Lawn mower blade speed. Honda Commercial Lawn Mower Review – HRC216HXA Self-Propelled

Honda Commercial Lawn Mower Review – HRC216HXA Self-Propelled

The HRC2163HXA Honda Commercial mower presents some of the best build quality and power we’ve seen in a commercial walk-behind mower.

Honda Commercial Lawn Mower Pulls Out All the Stops in Lawn Mower Shootout

We consider lawn mowers one of the crown jewels of the OPE world, so we brought in 24 various models to see which ones handled its business the best. We looked at gas-powered lawn mowers, battery-powered lawn mowers, residential mowers, commercial mowers, and every variation of those categories. On the gas-powered and commercial side of the equation, the HRC216HXA Honda commercial lawn mower stood out as the top dawg in a short field of worthy competitors.

Pros

• Rock-solid build
• Super quiet at 86 dB(A)
• Roto-Stop: engine runs even when mower and self-propel bales disengaged
• Twin blades
• Near-unstoppable power
• Incredible fuel efficiency

Shootout Results

The HRC2163HXA Honda commercial lawn mower presents itself as the pinnacle of Pro walk-behind mowing technology. It’s sturdy, exceptionally quiet, and has enough power that it’s actually pretty difficult to bog down. We love the Roto-Stop blade brake and MicroCut twin blades as well. It has a few quirks to it, and a price that makes budget shoppers shudder, but if you want one of the best mowers money can buy, this is your ticket.

Performance

We use a variety of tests to come to our conclusions and feel free to take out word for it. However, you’re welcome to hold us accountable and check out the details in our gas mower shootout.

Cutting Power

The faster the cutting edge of the blade is moving, the better it cuts. We measured the blade tip speeds under lighter loads as well as heavier loads to simulate your normal working conditions. We wanted to see how these mowers handled both maintenance cuts as well as those thicker grasses you’ll inevitably run into over the course of the day.

Under a light load, the Honda commercial lawn mower topped out with a blade tip speed of 194.8, the fastest of the commercial mowers we tested (interestingly, almost all of the residential models were faster).

However, when we threw the Honda commercial lawn mower into a heavy load simulation, we noted that the blade tip speed only dropped by 2.2 mph. The Honda model still maintained a blade tip speed of 192.6 mph. This type of consistency in power means that you can expect a smooth, even cut, even when trekking through the thicker grasses.

As I said, that was a simulation. So we decided to see how well it can handle mowing in a worst-case scenario.

Torture Testing

Obviously, your mower’s engine has a lot to do with how well your blade tip speed is affected by thicker grasses, and we put the Honda commercial mower’s 163cc GXV160 engine and MicroCut twin blades to the test. We ran it, along with some of our other top contenders, through two weeks worth of overgrowth. We set the cut height at 2.5″, the walking speed at 2.5 mph, and mowed until the mower bogged down and stalled out.

The Honda commercial lawn mower dominated every other mower we put through these particular paces. Of course, grass consistency will always be an inconsistent factor, so we didn’t use this test in our final calculations for scoring. But the Honda’s performance was definitely noteworthy as we traveled 113.5 ft before bogging it down. The next closest competitor, interestingly enough, was EGO’s Peak Power Dual Battery model. Every other mower paled in comparison.

Cutting Area

One of the benefits of gas power over electric is that, if you run out of fuel, grabbing the gas can and refueling takes a lot less time than waiting around for your batteries to charge back up. However, it still takes time and effort. So, the less you have to stop to refuel, the better.

Your blade size, fuel capacity, walking speed, and a variety of other factors can affect the area you’ll be able to cover on a tank of gas. For instance, the Honda HRC216HXA lawn mower, with its 21″ blade and 60 oz tank, could mow 1.21 acres on a tank when at 2.5 mph.

