My 216 is up to around 700 lawns, pros: good engine life, good gearbox, 3 speed is an advantage. Cons: have now snapped drive cable blade engage cable, left hand handle bar nut always vibrates loose, it hates cooch lawns, had to bend govener spring to make it rev harder to get through most lawns, fabric catcher gets dirty quickly and blocks airflow not allowing grass to go into catcher. I think its pathetic to call it a commercial mower and not offer a commercial warranty! and I bought mine for au $1350 march 2014 they are $1750 now and I hear the price for exactly the same machine is going up to $1950 in the next month or so, far to expencive!! My next mower will be an after market model.

I am a contract Mower man. I have just bought my 3rd HRU216 second hand self propelled mower on line. The 1st 2 have been fantastic. They do an awful lot of work. The only negative I have is the chute opening. As others have said it could be widened to prevent clogging. Lets hope the 3rd second hand model is ok.

Brought the Honda 216 for my business, 4 months later needed a new gear box then 2 months later the new gear box broke again, to heavy when catcher is full, not worth the money, may as we'll just buy a push Honda

Have a commercial business and always use honda gear however very disappointed in my recently bought 216 gearbox broke within ten months. Think catcher size/weight when full is too much for it bad design and poor quality control

Have had 7 Honda 216 models and the old ones were tougher than the modern (post ohs gear )
Have always had problems with Shute blocking up with clover or long paspalum . Have had three handles snap, am constantly replacing the discs, also no good support from Honda company or retailer.
Am trying the new kubota professional self propelled, as Newcastle council and some mid coast contractors have switched

Have had my new HR216 Honda Lawnmower for a few months and very disappointed in the design and quality. Not only is it heavy and noisy (for a Honda), today after only starting it about 6 to 8 times since new, the starter cord shredded and broke. This is caused by a very poor quality cord dragging over a sharp plastic edge in the recoil unit as it exits the housing. This must be common with this model, as it will continue to happen unless honda redesign and replace the recoil unit and cords on this mower. I have written to Honda, so it will be interesting to see their reply.

Recently we traded our old Honda mower HRU19D, for a new HRR216PKUA lawn mower, as we never had any problems with the old one which made mowing easy.
What a HUGE let down for us. The new one is heavy and hard to push and the bag catcher is absolutely useless. My wife can no longer mow (which she likes to do) as she suffers from asthma and the constant dust through the bag sets her off.
The distance between cutting heights is a FAIL and the overall experience is terrible. We wish we had kept our old mower instead of wasting our money on this one.
Disappointed (VERY)

Mine came with the round I bought and is about 10 years old. I am impressed that it still starts first time but performance in the wet is poor (and as a contractor can't wait for sunnier days). It clogs up regularly (so what commercial mowers do have unobstructed chutes?). Length of the handle is a problem as is the lack of camlocks for folding the handle (takes forever each time it goes in or out of the van).

Bought 216m2, starts 1st time, feels strong but its bloody heavy for someone who uses it daily, shute gets clogged a bit and the spring on the self propelled cable twists itself around and jams the self propelled to open occasionally.revs feel slightly low (around 2900-3000) and feels like at $1650 it could be a bit more powerful . Not sure Ive made the right choice but time will tell.

Bought new $1550.00. Powerful engine, starts easily and pretty robust.
Mulch attachment was $50 and doesn't even fit properly, really heavy although I'd rather heavy and lasts long than light and falls apart.
Only had it 2 months so time will tell if buying a honda self propelled was worth it.
power, easy start, tough
heavy, mulch attachment doesn't fit properly for $50,

I am a average sized female in late fifties with a big lawn of verdant buffalo grass and I haven't looked back since purchasing this beauty. So easy to start, cruises through the thick buffalo and even though it is heavy once you perfect the technique for turning it, no problems.
It has turned our yard into a beautiful lawn wheres our previous mower just got stuck in the buffalo and made an awful mess.
Was sold a Husqavarna self propelled but it wouldnt even move in the buffalo so got my money back, bit the bullet, paid the extra and havent looked back :)
Reliable, easy to start, cruises through buffalo
Heavy, but okay with the right turning technique.

Fantastic lawnmower, much better then any other mower we have had previously. Great for larger lawns i.e. 0.5 to 1 acre. Love that's it self propelled, starts first time and can cut through pretty much any type of lawn/grass effortlessly. Comes with 4 yr warranty. Mulch and catcher works really well.
cuts well and efficiently, powerful engine, starts first time
nothing really, just that is it a heavy machine

All though warrant says 2years commercial by salesman, its for motor only, I have brought two gear box lasted less than 6 months on both, chasis has cracked on one chasis warranty 6mths, A commercial mower, WHAT EVER.
This mower or warranty seriously needs to be reviewed by manufacturer Honda Australia
Went well for about 6 weeks
Alll moving parts cables breaking wheels collapsing

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.