First and last Honda mower

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: ram_man
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Huh? You hit a stump with it. That would kill just about any mower. I wouldn't blame Honda for lack of maintenance and operator error.


Lack of maintenance are you serious? This thing has been garage kept always washed off oil changed air filters blah blah blah. It has been a pile from day one. First the carb had to be redone after sitting all winter even though I winterized it like Honda said. Then it had a gasket with in the carburetor fail then the self propell had issues then the auto choke thing. Then this. It's been babied. Yes a stump is not an ideal thing but we are talking a very small stump and it caught the edge of it other mowers have hit it in the past and my neighbor has slammed his into several stumps this one time and it breaks .... A lawn mower should be designed to take a certain amount of neglect . Like running on month old fuel and such. This thing is the pickiest lawn mower I've ever seen and most delicate. Never in my life were any of our Briggs this delicate.


Stabilized gas or not? Running un-stabilized month-old gas in a mower is a recipe for a poor-running machine.

And, you have to be kidding that it's loud. The GX160 on my tiller is far quieter than the B&S on my rider and the Tecumseh/Lauson on my snowblower. I've also had the pleasure of using a Honda push mower at a relative's lake house. Quietest mower I've ever used.

 

[Hokiefyd]

The stump was probably hit "just right" to do that kind of damage. It's sort of like a car accident and damage sustained. It's hard to truly replicate every possible accident out there, and sometimes you just get unlucky in the exact way the car was hit (in terms of damage sustained).

I have heard that the Honda carburetors are sensitive to dirt. I own two and I've never experienced it myself, but I've read that it can happen. My two Honda engines were made in 2001 and 2004, so mine are at least 10 years old. The 2001 model is a GXV140 (commerical engine) and the 2004 model is a GCV160 (residential engine). The commercial engine certainly seems to be a more robust design, but that's to be expected. I haven't hit an obstacle with either one of them, so I can't comment on their durability in that regard.

I have found them to be very quiet. If yours was that loud, it may have needed a governor adjustment or something. If it was running too fast, that could have been a contributing factor in the damage when it hit the stump.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

You hit a stump with it. Not surprised that the crankshaft bent. My mom hit a pipe with the mower back in 2007 and bent the crankshaft. We used it up until 2012. Vibrated like crazy but it worked.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: Clubber_Lang
I have a rather dumb question on this topic:
As i was breaking in my mower (Honda) i was mowing some extremely tall grass and stalled out about 10-15 times, no fault of the mower. How hard on the internals was this super severe break in?


I think you might have done the engine a favor.... Varying RPM's, full loads on the piston rings while not at high RPM's. Don't forget to change out the factory fill after 5 hours usage.

 

[rjundi]

Hit any stump just right you'll wreck the mower. Nothing specific to brand.

If you know the stump is there as evidenced by what you are saying why not dig it up or avoid it?

 

[jeepman3071]

I wouldn't buy a Honda self-propelled mower for other reasons. Their transmissions do not last long and are very complex/expensive to fix. The motors are great though, and if you get a plain old push mower with a Honda engine they will last awhile.

I don't think the mower is to blame though. It can really happen to any mower, which means if you have a lot of stumps you are better off buying a cheaper mower. A guy brought me an almost brand new Husqvarna mower about a month ago. His third time using it he hit a stump and bent the crankshaft. So basically after the third time he used his brand new expensive mower, it was worthless. I ended up finding him a used engine to put on it, but now the mower has to run for a very long time to offset the cost of both the initial purchase price and the used engine.

 

[ram_man]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Hit any stump just right you'll wreck the mower. Nothing specific to brand.

If you know the stump is there as evidenced by what you are saying why not dig it up or avoid it?


It's only about an inch high and I've never been dumb enough to hit it before after this I will be removing it. And I realize this could happen to any mower but the lawn mower over all seems very sensitive and petite.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: ram_man


It's only about an inch high and I've never been dumb enough to hit it before after this I will be removing it. And I realize this could happen to any mower but the lawn mower over all seems very sensitive and petite.


Unfortunately it seems the newer consumer mowers are all pieces of junk. I know there are some on here who will say "well, you get what you pay for, buy a commercial one" but spending $600-$800 on a PUSH MOWER is a bit insane in my opinion. I've had good luck using older stuff. My current mower is a 2008 Toro Recycler mower and it works pretty good. It's fairly well built and seems to be holding up. The newer Toro Recyclers from Home Depot are junk. The decks are paper thin. I did an oil change/blade sharpening on one and when you push it over the grass you can actually see the deck flex.