This type of cutting area capability is nothing to shake a stick at, but it’s worth noting that it came in second for our commercial mowers. It was bested by the eXmark Commercial X-Series mower, which topped out at just over 1-3/4 acres on a tank thanks to its massive 120 oz tank size.

Fuel Efficiency

Having said that, we need to talk about fuel efficiency. While the eXmark model did mow through significantly more acreage than the Honda commercial mower, the Honda model has better fuel efficiency.

When both engines were run with 4 oz of TruFuel, the Honda commercial lawn mower ran for 9.1 minutes compared to eXmark’s 6.8 minutes. Teasing that fact out to its logical conclusion, what can we expect from Honda’s fuel efficiency?

That gives it an overall fuel efficiency of 2.57 acres per gallon of gas. The tank doesn’t hold an entire gallon, but it gives us a mark to measure by. Snapper was second with 2.12 acres per gallon with eXmark in third with 1.88 acres.

This type of fuel efficiency sets the Honda HRC216HXA apart by leaps and bounds over the other commercial mowers for this category.

Feature Set

Self-Propelled Drive Roto-Stop Blade Brakes

A self-propelled drive isn’t anything new to the world of walk-behind mowers, particularly in the commercial realm. But this is no ordinary self-propelled drive. The Honda commercial mower features a hydrostatic transmission that seamlessly lets you adjust your speed without the jumps and bumps of a belt-driven system.

It also has the Roto-Stop blade brake system that allows you to stop the blades from spinning without stopping the engine. It’s great to be able to stop to move something out of your path or empty your bag without having to stop and restart the motor.

MicroCut Twin Blade

Our shootout introduced us to some unorthodox blade designs, and Honda’s is one of the more unique. Rather than using a single blade, like some modern-day Philistine would, the Honda HRC216HXA mower opts for two blades stacked tall like pancakes. The idea here is that you get super fine clippings from the four cutting surfaces; it makes for better mulching and bagging applications.

Deck Material

Generally, gas mowers use a steel deck, and the Honda Commercial doesn’t depart from tradition here. This suits us just fine: steel is more durable than composite or plastic, and since the drive system is doing the heavy lifting, the increased weight won’t affect you, the user. It also includes deck guards and a front bumper for protection to the deck, as well as another point to tie down to.

Adjustability

Single-point cutting height adjustment is easier than the 4-point adjustment that the Honda model opts for, but the putting all the weight of a commercial gas lawn mower on one lifting point is a bit too much. Most commercial level mowers avoid single point adjustments because of that. It can also introduce additional flex into the system.

It might be annoying to adjust the height at all four wheels individually, but we can’t argue with the sturdiness of the build.

Pro Tip: When you’re bagging, set the front wheel height one notch higher than the rear. It’ll help the mower bag clippings more effectively.

This Honda lawn mower has 8 height levels ranging from 0.875″ to 4.125″. This is a wide enough range that you ought to be able to properly mow just about any grass species you’re likely to find in the States. Further, you can adjust the handles to 2 different positions, giving you a couple of height options.

Discharge Options

Like almost all of the lawn mowers we tested before or during this shootout, the Honda Commercial mower allows you to mulch, bag, or discharge your clippings out the side of the deck.

Nexite Wheels

Honda’s 9″ wheels are strong, lightweight, and easy to replace should you ever need to. They also include precision sealed ball bearings in all four wheels that make for smooth, easy movement.

Noise

We don’t usually put a ton of stock into a gas-powered mower’s noise levels. If you’re running gas, you’re going to need ear protection. But the Honda HRC216HXA lawn mower runs at 86 dB(A), which is the quietest gas mower we tested. It’s even legitimately competitive with some of the battery-powered mowers we looked at.

You’re still going to need some protection when you’re mowing. Our test tells us how much noise the engine produces on its own and it will be higher when you’re cutting.

Value

There are no two ways about it: the Honda Commercial lawn mower won’t come cheap at 1269. Even for a high-end commercial model, this mower is on the pricey side of things. It comes with a 2-year commercial warranty on the engine, and a 1-year warranty on the rest of it.

