"When I grow up I want a Honda mower." I get that all the time, people come into
Carl's and they want a Honda but they're always stuck with one question well
which one should I buy? Right? So, today I'm gonna go over the basic differences
between the HRN and the HRX so this is Honda's premium series the HRX and the
HRN is kind of their introductory basic series, although nothing about a Honda
mowers are basic. So either way you go you're gonna be happy you got a
Honda mower but we got to make sure that we get you the right Honda mower for
your lawn and for your application so let's start at the front I think it's
really easy when we get down here and we start at the front end and look
at the mower side-by-side so if we go to the wheels
very obvious we've got an 8-inch wheel here on the HRN and we've got a 9-inch
wheel on the HRX what's the benefit of a nine-inch wheel versus an 8-inch wheel
right it's bigger well the benefit is it's gonna be smoother rolling on a
rougher long so if I have some undulations or some roughness to my lawn
that 9 inch wheel is going to prove beneficial we also have a a rubber tire
on the HRX versus a plastic over molded wheel very common most brands use that
style but this rubber tire is just gonna be a smoother more premium feel
and on the HRX we have bearings in the wheels all the way around verses a wheel
on a shoulder bolt the height adjusters are built into the mower deck on this
where is on the hrn it is an add-on bolted on frame now one thing about the
HRN that's pretty awesome is it is a single point height adjuster you see
that moving both wheels on the front end as well as the rear end on the HRX they
are independent benefit of the single point super easy right
reach over front end up and down I didn't know I can do that that easy I
must be working out or something a benefit of a four-point height of cut
adjuster like is on the HRX is if one breaks you're not hooped right
if this broke and I'm mowing the lawn all of a sudden this front ends gonna
dive down I'm gonna scalp the whole lawn I can't finish mowing the lawn not
likely that it'll break but if it broke if this one broke in this wheel's all
cattywampus you can still know the lawn without it
looking horrible so advantage disadvantage sort of thing then we go
into the mower deck this is steel this is a product called neck sight plastic
right Oh plastic it scares everybody let's be
honest people what in our lives isn't plastic bumpers on trucks are plastic
cars have plastic panels on plastics very durable done right yes there's
cheap plastics that break that go bad but this next side deck which Honda's
been using for about 20 years now super durable you're never gonna rust it
out right it's also not it's not gonna get corrosion underneath and cause stick
points for the grass so it stays smoother longer the paint stays on it so
the deck steel deck a little cheaper to build actually plastic neck site plastic
deck longer life more durable will not rust out then we go to the engine we
have a hundred and seventy CC engine on the hrn versus a 200 cc engine on the
hrx advantage larger engine gonna have more power get it cut the lawn quicker
better in a bag or mulch better alright one of my favorite features is the versa
mow so most mowers you're either gonna bag
or mulch or throw it out the side and you're gonna do all of them 100% so I'm
gonna bag a hundred percent I'm gonna mulch 100 percent or I'm gonna throw it
out the side a hundred percent with this versa mow I can incrementally close this
opening off so as I move this green lever right here it has ten notches I
can start close using that sliding door you'll see that
black piece in the in the back there now what does that do so let me talk about
my lawn I bagged my lawn advantage of a bagged lawn in March and April and May
is we're picking up all that wet grass that may be not gonna compost down as
quickly as it should I like mulching but in wet Whatcom
County mulching is not always the right answer with the versa mow and the
ability to incrementally change how much I am bagging or mulching I can actually
start mulching in May and move it further closed as the season goes on or
if I get a wet week I can open that back up and put all my grass into the bag so
May comes around and I've been bagging all year and it's time to start mulching
I might go three or four notches closed and I'll start up my mower and I'll
start mowing the lawn and I look down and I see grass I don't want to see
grass when I'm mowing the lawn I don't want my kids tracking it I don't want my
dog tracking it in and I don't want my neighbors looking across the street
saying that guy sells mowers what's going on so I might open this back up a
notch or two and I start mowing and it's perfect now do I even care if I'm all to
benefits of having that thing partially closed is I'm feeding my lawn right the
advantage of mulch is the fertilizer aspect the water aspect the compost pile
or the disposal of the clippings do I have room for a compost pile in my yard
or am i paying to have it hauled away every week so I want to mulch but I may
not be able to mulch with this versa mow I can totally adjust my cut finish based
on the action of that door now the hrn one lever here I mean everything is
going in it's wide open or I'm mulching it's all
the way closed there's no in-between all Honda's have this really slick flip this
lever up and I can fold it for transport a storage right got to fit it in my
garden shed the HRN has two heights of handle settings how tall am I the HRX
has three so a little bit more range not a big thing but but something that's
gonna maybe make it a little more comfortable for you
the HRN has a smaller capacity for the bag so I might be able to do 10 rows 10
swaths with the HRX and I might only be able to do 8 with the HRN downtime
right if I'm empty in the bag it means I'm not mowing as as much and that means
it's gonna take me longer to mow my lawn
and then on the top end controls so the HRN has the Smartdrive on it which I
can adjust to fit my comfort right here and the way it operates is the further I
push the faster it goes works really awesome but it seems to be a little more
fatiguing on the hands and also potentially because of the downward
motion if I have a rough lon I may actually end up accentuating it
based on the way I'm holding that with the Select Drive over here because of
the squeeze that's happening I'm less likely to get that accentuation also
just a more normal relaxed position to operate from because I have this
reference bar that I'm holding on to so the HRN with the smartdrive fully
adjustable as well as the HRX with the select drive again fully adjustable just
a little more comfortable one last point that these mowers have in common is the
twin blade design so if I flip this Honda over on its side this is the HRN
here you'll see I have two blades okay a little scary how am I going to sharpen
that don't worry no big deal if I take these two bolts out I have two separate
blades the advantage of the twin blade design
is my grass is that long and the top blade which is actually leading the way
cuts off the top half of the grass and the lower blade cuts off the bottom half
advantage of that is smaller clippings that are going to transport easier to
the mower bag or if I'm in a mulching situation they're going to be chopped up
finer so they hide better in the turf it also tends to take less power and give
you a cleaner cut so recapping the basic differences between the HRN and the HRX
we're looking at a wheel and tire size difference a nine-inch versus an 8-inch
the next site versus steel deck which will not rust out a 200cc engine versus
a hundred and seventy cc engine the Versa mow which allows you to incremental
e choose how much I want to bag or mulch versus this 100% selector a larger bag a
little more functionality or adjustability and the handle height and
then a difference in the drive so stopping at Carl's Mower and Saw and let
us help you find the perfect Honda mower for your lawn