My mate has a 2 speed Honda, gearbox blown up so he has been using it as a push mower but these things are just so heavy, I have to lift them onto my bench with a chain block. Anyway he wants me to see if I can reduce some of the weight on it but my suggestion is to ditch the body and put the motor on a much lighter base. What I am looking for is a 20/21 inch cut base that is well designed and has a good sized catcher. Anybody have any thoughts?
I think the only options for something that big would be a steel base john deere or toro, nothing else is going to be light, thats why damn near all 21's are self propelled... Better option may be find another gearbox?
BB I would need to weld a couple of Beetles together. Nath, my hatred of the Honda gearbox is well documented here, there is junk and then there is the Honda gearbox. I refuse to replace those ever again
Ok so my son dragged this one home, obviously removed from the bulky Honda chassis with a failed gearbox. Downside is it is a big motor but only an 18 inch cut
Gee whiz that looks over engined. At least there is little danger of a leg out of bed with all that torque. Red and yellow doesn't look the most fashionable though.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
I put a 450 ex Sanli Chonda on my Rover Regal 19. Its been good over many years and was easy to do. I had to put it crossways. Shaft did not need any modification. There was some redrilling of the holes in the alloy base. Its still only 19 inch but thats slightly better than 18 inch. But that motor looks even bigger.
That is interesting Jeff, the fact you had to turn it sideways is odd (obviously something was fouling) and in turning it sideways that means the holes would need to be re-drilled
I think the original 4hp Briggs on this base was crossways. Its been that long ago I can not really remember. Anyway it was easy to do. I think I had to file one hole elongated but can not remember how many holes I had to drill. Its at least 10yrs ago but the S/H Chonda still is going strong. I think I would have worn at least one Briggs in that time.
I can't believe (I probably can) the number of these later self propelled Hondas kicking around on Gumtree and Ebay at the moment that have had the gearbox fail and the story is "I think it is a problem with the cable or something" Honda should be ashamed of themselves for selling these with such a dodgey gearbox in them and charging top dollar for them. What do you end up with, a fantastic motor on a body that is too heavy for somebody to use as a push mower.
That is interesting Jeff, the fact you had to turn it sideways is odd (obviously something was fouling) and in turning it sideways that means the holes would need to be re-drilled
Norm, My father services/repairs push mowers. The sheer number of mowers we see come in with "east west engines" is unbelievable lol
Sorry i have nothing of more value to add to this thread.
Wayne it isn't the fact it the motor has been turned east/west, Chonda should bolt on in the normal north/south position on a Rover base. Maybe the 450ex is a bit wider and was fouling on the chute? only thing I can think of.
Hi Norm, I was just thinking about the question at the top of the page,Rover had a nice light 20 inch base with a good size catcher,not sure where you would find one these days,eBay or gumtree probably. Hmmm a 20 inch Rover with a Suzuki motor.
Hi Max, now those bigger Rover bases would be perfect for these Honda motors, my mate is using his HRU215 that had a 2 speed that has finally given up the ghost and he is using that as a push mower, says it gives him a good workout, but the 3 speed one is just too heavy to push. He is using that one gently as I have fitted 2 new boxes to it and I have told him I won't fit another. Now if I could just find a few of those big Rover bases as I am looking for something to put the electric start Honda motor I have here at the moment
Ok so after pondering this problem for over three years, this afternoon I decided to have a crack at solving this problem. Got 2 Tornado bases cut them 25mm off center each side and welded them together giving it a 21 inch cut. At least the base is probably 1/3rd the weight and he will be able to push it. With a blown transmission they are near impossible to push on grass
Hi Tyler, As the base is 50mm wider I will just weld a 25mm strip on each side at the back so the standard Victa catcher fits. I'm aso fitting handles that bolt onto the sides like most other mowers have to get away from the flimsy Victa handle design. Should be a good mower for my mate to use. He will have a complete range of mowers to use. 2 little Victa sidethrow slashers, a Honda 19 push mower, an Ariens 21 inch self propelled and a 2 stroke Victa 24. He also has another 2 speed Honda ( blown tranny) which has a good motor that I think will become an ornament unless he can find a couple of Tornado bases I can chop up. No there is no 17 inch being planned.