Ultimately, this is the category that separates budget shoppers from those willing to pay more for higher quality. No matter which side of that statement you’re on, it’s not a knock against you. Just realize that if you want the best, it comes at a premium.

[amazon_link asins=’B01HJ1DEFA,B016YJ2EVS,B00S6Z2GWQ,B005LOQLEE’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’opereviews-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’897fad64-6901-4774-b4f6-2488eb9b0203′]

The Bottom Line

The HRC2163HXA Honda commercial lawn mower presents itself as the pinnacle of Pro walk-behind mowing technology. It’s sturdy, exceptionally quiet, and has enough power that it’s actually pretty difficult to bog down. We love the Roto-Stop blade brake and MicroCut twin blades as well. It has a few quirks to it, and a price that makes budget shoppers shudder, but if you want one of the best mowers money can buy, this is your ticket.

Honda Commercial Lawn Mower Manufacturer Specs

For more information about the Honda HRC216HXA, check out the product page by clicking here.

Lawn Mower Leaving Uncut Grass – The complete fix with pics

It’s a common source of frustration, and ARGH!! But more than likely, the solution is a simple one, and you can fix it right now.

So why is my lawnmower leaving uncut grass? The most common cause of uncut grass is a dull blade, but it’s not the only possible reason:

This problem has many possible causes, but a dull blade is a usual suspect. Check your engine performance; if you feel the engine doesn’t sound right or it’s sluggish, go ahead and solve engine-related issues first.

Very often, uncut grass is simply caused by a dull blade. If you need help inspecting and safely sharpening your blade, check out “How to sharpen mower blade video”.

Check For Blade Damage

A defective blade will cause all kinds of problems in the grass-cutting and collection department. Examine your blade checking for loose bolts, and damaged, misaligned, bent, or broken blade tips.

Mower blades have it tough, and hitting stones, sprinklers, stumps, and dog toys is all part of the job. Mower blades turn about 50 times a second – that’s 200 mph at the tip.

So when you hit something, it’s going to damage even hardened steel. Bending and gouging chunks from the metal blade will cause uneven cutting and a horrible vibration.

A blade may look OK, but they do wear. If it’s more than four seasons old, it’s probably worn out. The leading edge cuts the grass and is easy to see when it’s worn. The trailing edge stuffs the bag, and as that edge wears, it becomes much less efficient. The solution – replace the blade.

Never attempt to repair or bend a blade; the metal has been specially treated, and interfering with this can cause them to shatter.

When replacing the blade, go ahead and get a new bolt and washer. They’re mower-specific and also specially treated, so a bolt from the local hardware store won’t be up to the job.

A torque wrench should be used to tighten the bolt to the correct specification. A quick check of your mower manual or on the dealer site will give the spec.

Blade Orientation

It’s possible to fit a blade backways, so if you fit a blade recently, just check that the orientation is correct. Hey, it could happen a Bishop, don’t worry about it!

Imagine looking down at the blade from above – the leading edge of the blade will turn clockwise.

Bent – A bent blade is dangerous, and it will cause lawn scalping and vibration and, if ignored, will damage the mower engine.

Replace – A new blade will solve many problems; when changing the blade, replace the bolt and washer too.

If you need video help replacing the blade, check out the “Replacing blade video” and if you need mower blades, check out the Amazon link below.

Dull Blade

Is your blade sharp? A dull blade is the number one reason for leaving uncut grass. The blunt blade will damage your lawn in no time at all; it tears the grass and leaves a jagged edge which turns the grass tips yellow.

The recommended way to repair the yellow grass damage – regularly cut with a sharp lawnmower blade. I tell my customers to sharpen at least once per season, and more depending on how often you cut and terrain type. A sharp blade is the secret to a healthy, beautiful green lawn.

