Honda to exit lawn mower market

[HJ99]

Its about a more profitable use for the factory. They are going to repurpose it to make four wheeler type stuff. Anyway I suspect you will see Hondas back in mower market, but probably out of a factory in some third world country. And lot of engines will come from China. The engine is the main thing for any mower. So sure there will be plenty companies selling mowers with Honda engine or Honda-clone engine. Some of clones are pretty good. I doubt they will last 30 year like the older Japanese made Honda engines, but still....

[dcfas]

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

I have the Honda HRX 201-CC and love it. The deck is literally one solid piece of steel, not aluminum or another alloy piece of crap. I can't imagine it would fall apart at all, if in the next 10 years.

The engine starts immediately and it cuts like a champion. If I maintain it well I imagine I can get at least 10 years out of it.

Ditto. Good mower. I only use non-ethanol gas, and the carb has been no problem at all. Issues? The front end is a tad light and it doesn’t “vacuum” as well as I would like. Other than that it’s nearly flawless. I’ve had it for about six years.

[GearHeadDave]

Originally Posted by oceangaia

I don't have any numbers to support or refute this but my sense is fewer and fewer people are mowing the yard themselves. When I was growing up, we lived in a solid middle class neighborhood and there was almost never a lawn mowing company seen. Lawns were mowed by the occupants or the teenager down the street. Everyone had a mower in the garage. In my current neighborhood, there's only a few homeowners mowing their own yard and I know many people who don't own a mower.

In my area I'd say 2 out of 10 have a lawn service, and that's because those people have mobility issues or are simply too decrepit to get out there and mow. Everyone else mows their own grass, most of the lawns are 1/2 - 1 acre or so, the majority use lawn tractors or zero turns.

But no doubt that more people use lawn services these days, 20 or 30 years ago it would have been 0 out of 10.

[ChiGuy2.5]

Originally Posted by dcfas

Ditto. Good mower. I only use non-ethanol gas, and the carb has been no problem at all. Issues? The front end is a tad light and it doesn’t “vacuum” as well as I would like. Other than that it’s nearly flawless. I’ve had it for about six years.

If you're using the bag it does become very back heavy. It will tilt and fall backwards, lol. But overall I love it. I don't have the same issue with the vacuum effect. I just did my lawn yesterday and it sucks up and mulches the leaves like a boss. One suggestion I have is to check is if the "bag --> mulch" slider is blocked. I had a stick stuck in the sliding door of the deck that changes between the two. Try checking that.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by terracore

I have a Honda mower. The engine starts right up, but after two years the deck had literally started to disintegrate to the point there was nothing solid to affix the wheels to. I was able to rig it to mow another year but a mower with a 3 year obsolescence is ridiculous. The "tread" on the plastic wheels were completely smooth and getting useless. My dad's push mower of 30 years still has the original wheels and tread on them.

Almost forgot to mention, the mower was supposed to be ready to use straight from the box after adding oil and gas. One of the wheels fell off in under 1 minute.

The box had a big American flag with the words "Made in the USA, from domestic and imported components".

There were other problems. Many of them (like self propelled feature). All downstream from the engine.

Good engine, crap mower. I'm not surprised to see them exit their market that they destroyed with their own products.

I have had nothing but Honda mowers. First one lasted me 10 years. Second one I had for 10 years, but I sold as a working but needs TLC mower. Actually I gave it away to a neighbor that needed a mower. He is still using it. Current model is one of the higher end ones, and I love it. I have never had a deck fall apart in any sense. I rinse my mower after every use so perhaps that helps, I don't know. But my decks were rock solid. Wheels never failed. The 2nd one had an issue with the speed, and I had taken it to the shop twice and did not want to keep messing with it, so I got a new one. This one has had zero issues. I'm sorry to see Honda exit the market.

[dcfas]

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

If you're using the bag it does become very back heavy. It will tilt and fall backwards, lol. But overall I love it. I don't have the same issue with the vacuum effect. I just did my lawn yesterday and it sucks up and mulches the leaves like a boss. One suggestion I have is to check is if the "bag --> mulch" slider is blocked. I had a stick stuck in the sliding door of the deck that changes between the two. Try checking that.

Will do, thanks.

[LoriNJ]

Originally Posted by GearHeadDave

Used to work for a Japanese automaker as an engineer. It is not surprising that Honda failed in the gas mower business - realize that their chief engineers live on a rock in the Pacific where mowing grass like we do here in North America is a baffling exercise.

Funny you should say that. I have really liked my Honda self-propelled mowers. They start right up and handle the uneven terrain in my large yard. But they are a giant pain to pull backwards. It's like dragging an 80-pound bag of cement backwards. I said to my husband that I suspect the Japanese think we mow our lawns going endlessly forward, never backward.

[NJ2MDdude]

I understand Honda will continue to produce and sell gas operated lawn mowers, just not in the US.

https://www.rurallifestyledealer.com...n-mower-market

Honda has confirmed they will continue producing lawnmowers at their facility in France.