HRX217HYA won't roll back? Really?

dietdewboy

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I was planning to pull the trigger on either the HRX217HYA or the HRX217HZA today. I asked a question over at mowers direct, the question and response are as follows.
Q Jose- I have a steep hill from my house down to the lake, aprox 120' long by 75' wide, has trees, shrubs on it. I mow it now with my old Snapper SPV21675E but its a challenge. How is this honda on hills? How well does it roll backwards with out the drive engaged?

A Thank you for contacting Mowers Direct, this Mower is not made for Hills and the transmission locks when in reverse. I would recommend the Toro All Wheel Drive Mower which will do better on Slopes and it has a lever to disengage the Transmission to go in reverse.

Is this true? Doesn't make sense that Honda would make a high end mower with such limited maneuverability.

How about the HRX217VYA? does it roll backwards at all? its a nice feature to go under shrubs and around trees.

thank you
 

robert@honda

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I was planning to pull the trigger on either the HRX217HYA or the HRX217HZA today. I asked a question over at mowers direct, the question and response are as follows.

Q Jose- I have a steep hill from my house down to the lake, aprox 120' long by 75' wide, has trees, shrubs on it. I mow it now with my old Snapper SPV21675E but its a challenge. How is this honda on hills? How well does it roll backwards with out the drive engaged?

A Thank you for contacting Mowers Direct, this Mower is not made for Hills and the transmission locks when in reverse. I would recommend the Toro All Wheel Drive Mower which will do better on Slopes and it has a lever to disengage the Transmission to go in reverse
.
Got a link to this question and Jose's answer?

Is this true? Doesn't make sense that Honda would make a high end mower with such limited maneuverability.
Not true. All Honda self-propelled mowers will freely roll forward and backward when the drive clutch is released. Engine can be on or off, doesn't matter. No Honda self-propelled mower transmission has a REVERSE gear, so I'm guessing Jose really means pulling the mower backwards.

Notes:
For 25+ years, Honda has recommended their walk-behind mowers be operated on across slope no greater than 20-degrees. This is for optimum safety and control of the mower, not because the mower "is not made for hills."
If you don't release the drive clutch lever when the engine is running, the rear wheels will continue to drive/spin to keep the mower moving forward.
Pushing the mower faster than the wheels are spinning is possible; you'll hear the ratchet pawls in each rear wheel clicking. This is also audible when pushing the mower forward with the engine OFF.
 

dietdewboy

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Don't have a link to his answer, they just emailed me.

His answer didn't make any sense to me either, I found it hard to believe that I couldn't push a mower under a shrub and pull it back while running with the drive disengaged.

Think its time to join team Honda!!
 
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