Check out “Blade maintenance tools” here; they make the sharpening process a ton easier. And if you need video help sharpening the blade on or off the mower, check out the “Blade sharpening video”.

Sharpen – Your blade needs a sharpening once per season, at least. If you file your blade regularly, it won’t take much effort to keep sharp.

What Blade Type?

You may have a blade that doesn’t suit your climate or your needs. So what’s in a blade? Quite a lot of clever engineering, actually. A blade looks pretty unimpressive, but change it out for a different type or a new one, and you’ll be surprised at the difference in cut and finish.

There are two main blade types, the lift blade, and the mulching blade; each has its own strengths. How you intend to handle your clippings and your climate will likely dictate which blade suits you.

Lift Blade

The Lift blade, also known as the 2 in 1 (collecting or discharging), vacuums the grass upright, before cutting and moving it to the bag. These lift blades are designed for collecting grass and come in low, medium, and high lift.

Lift means sucking power, and a higher lift blade will require a more powerful engine. The lift is created by curving upwards of the trailing edge of the blade; the steeper curve, the more powerful the lift. These blades love to bag grass, wet or dry.

Lift blade – Also known as a 2-in-1, it loves to bag grass, wet or dry.

Mulching Blade

A true Mulching blade is designed to finely chop and disperse grass clippings, not collect them, a proper mulching mower won’t have a grass bag.

Many of the latest mowers are fitted with a hybrid mulching blade, also known as a 3-in-1 (collecting, discharging, or mulching). It’s sort of half lift blade, half mulching blade – Jack of all trades if you like.

These blades are not designed specifically to collect and are really best suited to very regular dry weather cutting; if the grass is tall, a 3 in 1 mulching blade may struggle to bag efficiently.

Mulching – 3 in 1 blade is good but has limited success in more challenging conditions.

Check Engine Power

Check if the throttle is set correctly; it should be set to fast/run when cutting. Does your throttle cable need adjustment? Is the engine running as it should? If the engine power is reduced, the mower will not cut well, especially when it hits a patch of heavy grass.

Lawnmowers are generally very reliable; give them a tune-up and blade sharpening at the start of every season, regardless of how it’s running. The oil should be changed every 50 hours, and clean the air filter every 25 hours, and more often in dusty dry conditions.

Check throttle lever – If your engine seems to be a bit sluggish, first check that the throttle is set to full. The lever may be reading full throttle, but the cable may not be moving at the carburetor end.

Second, check the air filter is clean, try running the engine without the filter, and see if it makes any difference.

Gas – Old fuel is the number one cause of poor engine performance. Fuel older than a month goes stale and will gum up the inside of the carburetor.

This blocks the fuel feed ports and causes fuel starvation. This results in a sluggish engine and a poorly cut lawn.

Try using a fuel stabilizer, it will keep the gas fresh for up to two years, but more importantly, it will prevent gumming up of the carburetor. Check out the video showing how to mix and add gas stabilizer. The page includes a link to the gas stabilizer I use.

If you suspect bad gas is causing sluggish engine output, try draining the fuel tank, and carburetor bowl, and filling them with fresh gas. This will very often fix the issue, and if it doesn’t, a full carburetor cleanout will.

Clutch Slip

If you’re using a tractor mower, you may have a clutch system fitted. The clutch or PTO (power take-off) transfers the engine power to the blades. When the clutch starts to fail, it slips, which means the blades are not turning with the same power or speed as normal. It will be especially noticeable in taller, heavier grass.

Some walk behind lawn mowers (Honda) use a very similar clutch set up, so if you have a separate control to engage the blade, then it’s likely you have some form of the clutch system, but note these clutch systems are cable operated and the tension on the cable may simply need to be adjusted.

If you don’t have a clutch fitted, but you do have a separate lever to control the blades, then your blades are possibly controlled by a tensioned belt. The Toro Time-master is a good example. (see below)

Pulling the bail lever tightens the tension on the belt and makes the blades spin; the tension on the belt may simply need to be adjusted.

