Honda HRR216VKA Lawnmower Review

My review of this mower can be summed up in one word: WOW.

Early this spring, I decided that it was time for a new lawnmower. I was not excited about spending the money, but my old mower was about done. Not only did it need engine work and a new blade, I had used it until the wheels were flat, smooth, and bare. That doesn't help when you have to mow up hills.

Between all of the repairs and parts that it needed, I would be most of the way to a new mower. And my old mower still wasn't that good.

So, I decided to bite the bullet, and buy a new mower. A GOOD mower. Something that would actually make me happy. After driving around town looking at all of the stores, brands, and models, I settled on the Honda HRR216VKA.

I've used a bunch of mowers over the decades, some wimpy, some more powerful, some better, some not. If I had known that a mower like this was available, I would have bought one twenty years ago.

My first "Holy Cow" moment with this mower was when I first tried the power drive. I stood behind the mower, pressed the butterfly down, and tried to walk with it. Nope. The thing pulled away from me, and PULLED RIGHT OUT OF MY GRIP. That is how fast the power drive is, and how much power is available to it. It took me a good three starts before I kept up with the mower. Let me tell you... I was glad that none of my neighbors witnessed that.

I used to be worn out after mowing, because I had to help push the old mower up and down the hills - weak power drive, work wheels - but now I'm worn out because I am chasing this thing up and down the hills. With the variable speed all the way engaged, you have to keep a good, brisk, power-walk pace to keep up with the mower.

Now, since I hadn't yet mowed my lawn in the spring, my grass was easily 8" tall. I figured that the high powerdrive speed would push the mower through the grass faster than the blade could chop - not so. This thing ATE through the 8" grass like it was nothing. I don't think it slowed or stalled once.

The third thing which impressed me was the bagging. With every other mower I've used, if the bag started to get full, you'd start bogging down, and leaving clippings behind you. Remember, my grass was at least 8" tall. I took two passes across the yard and back, then bumped the bag with my foot. The bag was ROCK SOLID. I removed the bag, and it was completely full, to the extent that the clippings were a tightly compressed block. Yet even with the bag that full, it had not slowed down, nor had it left clippings on the lawn.

A related note is that this mower is like a vacuum - it SUCKS everything into it, it does not blow things around like many other mowers I've used.

Another feature which was, for me, critical, is the ability to remove the bag and lift it away from the mower in one motion. I hate mowers where you grab the bag, remove it, drop it, then reach underneath the handle's cross-bar to remove the bag. The Honda comes through, you grab, lift, and you're done.

This mower is 100% win. It is fast, powerful, and effective. Mowing my lawn takes about 1/3 the time that it did with my older mower. I cannot recommend this enough.

Update: I've used this for some time now, so I thought I'd follow up. Every time I start this mower up, it still brings a smile to my face. I still don't regret the purchase in any way. If I can find any small nit to pick with this mower, it would be that every so often, if you throw the bag back on carelessly, it may not "latch" on both sides. But with just half of a second of attention, it's just not a problem. When one of your tools still makes your job this easy and enjoyable after using it for a year, you know you've made a very good purchase.

And... like any lawn equipment... use fuel stabilizer in your fuel, so that it won't varnish in the fuel can, the tank of the mower, or in the carburetor. Keep that thing running at peak!

Update 2: For some reason, Blogger isn't letting me reply to the comment below about how to use the speed and blade control bars, so I'll put the answer here.

There are two bars, or levers: The blade control bar, and the speed control bar.

The blade control bar MUST be held down for the mower to run - if you let go, the engine shuts off. This is a safety feature.

The speed control bar (or "butterfly") is pressed down to control the speed - the farther you move it, the faster you go. With a bit of a break-in period, it becomes easier to control the speed of the mower.

So, to keep the engine running AND mow your lawn, you need to hold the blade control bar down, and press on the speed control lever. If that is uncomfortable, there is an adjustment slider on the speed control lever, which will let you adjust the tilt.

I hope that helps!