I'm glad that you are happy with your purchase.

I have a ten year old Honda. My experience: The engine is indestructable. After 10 years, the carb has gotten gummed up and my choke sticks. Not unreasonable. Simple solution was to quit using the choke. It still starts first pull most of the time even without choking it. I will get around to cleaning the carb one of these days.

No complaints about the deck. My deck is steel and shows no rust and very little wear.

I have the double blade mulch setup and it does a good job mowing. I mulch most of the time and it only leaves cut grass on top of the lawn if I let it get too long before cutting.

But......

I have a slight incline in my yard. Slight. I've had to replace the wheels once because they wore smooth and slid on the incline. I'm getting ready to replace them again because the second set it almost smooth. BTW, my lawn is about 1/3 acre, a corner lot in a subdivision.

Cables. I have to replace the cable to the self propelled clutch about every other year. There doesn't seem to be anything that is stressing it, it just breaks after a while. I've replaced the safety/blade clutch cable a couple of times as well. The self propelled cable also needs adjusted yearly. The clamp holding it doesn't seem to be as secure as it should be and it slips, causing the self propelled mechanism to be hit or miss.

The bagger frame. It fell apart. Three welds just gave up and it fell to pieces. New ones are quite costly and the replacement seems to be constructed exactly the same as the old one. The fabric bag actually lasted longer than the frame!

The handle. The paint came off of it after a couple of years where I hold it while mowing. This isn't my first go around with a mower and I've never had this happen with far cheaper models. I had to cover it with electrical tape to keep it from rusting. Also, the plastic bracket on the right holding the two drive levers crumbled after a couple of years.

These are all niggling problems to me because I do the repairs myself. I've always managed to figure a way to mow even when it is broken. On the other hand, if I had to take it in for repair every time, I would probably be pretty unahppy. I'm sure I've spent enough to buy a new one and my wife mentions that every time it breaks. I just hate to get rid of it when the engine and deck are working so well.

I'll probably consider Toro and Snapper whenever I break down and decide to replace it.

How well does this mower work on a lawn that has it's share of small twigs and branches. I know you should always clear the lawn before cutting but do you have to be extra careful as I have read in other reviews that the crankshaft can be easily damaged or bent from cutting through these small obstacles. Thanks for your time.

I've got a Honda that I use for commercial purposes and it a solid, albeit slow mower. Nothing beats it for shear quality of cut and leaf shredding. I would not hesitate to purchase another one solely for the purposes stated above. It goes through wheels and it is not as ergo friendly as Toro.

C.

This mower is 190cc instead of 160cc like the other Hondas. How useful or important is that in everyday use, say for longer 4"+ grass?

While I'm thinking of it, this is supposed to be a 4-in-one mower that mulches leaves. What is it about the mower that makes mulching possible, and how well does it work?

While I'm thinking of it, this is supposed to be a 4-in-one mower that mulches leaves. What is it about the mower that makes leaf mulching possible, and how well does it work?

I'm looking at the Honda HRX217K4HYA with the hydrostatic tranny. Is that yours? The only thing that concerns me is something you mentioned about yours. I currently have a 2009 commercial Honda mower that in my opinion leaves far too many stragglers (random single blades of grass) behind. It too has the twin blade system. I thought maybe it was the deck design or possibly a defect underneath, but you're saying the nexite deck does it too. Mine is the stamped steel high dome deck that looks much like the nexite one. I've tried an Oregon brand gator type blade. Also, I've used an adapter provided to me by Honda in place of the upper blade - still using the Honda hi-lift blade on the bottom, but it still does the same thing. Many of the uncut grass blades show up the next day. Its as if they are being blown down, because many of them appear to be bent. Honda denies any problems or issues. It just seems a $1200 mower should leave behind a lawn that looks like carpet.

I bought a house 25 years ago, a friend recommend I get a craftsman mower, I used it once and my ears were ringing it was so loud, I couldn't get the grass out of the bag, it made a loud bang every time I shut it off. I took it back and got a Honda. Only complaint, the deck wore out before the engine did. I'm on my 3rd Honda now, I read that if you paint motor oil on the deck once a year, it won't rust, they were right, it's about the only maintenance I do on it, it always starts first pull after sitting all winter. Well worth what they cost.