Clutch – Three types of clutch, the tractor PTO, the Honda blade clutch, and finally, the belt-type clutch fitted to the Toro Time-master.

Related Questions

What causes uneven grass cutting? The most common cause of uneven grass cutting is an uneven deck. Other possible causes include:

• Damaged blade
• Deck wheels are set at different height
• Tire pressures are low (tractor mower)
• Deck height needs adjustment (tractor mower)
• Anti-scalpwheels are missing (tractor mower)

You may find this post helpful:

Hey, I’m John, and I’m a Red Seal Qualified Service Technician with over twenty-five years experience.

I’ve worked on all types of mechanical equipment, from cars to grass machinery, and this site is where I share fluff-free hacks, tips, and insider know-how.

And the best part. it’s free!

Mower Blade Safety and Testing

Fisher Barton Blades is the world leader in lawn mower blade manufacturing.

In-house testing ensures the safety and quality of all our mower deck blades. Our testing processes are designed to promote mower safety by checking our blades for defects and excessive wear that may occur during use and misuse.

Bend tests verify that the proper ductility has been achieved in our mower deck blade manufacturing. These tests involve using a hydraulic-powered ram to steadily bend our blades to a predetermined degree. The areas of elongation that this bending produces are then thoroughly inspected. To pass the bend test, a blade must show no visible signs of cracking.

Stake testing is employed on our mower deck blades, which involves running a blade at full speed on a test lawn mower and then quickly inserting a steel rod in the blade’s path. The resulting impact brings the spinning blade to an abrupt halt. To pass this test the blade must not break, crack, or chip. Bending is the expected and acceptable outcome in regard to mower safety.

The major lawn mower manufacturers who use Fisher Barton blades perform further tests, as well. Our mower deck blades consistently pass all mower safety tests to which they’re subjected.

Our lawn mower blades benefit from our materials engineering expertise, innovative designs, superior base materials – including our patented MARBAIN® – and our unique austempering heat treatment processes.

Fisher Barton Blades manufacture nothing but the safest and highest quality mower deck blades.

Connect With An Expert

We’re here to help and would love the opportunity to discuss your technical questions or application challenges.

Tell Us About Your Project

Do you have a specific project you’re ready to discuss? Use our quote request form to start the process.

Connect With An Expert

We’re here to help and would love the opportunity to discuss your technical questions or application challenges.

The Best Zero-Turn Mowers of 2023

These achieve the rare feat of making lawn mowing fun.

By Roy Berendsohn Published: Mar 1, 2023

When it comes to yard work, zero turn mowers do the impossible. They make lawn mowing fun. They accomplish this by putting unprecedented speed, control and maneuverability at the disposal of the person mowing the lawn. The so-called “zero turn” feature of these mowers converts a grass cutting machine into something akin to an amusement park ride. You steer the machine with two levers—the left lever controls the left wheel, the right lever the right wheel. With that steering setup, you can zoom over the landscape cutting straight lines, curves, or pivot the mower into and out of a corner. What’s not to like?

Read on to understand how these agile grass cutters work, how we go about testing them, and see some candidates that we’ve recently tested as well as some that we haven’t but that we think look particularly promising.

How Zero-Turn Mowers Work

A zero-turn riding mower consists of an operator platform, a frame and wheels, an engine (or battery bank), transmissions (or motors), and a pair of control levers commonly known as lap bars. In gas mowers, the engine powers a pulley system. One group of pulleys drives the blades, another group powers a pair of transmissions–one at each rear wheel. When you move the lap bar forward or back, you are directing the transmission to go faster, slower, or even turn the opposite way. When one drive wheel turns clockwise and the other counter clockwise, the mower pivots. When the wheels rotate at different rates, the mower turns in an arc-shaped path. When the lap bars are in the neutral position, the mower stops. Aside from a parking brake, there’s no other braking mechanism. Battery-powered zero-turn mowers work the same way, but have separate motors to drive the rear wheels and one for each blade inside the mower deck.

