Have been using a HRU216M1 for three years, as a professional, and it is still going strong. Just bought my second machine (the K2). Only repairs have been with areas where you would expect wear & tear, like the drive shaft to the gear box. Clogging of shute only occurs where grass is extremely thick and wet, and would be expected.
Works for me.
Nothing.

I help an elderly widow out around her yard and have done so for over 25 years. Her yard is over 2.5 acres but it has too many trees to use a ride-on. She bought one of these time wasters in 2008 because we were told it would cut the mowing time by about 1/3. This piece of rubbish chokes at long grass, thick grass, wet grass & dust- which sums up their yard completely. I have a 30+ year old 2 stroke Victa which runs rings around it. If she had the money & I had the time, I'd throw it & get something to do the job a lot easier.
easy start, good size catcher, self propel function
chute clogs too easily, engine cuts out as soon as the going gets tough, self propel function could be faster, hard to restart when hot

Terrible mower. Don't buy thisd mower just because it is a Honda thinking it will be the best on the market. There are major design floors which will have it back in the workshop and still not fixed. I strongly recommend you consider other brands e.g. John Deer, Rover etc.
Starts first time
1. Does not cut properly. Lawn cuttings jam in shute to the bag. 2. Second arm on handl to engage the blades breaks and is a know design fault. 3. Periodically have trouble shutting off the mower.

This is a great machine, i have a decent size yard with 2 moderate slopes and one nasty slope and i couldnt do it with out this mower. One pull to start is awesome. Forget how dear it is, i believe you get what you pay for, you buy rubbish itll be rubbish, buy the best itll perform the best, and thats what ive done.
In saying that i do find it a bit heavy to work with but not unmanageable and its definaltly a bit underpowered, she does bog down a fair bit, wet or dry grass but again its not unmanageable. The only thing i cant figure out is how to put in is the mulching plug.
Terrific mower over all, glad i bought it
Self propelled, Good on fuel, quality, easy to use, Honda
Tad heavy, a little underpowered

the gearbox in the new 216s are not tough as the old ones,the rear wheels wear to quicklythe cutting deck levels a diffrent,use 4 high lift blades you will find it will mow wet grass,the new bigger bags are a plus but perhaps there putting to much wieght on the gearbox.

I purchased this machine nearly 12 months ago for use within my gardening business, and although it came with a significant price tag I have not regretted the outlay one bit.

If you are doing a large lawn, or simply a lot of them then this self propelled mower is a must. Very strong 5.5HP motor and a respectable 1.5litre fuel tank will see you through the day even if you get tired it will do the work as long as you steer.

Quality of cut is excellent and the suction is amazing,leaf litter is easily picked up. Three gears to choose from to...

Poor service from Honda on faulty 3 speed gearbox.Gearbox has failed and Honda will not repair the problem but did fix friends mower bought on same day and had same gearbox failure.
Starts easy
Gearbox has failed after very little use and Honda will not fix it

Very frustrating mower,chute is a major fault,also very heavy.Safety handle useless,everyone I know straps them.7year old hru 195 runs rings around it.Good motor and pretty to look at but very restricted in its uses.Not happy and would love to meet who field tested this model because they need to be told.
Motor, solid deck
Heavy, expensive, safety handle, chute is a shocker

Heavy, expensive, good on buffalo grass only, useless on wet long grass, even worse if lawn is full of clover.

Good for domestic use if you have large yard and cut the grass every week or two and don't let it get over 10cm or infested with clover and other weeds... Then it is a good machine, expensive but good. Oh but if the grass is Kikuyu and wet don't bother with the catcher it will clog every 6-8 meters you cut.

Grass chute is too narrow, poor catcher /bagging performance on anything but short buffalo lawn.
At least it is self prop...

I wrote a previous review on this mower which commented on its inability to move all the clippings into the grass catcher, and the frequent blocking of the chute which wasted much time and caused immense irritation. Since then, a closer examination of the underside of the Honda has revealed why this happens, and also the solution. Dealers incidentally, had no idea about this. Supposedly, the mulching action is enabled by placing the mulching plug into the chute, by implication, taking it out disables it. In reality, mulching is largely enabled ...

Bought this beast 14 Months ago after a lot of break downs and frustration with another well known brand with similar spec's(also brand new). The Honda is probably by far the most expensive of the walk behinds but in hindsight is worth every penny (cent) I appreciate properly designed and engineered equipment and this unit ticks all the boxes, I could write a novel about it but suffice to say when/if this one wears out it will be replaced with another Honda and I promise not to complain about the price.
Well designed and engineered

Have run a gardening business and work or local councils for over ten years. This is what the professionals use. And its for a good reason. They are the best by far!
Power, reliable, still have my original one from ten years ago
Don't like the new bag catcher as much but getting used to it.

I bought this mower as a job lot with some other lawn care gear when setting up my business. At the time I was using a trusty victa 2 stroke for push mow jobs. The advice when I bought the gear was that the mower was nearly knackered after more than 5 years of commercial use, but might be handy as a spare. The only pull - fest I had was first time I tried to start it, until I realised the fuel tank was bone dry! Cuts well, labours on wet grass and it does clog up - but still better than anything else I've used. It does catch pretty well, e...

Overall for the price...we paid $1,399.00, we are very very happy with our Honda mower. We did a bit of research first and initially we weren't looking at buying a Honda until a couple of stockists of other brand mowers actually told us that Honda would be a better option for a small acreage property. We no longer wanted the big ride-on mower for our new home, but we wanted something reliable and easy to use, which also does a great job and I can say thast after 12months of owning this Honda HRU216 SU (Buffalo Classic) we have no complaints rea...

Good strong engine (unlike the Honda GXV530 in my ride-on mower which exploded prematurely despite regular maintenance) and solid heavy deck. Gearbox still works but needs a push to get it moving in 2nd and 3rd gear but once it is moving it keeps driving all by itself. Large catcher is a bit of a waste when it only fills half of it before the chute (which is only half the width of the rear opening) gets clogged.
If I were buying another mower now I would get the Kawasaki engine on a Proscape or Bushranger base as they are better packages a...

I bought one after getting a new hip fitted. I lost a lot of my strength due to inactivity during that period and have a fairly large grass area in western Brisbane, many trees and steepish slopes. In addition, after the long drought it's impossible to get a sober lawn mower guy. With the old machine I was able only to do a part of the lawn each day and I had to psych myself into getting off the couch and doing the lawns. This one did it in an afternoon and took only two hours.

The really good part is on the steepest slopes I found myself w...

Great mower but I have had three of these and found one if used in sandy based areas main housing wears out replacement 500 dollars and if u accidently use premium unleaded motor will over heat and seize another 600 dollars but cant find another to replace it so I stick to Honda till I find better
Great when working
Prob average25 hours a week have to change blades every 4 days which is costly and dealer says change oil weekly so it all adds up

Awesome quality
Awesome build
Awesome reliability

Mines around 8 years old and has been used commercially and is still Perfect and had no repairs except for Throttle cable replaced

Would def recommend this Honda Quality mower
So easy to startReliableExcellent on fuel
Nothing to dislike