New Lawn Mower: Honda (gas) or Makita (electric)

Hello everyone,
Getting ready to pull the trigger on a new lawn mower. I have it narrowed down to either the Honda or Makita, both are $699.

What say ye?

Thanks in advance,

 

No experience with the makita, but mower prices are insane.

My grandpa got an ego electric mower, and ive noticed it doesnt really ‘vacuum’ the clippings very well. Almost seems like low blade speed. My buddies green power (or whatever) suffers from the same unless he holds the turbo button.

 

Good to know, thanks for the feedback.

 

Went to lowes last year to get a new lawn mower. My neighbor has an electric lawnmower. Salesman talked me into buying an electric lawnmower. Took it home,charged it, made two passes on my front lawn, boxed it back up, drove back to lowes, returned it, bought a Honda gasser.

neighbor now owns a Honda as well.

 

I have switched over to all electric / battery powered lawn tools. I got tired of dealing with cleaning out carbs and the annual maintenance of gas tools. Seemed I always had issues with one of them. But I can’t bring myself to purchase an electric mower. Weedwhacker, blower, hedge trimmers, pole saw, etc are all battery powered now. But I still have my cub cadet and it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Prices of electric mowers are insane and they just don’t seem like they perform as well.

 

Honda is the best for gas push mowers, we've had ours for 12 or more years while our John Deere rider is it's 14th year of service now and I'm talking about a real JD not one you get at the big box store.

 

Bought a new Ego push/self propelled mower 2 years ago. I love it. I just mulch the grass. Works great. All I do is clean it up after a mow, fold it up and put it away. I love it. No more gas/oil & other maintenance.

 

Bought my Honda in 2008 still runs well with just routine Maintenance change the blades every 2 years change the oil once a year clean air filter or replace as needed
Use ethanol free fuel

 

Honda with the composite deck

 

Another vote for Honda gas. They are great and just keep going. Had mine for @ 15 years. Other than changing the oil a couple times and doing a tune up once or twice never had to do anything to it. I think the key is running non ethanol fuel and I also run it dry at the end of the season so there is no fuel sitting in the carb over the winter. Ethanol is what kills small engines. We have a few gas stations that have ethanol free premium, that's what I run in all my small engines. Never had a problem.

 

Definitely go with the Honda.

 

I don't know about electric lawnmowers but i know my neighbor who has one has had to borrow my gas motor twice when his wasn't working. Not because of unchanged batteries.

 

That's the one I am looking at.

 

Good to know. The local Murphy gas station sells non ethanol.

 

I love that: "I identify as a Prius".

 

I’m the same as above. I switched all my small equipment to electric (blower, trimmer, etc) but I don’t think the electric mowers can perform on the same level as a gas mower. My Honda pusher works very well.

BTW, I noticed last year that EGO put out an electric riding lawnmower for a cool $5K. Saw it again last week where they increased the price by 500. So get you own electric riding lawn mower for only $5,500.

 

Bought a top of the line Honda mower a few years back. Its the second worst mower I've ever had (the worst one was the Craftsman that it replaced). Everybody that had the older Honda mowers really liked them, but as with most things today I don't think their quality is what it once was. We have a much smaller lawn at the new house, and am thinking about swapping over to electric.

 

I have a Honda gas mower, the HRN216. I love it, no regrets. I doubt I'll ever need to buy a mower again.

I did make sure to get one that did not have the self propulsion deal or any other whizz bang features. Keep it simple and it will stay reliable.

 

I bought a brand new Honda last year, the 'exciting' new design. It's a GVC 170. It worked great for one season of light use. At the end of the season hard to start and revved or hunted when it started until I finally got it going. I assume that would be covered under Honda's amazing 3 year warranty...........dumb assumption.

The Powersports place in Calgary where I got the mower is terrible. Never buy anything from Jack Carter Powersports in Calgary Alberta Canada, classic scamming powersports shop. We already have that with a store called Blackfoot motosports, didn't need another. Anyways.....they made me pay 120 bucks to give me the bs excuse the gas was stale. I think it's safe to say I take amazing care of anything I own with an engine. I have many shortcomings but engine care is not one. So I had to take it to a great place called Arn's Equipment Ltd.

Long story short, Arn's told me the new EPA laws are so stringent now the fuel jets are really small. Just one little piece of dirt gets in the jets and it's a carb cleaning. I will now try a Mr. Funnel on the new ethanol free gas I already use with stabilizer and be extra careful. He knew the problem the second he saw my mower and I said it's hard to start, not covered under warranty.........but they only charged $60 bucks to fix it. Need to learn how to clean the jets on the carberator.

I also called Honda Canada, finally spoke to a human about a month after filling out forms. He was polite but zero help.

The moral of the story is I will never buy another Honda mower. My first one lasted 15 years no troubles.

 

That sucks. Is it bad that I've heard about how bad both Jack Carter and Blackfoot are all the way up here in GP?

Do you have any idea how debris could get into your system? Only thing I can think of is if there was a bunch around the fill port on the mower and it got washed in. I'll have to keep an eye out for that.

 

Landscaping is a big part of how I make my living. I will say flat out that ELECTRIC SUCKS!!!!
thats all Iv got to add

 

If for no other reason buy gas because Biden and Polosi don't want you to!

 

The Honda will last 20 yrs easily.

 

EGO electric!! Been using the Blower, weedwhacker, edger, and mower for four years now and have not had a carburetor go bad, have not bought any oil, have not bought any gas, and when I pull the handle back it starts every time and if I put the self propelled switch up all the way it is hard to keep up with it!!. I have an extra battery and I never have ran out of juice!!! EGO is the best thing ever!!!!

oh ya and the deck is plastic and never rusts out!!!

 

Nice man at the service desk summary: The old Honda's could take a sane amount of debris in the gas but the new honda mowers jets are so small now to meet EPA requirements that a lot are plugging up. I mean if the cap is off and a gust of wind goes by dust can get in. If I was someone thinking of buying a new Honda mower I'd put some careful thought into it. Not like the old ones anymore. If you still want one, glad to sell mine.......worst 1000 bucks I've spent in a long time.

 

I have a 8 yr old Honda mower, I’ll skip the electric. I use non ethanol gas in all my equipment. My tractor is a 2003 JD x485 and never had a problem with either. I’m always keep up on maintenance.

 

I’m a toro guy myself. Have used Toro for over 25 years. Had one that was 15 years old get destroyed in Katrina. Bought a Toro super recycler in 05 and sold it in 2015 when I bought this Super Recycler with the GCV160. I adjusted the throttle to bump rpms from the factory 2900 to about 32-3300, put the carb from the GCV 190. Mower is a beast. Burns a tad more fuel but nothing ridiculous. The power gain is worth it. Afternoon storms are common here and I’ve been caught a few times in a downpour and it still cuts and mulches with no issue. I sharpen the blade every two weeks, keep the underside cleaned and get a new blade every season. I change the oil yearly, always Ethanol free gas and always close the fuel valve and let the carb run out when storing during winter. Always fires right up on first pull and leaves the lawn like a thick carpet. Unless you have a sidewalk sized lawn, there’s no replacement for a quality gas mower.

 

I bought a DeWalt electric for use at my moms place (she's older, so I do her lawn. But my uncle stays with her and he cuts the grass sometimes to, so electric is way easier for him to use). The DeWalt works pretty good, but not as good as a gas powered mower. Her yard is also pretty small. At my house, I have a larger yard, and I don't think I would go electric here. For the quality of the job it does (pretty good if the grass isn't to long, not so great if you are cutting more than a couple inches off) I still prefer the gas.

 

EGO mowers mow just as good as any gas mower I have ever owned. It ALWAYS Starts! ALWAYS never not once has it not started. I have never ever seen a gas mower never do that I had a Toro (commercial) to mow an acreage but now we live in the city on a big corner lot and my EGO mows it all without any troubles!! In fact people stop to see it working and more than one person in the neighborhood has gone out and bought an EGO.They are way much more a simpler machine to operate.