When it comes to transmission, most mowers have a Hydrogear EZT—a well-known and cost-effective residential-grade transaxle with a reputation for durability.

Some mowers use a deck stamped from one piece of steel, others use a deck fabricated from multiple pieces and welded together. A fabricated deck can be built from thicker steel at a lower cost than it would be able to be built otherwise. Once you’re talking about stamping metal as thick as 10 gauge (about 1⁄8 inch thick), the cost of stamping such a deck would push up the mower’s price beyond what most people are willing to pay. The decks in the mowers below range from 42 to 52 inches, a typical size in this class of product. When powered by these engines and the Hydrogear, these mowers will deliver a decent cut quality at their rated top speed of 7 mph. Note, however, that cut quality declines steeply if you maintain that speed in very thick grass or on uneven terrain.

As to the electric mowers, they represent the leading edge of the technology in this category. These are remarkable and expensive mowers powered by large-voltage lithium-ion batteries. If you’re interested in reducing mowing noise and simplifying your maintenance routine by eliminating gas and oil, they’re worth a look.

Selecting a Zero-Turn Mower

Everyone would like to select the biggest possible zero-turn mower with the hope of whittling a big grass cutting job down to size as quickly as possible. Reality usually intercedes because these machines are expensive and the wide range of options available today quickly drive up the cost. Roughly speaking, you start somewhere in the range of a mower with a 42-inch deck costing in the vicinity of 3200 to 3500 and move up in increments of 1000 to 1500 until you reach entry-level commercial-grade equipment that costs 7000 to 8000.

Again, speaking in terms of approximation, a mower with a 42-inch deck will cut a two-acre lot (that takes into account that the house, driveway, outbuildings and various landscape features are taking up some of that space). Use a mower with a larger deck to cut anything over two acres. But here’s the caveat. That entry-level ZTR mower (3200, say) with a 42-inch deck will wear out faster and need more maintenance than a mower with a 50-inch deck, a heavier frame, larger engine and higher quality transmissions, and thicker deck with more robust blade spindles, costing 4500.

In the simplest possible terms, you can cut a smaller area with a larger mower and expect more longevity out of the machine (not to mention a nicer mowing experience) or you can cut a larger area with a smaller machine and encounter more maintenance and a mowing experience that will be, we might say, a bit more rugged.

But there are still other factors to consider, in selecting a mower other than deck size and your budget. Larger mowers take more space in a garage or outbuilding. And a mower with a 50-inch or even 60-inch deck, as useful as it might be in getting the job done more quickly, may not fit through a fence’s gate, and it might be more difficult to maneuver in tight spots without creating scalp marks on the lawn from a lot of close-quarter pivoting.

Carefully consider all these factors when shopping for a mower: your budget, maintenance and whether you will perform that work yourself, mowing speed and time, maneuverability and trimming in tight areas, the importance that you place on your comfort while mowing, cut quality, longevity, storage, and access to the landscape.

How We Select and Test

There’s only one way to test a mower, and that’s to cut grass with it. But we also do more than mow.

We raise and lower the deck and adjust the seat. We look at service point access (the air filter, the spark plug, and the oil filter) and how easy it is to remove the deck. We mow approximately an acre with each mower, considering cut and mulching quality while running uphill, downhill, across washboard, and along sidehills. (On sidehills, we’ll mow surfaces pitched up to approximately 20 degrees; manufacturers generally recommend not going steeper than 10 degrees, but we like to be thorough.) We evaluate power and speed relative to cut quality—we investigate whether the mower delivers a decent cut mowing at full speed. When mowing in damp conditions, we look at whether the mower’s tires accumulate grass and how effectively it discharges moist clippings. Finally, we test maneuverability (these machines are, generally, very nimble) and how readily they come to a stop when you back off the lap bar control levers.