OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Other Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Self propelled Honda

A mate of mine just rang and his self propelled Honda now fails to proceed. It is one of those commercial heavy duty ones with a 3 speed gearbox.He believes it is a 19 inch cut. Motor type is HRU216D. Until I get it to pull it apart I'm only guessing,but does anybody know if anything in particular fails in the gearbox and if any parts are available for them. Thanks Norm

yes parts available Norm, though being Honda often not cheap.
there are a couple of parts that give up in the s/p and a good Honda dealer will know and be able to supply the right bits, can be tricky to fit.

G'day Norm,

You might want to run searches on a couple of the Oz 'lawnie' forums - seems that cable adjustment is a common cause, but that the gearboxes can fail too.

I'd suggest:
http://www.indmowing.com.au/forum
http://lawnclub.com.au/forum

If the site won't let a 'guest' run a search, it can be done via Google - '216 site:lawnclub.com.au/forum' as an example search term, without the quotes.

And gearboxes are available, but not real cheap - typical of contractor grade gear. Around $260 from the ODK Shop. Dunno about internal parts for those.

Thanks for that Squizzy and Gadge, it was working fine and then five minutes later it didn't, so could be an adjustment on the cable. Thanks again I'll have to wait till he brings it over so I can get a better idea

Pulled the gearbox out and now I think it was just cable adjustment ah well such is life, once again Gadge was right

I wrong again, shear pin on the drive shaft had broken

No worries; just a case of 'always check the simple things first', and the cable adjustment is a common issue.

Not the way I seem to do things Gadge, I seem to go for the hard things and then work my way back to the simple things.

had 2 or three with broken shear pins too . if they keep driving they put them against a kerb or fence , so imagine why they break huh ....... lucky its all it was as a gearbox is pricey !

Has anybody pulled one of these gearboxes apart, is there any clutch mechanism in there or is it just gears which are selected, then the drive shaft somehow locked up to make it drive?

Haven't had one apart, but from the only online IPL I can find, there is an internal dog clutch, operated by a separate cable and lever to the gearshift. It acts on the main bevel gear. The gear setup is conventional constant-mesh, as in a motorcycle gearbox.

Honda Indonesia IPL 5.7MB PDF is HERE Around page 44.

Thanks Gadge

Ok so about a month ago I put a new aftermarket (China, what else)gearbox in my mates mower. A couple of weeks ago he brought it back because it needed new rear drive wheels, he didn't think it needed them when I put the gearbox in. So I put a new set of wheels on it and he has now brought it back again saying it wouldn't drive. I put it up on the bench and I saw that both rear wheels had been split in the hubs. I ordered a new set of wheels and put them on only to discover that all 3 drive gears have been stripped. Some people know how to abuse machines, and I having a hard time trying to convince him that it is not the fact the parts are made in China. Some people never learn and I'm not going to waste my time fixing it for him to smash it again. I have done that with his motor bikes for years, but not any more.

welcome to contractors world . they dont listen and its our fault if it breaks again , wait till he breaks the blade active cable hahaha then he will complain

Ok so I gave in, mate bought another gearbox, because the add said "genuine Honda" it came wrapped an old blower box, so my suspicions were raised immediately and then when I discovered the 2 holes that hold the shifter cable bracket on had not been tapped, pretty much a dead give away that Mr Honda had not put his stamp of approval on it. Anyway I have fitted it and we will see how long this one lasts. I split the old box but I wasn't able to see any visible damage. I have a feeling that the drive pinion may be the cause, not meshing with the crown wheel enough. Not enough time or interest to be bothered putting it back together

Honda drive system always fails
pita to remove and repair you would think having made them for so long in the same basic design Honda would come up with better design
a simple pto and chain to drive dogs in wheels like the old masports were far better and simple to repair
when Hondas came in for repair we just changed out the gear box or sold them another mower the hours involved don't pay enough

Freebird, I have had this one apart a few times now so I put it back together with velcro because I know it will be back again. I know what you mean, from memory the first time I pulled it took about 3 hours, all the screws and bolts were so rusted and some very difficult to get to

Ok so now I'm looking for a way of salvaging my mates 2 Honda no longer self propelled. The replacement gearboxes are rubbish, I have fitted 2 and they just don't last, and he wants me to see if I can fit the Honda motors on another self propelled base that does not have gearboxes or something with a good gearbox The Ariens with its disc type drive would be good but these are rare on the ground. He knows a Jims man who now only uses a Honda push mower and the Jims man who does our lawn has done the same, obviously the word is out in the lawn mowing community that the Honda self propelled are not up to the task. Anything else spring to mind, it is a pity because as we know the motors are so good

There is a Toro on ebay at the moment, does anybody know what drive is in these and is it any good?

This is the mower on ebay, does anybody have any info on the drive mechanism on them and if so are they robust?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toro-Mower-Not-Currently-Working/253417810364

Ok so does anybody have any thoughts on what is a good self propelled mower for commercial use?

I believe they are the more simple and rugged type with easy access to components. There was another brand discussed here a while ago from the USA that isn't sold here anymore.

The Ariens is a very good simple drive system but as with many of these US machines they are few on the ground here An Ariens with a Honda motor would be the best of both worlds

My mates mower shop is pushing the Rover as the best at the moment, anybody have any practical experience with these?

Ok so I have now come to the conclusion that there is not a readily available decent self propelled mower available in Aus that has a rugged drive system suitable for Aus conditions. Sad isn't it, we have become a country that is dished up junk in everything we can now buy.

Hi I have an old 21" Snapper. No trouble with the drive other replacing belts and the idler pulley. Its very old, worn out a couple of engines but still going strong.

All the best
Jeff

Thanks Jeff but there is the other problem Briggs motors, my mate would not touch one with a barge pole and I think the only place you can get them is from Adelaide so that makes it hard to convince anybody in other states to think about them, same goes with the Ariens. Snapper with a Honda would be good that is not going to happen so it looks like there is nothing available in Aus

Another disturbing bit about the Snapper mower that I read in their advertising is the these mowers can last up to twice as long as a regular mower, I'm not sure how you can ever come up with that sort of calculation. Pity they are fitted with a Briggs

Hi,

Mine is very old like 70's. It came with the white 3.5 hp Briggs. I replaced that with a Briggs black sprint engine. Ours only gets household use but on a more than double -sized block. The original engine was totally had it, more smoke than a 2 stroke. I still have it. I wonder if I could recondition it.

Al the best
Jeff

Quote from Mowerfreak,

I believe they are the more simple and rugged type with easy access to components. There was another brand discussed here a while ago from the USA that isn't sold here anymore.[/quote]

Ok so there is another Toro on ebay at the moment, does anybody have any further input as to the Toro drive system being any good?