Whenever someone needs a mower I always recommend reconditioning an older model. This has been very successful so far. My cousin just bought his first house and needed a mower. I found a Toro Recycler aluminum deck with self propel on craigslist with a seized engine. I repainted the deck, put on a used but almost new engine, new blade, belt, oil, and its ready to last 20 years.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: ram_man
So about a year ago I bought a Honda lawn mower in that times it's had a couple carburetor issue and today I hit a small stump and it killed the engine and bent the crank shaft...


That's the problem with purchasing a high-end ~21" push mower. Mow something un-mowable with that $1000 mower and the crankshaft will bend just like it will on a $150 "cheap" one.

The only exception would be an expensive commercial grade unit that actually has crankshaft support, or a blade that spins on it's own spindle like a Sarlo or the likes.

 

[ram_man]

Well I was able to bend the crank shady straight it's actually running ok again. For how long who knows but it's running.

 

[xxch4osxx]

Originally Posted By: ram_man
Well I was able to bend the crank shady straight it's actually running ok again. For how long who knows but it's running.
How did you bend it back?

 

[ram_man]

Not sure why my previous post said "shady" auto correct at its best.
And I used a pipe and me standing on said pipe and a hammer of course seemed to have worked. I just need it to finish the season. I am curious to see how long it'll last now.

 

[vintagegz]

My 1987 Honda 173 mower still starts first pull, replaced the plug once, change oil every year, plastic case so no rust, love it. 1986 Honda 35 snowblower was needing new paddles ( replaced them once ) and they were getting expensive, got a new one last year. Great products.

 

[Climb14er]

My Honda OHC 160 three years old runs like a top. Smooth, fast and powerful.

I run 10W-30 dino, whatever is on sale. Sometimes I mix one leftover oil with a different oil, same weight. Never a problem... not one hiccup.

Honda rocks!

BTW... my twenty five year old Toro 5.0 still runs fine. Leaking some oil and runs on 10W-30 HM dino.

These good mowers... they don't need pampering. Just good oil... now and then.

 

[Cujet]

I've straightened my Kawasaki powered Snapper mower crank 3 times now. (rough yard) This last time, I had to replace the blade, as that was causing the vibration even after the crank was down to 0.004 inches runout.

Problem is, the mower has developed a "knock" and does not make rated power anymore. Something is internally wrong..... Oh well.

 

[yeehaw1960]

When I hear the words bent shaft, for some reason, I think about Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. My standard "bent shaft" answer is:

Clamp off gas or turn off shut off valve. Run engine out of gas if possible. Remove the air filter. On a Honda, I remove the oil too. Remove the plug and tie off the stop cable (dummy) bar so the engine will turn over easily.
Turn mower on its side with the muffler up.
Remove blade and blade mount.
Pull rope to see which way the shaft is bent. I tie a string on one corner of the frame and run it near the shaft to the opposite corner (poor man's dial indicator).
Strike (with authority ONCE) on the high side and pull the rope again.
Repeat until shaft is as straight as you can get it. You will absolutely have to settle for "good enough". Sometimes whacking a stump or the process of straightening the shaft will cost you the bottom crankshaft seal--easy fix.
Put Blade mount back on (may have to grind/file out the keyway a little after beating on the shaft). Put on new blade or sharpen the old one (if it isn't bent).
If it won't start or pulls back on the rope when trying to start it, the flywheel key is probably sheared. Let us know how it goes. It will never be perfect again, but it might go from exorcist to mild vibration.
NEVER EVER EVER heat the shaft to bend it back into shape...something to do with temper and danger of shaft shattering or worse. I guess unless you're a blacksmith or machinist who can assess the actual risk.
And they all lived happily ever after!

 

[chiefsfan1]

Originally Posted By: ram_man
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Hit any stump just right you'll wreck the mower. Nothing specific to brand.

If you know the stump is there as evidenced by what you are saying why not dig it up or avoid it?


It's only about an inch high and I've never been dumb enough to hit it before after this I will be removing it. And I realize this could happen to any mower but the lawn mower over all seems very sensitive and petite.


if the stump is only a inch high how LOW are you mowing??????? I have a Honda that is 12 years old no issues, mow at 3-3.5 inches.

 

[Tdbo]

If you are going to mow stumps, a Honda does not provide good value.
Best to go to Wal Mart for its replacement.