on the first pull and it's a very light pull at that.
I was initially confused at the starting/stopping procedures since it has the BBC but it's easy in practice. To start the engine just set the throttle and pull. To start the blades push the large button on the right and hold down the bail. To start the self propel twist the part in the middle. It works kind of like a motorcycle throttle. There's a wide range of adjustment so finding a comfy position should be easy. The blades and self propel work independently so the self propel can still be used without the blades. That was nice for getting it back to the garage or through gates and such.
I used the BBC more than I thought I would to move stuff out of the way, pull a big weed, or open a gate. I was talking to my neighbor and she said their pull starts always break after a couple years and the repairs never work requiring a new purchase. Maybe they don't know you can replace the whole assy. Still I smiled on the inside at the reduced wear on my pull start. :smile:
The cut is great. I left it kind of tall because the grass was tall and I didn't want to cut it too short on the first pass. I mulched it though and almost no clippings are still visible. It was even a little bit damp out.
Some people say that it's quiet but it still left me wanting ear protection at the end. It is quiet just sitting there idling but not once the blades are spinning. I wear ear plugs when on my motorcycle so that's no problem. Now I just need to make sure the Honda and Kawasaki don't fight in the garage. :laughing:
As far as price goes, it was $499 - 10% coupon + 7% sales tax so $480 out the door. I was planning to use plasticjungle.com to buy gift cards at 6% off face value. To buy that much though they require a 'volume buyer' approval. Getting the forms scanned and faxed to them is not so easy for me right now. The form takes 2 days for approval. They wanted a copy of my license and credit card. The gift cards take at least a week to arrive in the mail. They didn't receive my first fax apparently and the second one was too dark. All that was trying my patience and the grass wasn't getting shorter. I was near HD on Friday so just picked it up. For someone with more time it could be a good service. They seem legit and had good customer service.
All in all I'm really happy with it. Thanks for the help, everyone! Now to try out my new edger and blower. :thumbsup:
