yes it is a honda engine, but not a very good one .These mowers are made for walmart, you are not getting the same quality as if you bought a honda at a power equipment shop.

Yes and No.

Engines are Honda GVC series which are lower cost and not as rugged as the GXV which have been around for the last 20+ years.

However, the GVC on a mower at Wal Mart is the same as the GVC on a mower you might by from an independent dealer. If someone tells you otherwise, they are blowing smoke or trying to sell you something.

As for the mower itself, probably made by MTD or Briggs (the old Murray operation), or even overseas. Buyer beware.

Suppose it was a Chinese mower with one of those Honda 'clone' engines? That would be ugly.

Don't laugh. I saw some of those at a recent landscape contractors show. The importer's reps were quite evasive about delivery dates and service.

Seems the denial group is still active: Made in China is a fact of life, US manufacture is in most cases not competitive any more and in a free market economy business goes to the low cost provider. This doesn't always mean for less quality. I take the GVC vs. GXV input as data, not emotion.

I've used mostly B&S engines in lawn mowers, tractors, and various other (large) property maintenance and have found them good enough (13 years and counting on an 18 HP flat head twin B&S in a Craftsman GT6000 tractor)...suppose that engine may not have been made in China, but even though the tractor proudly displays "Made in America", assembly my be all that was done here..don't know. I'm old enough to remember when "made in Japan" = cheap junk, made out of recycled tin cans, that is surely not the case for the last 20 years, and the same goes for China. Like it or not, that's were most of the worlds manufacturing is being done. Will this damage the US? I don't know, but it doesn't give me a "warm cuddly" feeling.

My "shock" at seeing a Honda on a Walmart lawn more has been calibrated, thanks for the inputs for all who read these threads for information with and without comment.

I may buy one and give it a try, at $208, I can't loose more than that amount, plus tax, time and transport.

Last year the basic push mowers with a Briggs Quantum, adjustable wheels and a bag were priced arount $170.
The same mower with the Briggs classic engine was priced around $140. I believe both of these were Murray mowers.

MTD mowers were frequently seen at ranch stores with Chinese engines. I doubt if any mower shops are stocking parts - however - engine parts could most probably be sourced from MTD.

Comments on the small engine forums indicate most of the engines are working ok. There have been comments about some failures and flawed manufacturing processes. The report card is still out.

I too saw the Wallyworld honda mowers and thought the same thing. The Chinese are manufacturing most everything for the rest of the world these days. I have to say they are doing a better job of it all the time. Americans for the most part are throw away consumers, we like to buy it cheap and after we get a couple of years out of it (like the mowers you speak of) we just push it to the curb and buy new. To me this lifestyle is wastefull and I try to buy quality and keep it for the long run. Did you ever wonder what China is doing with the profits? It would be interesting to know how much of Wallyworlds items are made in China? I'll bet if you knew the percentage it would require a new name like "China-Mart".

in my opinion I have yet to see anything of quality from China. and China plus wal mart is even worse, everything I get from wal mart seems to fail in 2 years

Forget about China. I just checked the Walmart website, and they only have 3 gas engine lawn mowers on the website, one of which has a Honda 160cc engine. All three are front wheel drive, and the Honda engined one is $288. They have one that is $349, with a 190cc engine of unspecified origin and electric start; also and identical one without the electric start for $274. The Honda engined one states that it is assembled in the USA from USA components; seems reasonable, since Honda has a small engine plant in the US.

There is nothing wrong with this Honda GVC engine. I have one on a Craftsman mower I purchased back in 2000. I use it about 60 to 65 hours a year, changing the oil once a year, using Mobil 1 5w30 synthetic. In all these years, it has never used ANY oil. I have an engine hour meter on it, so I know how many hours it is used. What I don't know is how long that belt that drives the overhead cam is supposed to last. Does anyone know of any of these engines that have failed, and if so, what was the cause?

AS far as the Honda GC engine goes - I have not seen any comments in the past 5 years on OHC belt failure. Initially, the engine overhead cam had failures related (I believe) to plastic bearings. The problem was corrected by the manufacturer and I have not seen complaints since.

Most of the small engines are capable of much longer life - but when the cables go bad and the wheels get loose and the carburetors plug up, owners usually decide to buy a new mower.

I know what you mean about the wheels and other parts wearing out. On my Craftsman with the Honda engine, I have replaced all 4 wheels. Both rears split open, about a year apart, and the fronts wore down smooth and lost traction. Also, the gear in the transmission wore out and I replaced it. The new one came already installed on a new axle and looked completely different. The attachment points were the same, however, and it worked just fine. I also installed a new drive belt at this time.

In the past, I have discarded many lawn mowers due to such faults, but I am retired now and have plenty of time for lawn mower maintenance. I am just trying to see how long this Honda engine will last on one oil change a year. So far, it does not use a drop of oil in a year's time. It is usually down less than 1/16th of an inch on the dip stick, which I attribute to checking the oil and wiping the dipstick every time I use it.

Believe it or not, the Clinton, NJ Walmart has a push mower: 21", side discharge, rear bag, and mulch, with a reasonable baffle arrangement for mulching. The price is $208 and it has a Honda..I do recall it said use 10W30, not 30W on the oil information. I had always believe air cooled engines on a hot day destroy multi-weight engine oil, except to for synthetic, which hold up better. Still, this engine said use multi-weight, no mention of synthetic, I may have overlooked.

The Clinton Walmart doesn't carry the high-priced mowers noted a couple of post above, and this isn't exactly a low income area either, wonder why.

I'll take a look to see if it is overhead cam, there's a cover plate on the front that has OHC or OHV... something like that embossed on it, look next trip.

Back from Walmart. Subject lawn mower has a 160cc Overhead Cam Honda engine, it is a Yardman/MDT and so labeled. The engine looks clean/smooth, good components, with a manual choke and a fuel shut off, neither of which is on lower cost B&S equipped mowers at Walmart.

The muffler has a clean and full heat protection cover and the carburetor filter is in a full housing, overall looks like a quality engine.

Based on my 7 year experience with this engine, I would definitely recommend the purchase of this mower at $208, assuming you do not need the self propelled feature.

As I recollect, Honda recommends an oil change every 25 hours after the initial change at 5 hours. Perhaps this is the reason they do not specify synthetic along with their 10W30 recommendation. This would be the same as recommending an oil change every 1000 miles in an automobile; very conservative in my opinion. Regular oil should have no problem with this OCI.

Get this $208 push mower, and you will have none of the problems I have had with the drive wheels or transmission wearing out. The engine is noticeably smoother and quieter than the usual Briggs and Stratton or Tecumseh used on lower priced mowers, and, in my experience, burns slightly less fuel than them.

XlindaX, thanks for the positive input, it looked like a great "deal" to me. When in the store yesterday they had only the display and one box on the showroom floor, don't know what they have in the back room. As I've never gone the extra $$ to buy any equipment that is Honda powered, this seemed to be a very affordable way to have/try one.

As for power drive, I have a large property and a garden tractor plus a yard tractor to do most of the mowing, I use the hand mower mostly for under and around the trees and to mulch close to the house. My wife likes to get some exercise walking behind a mower for maybe 1/4 acre of mowing. I recently replace the push mulcher with a big wheel push mulcher and a 6 hp engine, that she finds too heavy (yes this is yet another mower) so I've been looking a buying a new mulcher with smaller/normal wheels and a lighter engine. The Honda at Walmart meets these needs to my "eye" and also has the rear bagging feature which could be used on those rare occasions that I want to rear bag some area of the lawn.. i.e., my old Sears fwd rear bagger.

So does this mean HONDA and MTD are going to go belly up? I remember not too long ago, people were saying that had Snapper decided to sell their wares in Walmart, they would have gone belly up in no time.

subywu,

Do you have an example of a well known supplier that went "belly up" after going with Walmart as a/the retail outlet?

I was merely referring to the linked discussion.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Man Who Said No To Walmart

Ya, great story, I had read it several months back. Some interesting inside information on Walmart management too, I understand when they travel, assume two guys or two gals, not a mix, they double up in Hotel 6 to save travel funds. Doesn't sound like a fun place to work.

I was just looking at the Lawn Boy web site, and I see that they are using this same Honda engine as their premium engine in their most expensive models. A couple have blade clutches, and a couple are electric start. They use Tecumseh engines in a few of their lowest priced mowers.

When I read that post above that said this particular Honda engine is not a very good one, I was reminded of the time, seven years ago, when I went to a Honda small equipment dealer looking for a mower. I see these mowers with this engine, in the $400 to $500 price range and ask about them. The sales person tried to steer me to their commercial mowers with the heavy duty engine, priced from $700 to $900. He really made these consumer grade Honda engines sound like they were worthless and I would be stupid to buy one. I left there and went straight to Sears and bought one with this GVC 160, and 7 years later it is still running to perfection, using no oil over a years time; about 60 hours running according to my hour meter I have installed on it. My mower cost slightly less than $300 at Sears.

Hi,

I actually fell for the expensive Honda commercial mower, the HRC216. I bought it from a Honda dealer. Yes it was expensive and was total overkill for what I needed it for. I am a hobby gardener and mow my own lawn. I do use it for about 2 to 3 hours each weekend in the summer, (I screwed up guestimating the size of my lawn and am exhausted after about 2 hours), and am very pleased with it. So far I have had it for two years.

I like that it is sturdy, and my lawn is up and down hills, so it sort of gets abused a bit. The rear wheel drive via a shaft with Hydro drive is a big plus. It is easy to control and motors along easily despite the weight (125 lbs).

Looking back I am happy I made the purchase, even though I probablly could have used a cheaper mower. The engine is the GXV one. Has a nice 1/2 gallon fuel tank and will run for 2 hours and over without a need for a refil. Has mulching blades.

Best, Mike.

That Walmart mower is a MTD Yardman.I have a 20''push mower version with a 5hp Briggs.That I have abused for over 10 years.I change the oil and thats about it.I throw it in the back of a truck and have droped it out a few times.It is used to mow a steep ditch that get mowed when the grass and weeds get a little out of hand.It has hit hidden sticks and chunks of wood.I use it to trim around trees and gets yanked every way.It has hit tree roots rocks you name it.I lift it over a fence to mow a long a field and I can not place it gently on the other side of the fence because I can not reach the ground.It gets dropped a few feet and bounces around.I have pulled it down a road by hand alond side a riding mower to mow around a fence post.It has never had a easy life.It has the original blade and still cuts very well.I might put a new throttle cable on it this year.Its kinked from folding the handles down to store it in the winter.The wheels have never gave a problem.Still tight and the height adjustment levers work fine as well.I told the sales man when I bought it I wanted a cheap push mower because I abuse them bad.I use to get old ones and patch them up for this reason.But this Yardman MTD just keeps on going.I told him if it lasted a few years I would be happy with it.That was atleast 10 full mowing seasons ago.If it had a Honda engine that would be fine also.But the Briggs has done fine.

I just bought a Troybilt pressure washer from Lowes with the same Honda engine as mentioned on the Walmart Yardman.The whole thing was $299.00 so I will see how I like my first Honda.But going by my Yardman pushmower.The Honda would not be out of place on a Yardman.Because I can see another 5 years easy in that old mower I abuse every year.Possibly 10 more with a little easier life.

I have John Deere, Cub Cadet,Simplicity,Stihl in my shed along side this Yardman push mower.When I do replace it I will more then likley get another Yardman or maybe Troybilt.Both just MTD but its the name I trust when it comes to a push mower.I have no need for a self propeled maybe the drive system is bad.But something tells me they would be just fine as well.

jerry_nj, don't listen to all the China nonsense. I bought essentially the same mower at Costco two years ago for $199 and I am very pleased with it. By the way, the engine is a GCV160. In Honda nomenclature, the C stands for consumer--the GX engines are commercial quality. The V refers to a vertical crankshaft.

The engine will probably outlast that chassis, but in the meantime you will enjoy easy starting and an engine that doesn't burn oil.

japan china whats the difference??what ever happened to" jap scrap" if it wasnt made in the good ol usa it was junk? now you pick on china. if you cant beat them join em. honda did.go to www.world.honda.com/china/ as you enjoy viewing the honda automobile,motorcycle and power products logo you see current time in beijing,china and a little boy running along the great wall of china on his way to work at the new honda plant.,go to www.archives.cnn.com/2002/business/asia/06/07/china.honda/ and you will see that chinese automaker guangzhou has been making honda cars like the honda accord and the odyssey minivan since 1999.and honda opened a new plant in china in 2004 and plans to export them back to japan.smart eh?so if honda is confident enough with chinese workers building honda cars in china i think you should be ok with a $180.00 lawnmower.

Once again: Forget about China as far as these Honda engined lawn mowers are concerned. 75% of the Honda small equipment engines made in the world are made in the Honda factory in Swepsonville NC, including 100% 0f the Honda engines used on equipment sold in the US. This factory has been in operation since 1984. Honda might make some Hondas in China for sale in other parts of the world, but GM is the company importing V-6's from China for use in some Chevrolets.

Well said, xlindax. By the way, the Chevy Equinox is the vehicle that gets the Chinese engine.

In 1992 the Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers rammed the American Automobile Labeling Act through Congress. A UAW spokesman said, "We think it gives consumers important information. The Japanese dislike it because it doesnÂt allow them to hide the fact that a large part of their parts still come from abroad."

Today the law doesn't look like such a bright idea. By the UAW's standard of 15 years ago, the following cars are imports:

Chevrolet Equinox
Cadillac Escalade
Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet HHR
Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Tahoe
Chrysler 300
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Dodge Charger
Ford Escape Hybrid
Ford Focus
Ford Fusion
Ford Mustang

If you want to buy a more American car than the Mustang  try the Camry, the Accord, the Avalon, the CorollaÂ.

The AALA is even more egregious than that... Since when is Canada considered "domestic." They are a foreign country just like any other. With the low CDN$ and socialized medical care, there is a decided advantage to moving manufacturing across the border. Even more so when the AALA makes them "domestic" to the unsuspecting American consumer. And that is exactly what has happened the past decade: the province of Ontario now makes more cars/car parts than the former automotive epicenter of North America, Michigan. Thanks UAW!

Ignoring the import debate, I have an old Honda, and it runs like a top. If it ever fails, I'll buy another. The Walmart special, the engine will outlast everything else. I'd spend the extra money, and upgrade to a premium brand deck.

yea it is the honda engine you cant go wrong with best thing i have one and i swear by it 3 pulls after the winter and it starts right up not using all winter great engine

So its ok to buy imports?The way you all like to advertise to buy imports.Why dont you mention the products you take part in for your pay check?So we can be sure to bite the hand that feeds you also.

Unless of course your in the services industry.Then that explains why you could careless.

It had better be OK to buy imports. Most of us would be going naked and Walmart stores would be 90% empty. Oil would be in mighty short supply. If you are referring to Honda Lawn Mower engines, American citizens have been getting paid for manufacturing them since 1982. Notice on the Walmart website in describing the Honda engined mowers it says they are assembled in the US from US sourced components.

JohnDeere, since all the small Honda engines sold in the U.S are made in the U.S. and since all Briggs and Stratton Vanguard engines are made in Japan, and since all the Compact Utility John Deere's are Yanmars made in China, I think it's a little silly to keep pushing this "buy American" stuff based on brand names.

I respect anyone who feels strongly about buying American, but I don't respect people who criticize somebody for driving a Toyota Sienna in spite of the fact that it is built in the U.S. and has more American made parts in it than any other minivan on the market. If you want to buy American, you have to do a lot of homework.

You missed my point.I have a Honda on a Pressure washer and a Kawasaki on a John Deere.Both good engines.But that does not mean im going to buy a Honda car or Toyota.I realise there are import parts on domestic cars.I also realise the imports are made here.But thats are own fault its a sighn of the damage thats been done.

The imports are thriving now.The domestics are hurting they had to pull out to compete.They had to outsource just like everything else is.

My point is what will you think of it when it happens to your job?What will you think when your kids and grandkids are not employeable?I dont think people realise its coming.Manufacturing is going going gone.The trend today is services or medical fields maybe construction.But they will be outsourced before we know it and no one will be able to afford to get sick when there is not a job with health insurance and construction will eventually slump.No need for new housing when you can buy a foreclosed on place for pennies on the dollar.Houses are going up all over but latlety the news papers are thicker more pages for the forecloseur notices.Its hard to believe so many educated people just can not grasp whats got to happen.So the heck with the domestic brand this and that.Just remember it when it rolls around to your lively hood.

My grandfather told me 40 years ago that if China (or Japan, depending on his mood) would have invented the atomic bomb, by now it would be ten times more powerful than the ones we used on Japan, fit in your shirt pocket and sell for $3.99 at Kmart!

It makes me wonder why America cannot be more competitive with the rest of the world. The stuff we make definitely is not always better.

The chinese are competitive only at cheap labor and stealing intellectual property.

Two things to keep in mind about the threat presented by China. First, their cheap labor will go away. As the Chinese economy improves, more and more people move into the middle class, and wages will go up. Eventually it won't be any cheaper to make something in China than it is here. It's already happened in Japan.

Second, due to the draconian "one-child" policy and the preference for male children, China now faces a shortage of prospective future mates for their adolescent boys. They will soon experience a large drop in population. They are in no posiiton to take over the world.

I seen those mowers.....and they had another 1 with a classic briggs engine on it,instead of a honda.I noticed the briggs was painted,and the honda's weren't.....................I'm also a BIG believer of buy american..............as you might guess I wouldn't buy a honda powered ANYTHING!! I don't like their(Honda) "technology" they research,and develop the wrong design,and materials................

I notice on the Walmart website that a Honda engined mower is said to be assembled in the US of US manufactured parts, and one with a Briggs & Stratton engine is said to have both US and imported components. Are B&S motors imported now?

If the B&S is imported, and the Honda is made in the USA, which one is the import?