My new HRX217HYA - firs mow and thoughts

• This thing is very quiet! Compared to my 12-or-so-year old GCV160-powered mower it's maybe 2/3 the noise
• It leaves very nice lines on the yard. Nothing too deep or "rutty" which is surprising, given that it is a good bit heavier than my old one.
• Smooth smooth smooth, that's all I can say. It purrs along (once the auto-choke bot is satisfied).
• I was able to find a notch on the "cruise control" lever that is just my speed - maybe 6 on the 10 scale on the lever's range of motion.
• It took a short bit to get the coordination of "release the clutch lever but keep mowing" around tight places, corners, end of a row, etc.
• I am 6' and 240 (ahem) and am strong enough to muscle it in and out of tight spaces. Small children, maybe not so much...
• The dual-blade system works great for making very very fine clippings. I had it dead-center between bag and mulch for much of my lawn and the clippings were maybe 1/2"? Very nice
• The combination of finer clippings and bigger bag (2.5 vs. 1.9) meant I got my 1/4 acre lawn mowed in 2 bag emptyings, instead o the usual 4 or 5.
• The blade-brake system is worth it just to not have to bend over and pull it each time (I AM 55 after all )
• Of course it did start on the first pull!

SalukiJim said:

Hi all, Thanks to so many of you for your thread posts and great information (I'm lookin' at you, Robert@Honda !) Anyway after two days of strong showers, Mother Nature finally decided to cooperate today and let me unleash the new beast on my lawn. I bought an HRX217HYA from mowersdirect.com and have been waiting it out until the sun came out this afternoon. Thoughts: [*]This thing is very quiet! Compared to my 12-or-so-year old GCV160-powered mower it's maybe 2/3 the noise [*]It leaves very nice lines on the yard. Nothing too deep or "rutty" which is surprising, given that it is a good bit heavier than my old one. [*]Smooth smooth smooth, that's all I can say. It purrs along (once the auto-choke bot is satisfied). [*]I was able to find a notch on the "cruise control" lever that is just my speed - maybe 6 on the 10 scale on the lever's range of motion. [*]It took a short bit to get the coordination of "release the clutch lever but keep mowing" around tight places, corners, end of a row, etc. [*]I am 6' and 240 (ahem) and am strong enough to muscle it in and out of tight spaces. Small children, maybe not so much... [*]The dual-blade system works great for making very very fine clippings. I had it dead-center between bag and mulch for much of my lawn and the clippings were maybe 1/2"? Very nice [*]The combination of finer clippings and bigger bag (2.5 vs. 1.9) meant I got my 1/4 acre lawn mowed in 2 bag emptyings, instead o the usual 4 or 5. [*]The blade-brake system is worth it just to not have to bend over and pull it each time (I AM 55 after all ) [*]Of course it did start on the first pull! The ONLY negative, and it's very minor. This thing slurps up the gas. Compared to my old (push) GCV-160 machine, which used maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of a gallon for my 1/4 acre, this used just a hair over one gallon. I DID take Robert@Honda's advice and started with a fresh can of 91-octane (for the non-ethanol factor), but after one tank i can't really say if that made any difference. Am I happy? Sure! It IS still a lawn mower, after all, not a Cadillac, but it's a solid 9.5/10 for me!

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