Well Bro time for you to purchase that Toro Super Recycler you were talking about previously ! You should be able to unload the Honda to some 1st time homeowner for less demanding use than what you or I require . The Honda engine is rather stout .

Gator blade perhaps?

Hey sstracker1... Thanks for the reply. Yes I think you're right - time to move on. It's frustrating to see neighbors mowing with Craftsman, Troy Built, and Husquevarnas that are cheaper, and have a cleaner cut. Yes, Honda's GCV190 is a stout engine. Hate to give that up. Something I thought might help with new set of blades I just bought was that the blades are nearly stacked directly on top of each other, where the blades that came on the mower are offset more. Thought they'd act more as a single blade and maybe cut better. Oh well. In googling lawn mower reviews, I happened upon a brand I hadn't heard of - Ybravo. Anyone familiar with this one? Went to their website, and it looks like they only make 2 mowers, both walk behinds, and both commercial - a 21" and a 25". The decks remind me of Snapper's, being made of 14 gauge steel, and the rolled lip around the bottom. Sounds interesting, but they're probably expensive. They talk about their release of a second generation earlier this year that incorporates some improvements. The "second gen" as the call them are only available with the Kawi FJ180 KAI. I have no experience with that engine, but they seem to be popular and well liked. Might be worth a look if I can find a dealer near by. We'll see.

Yes very much like the Snapper , complete with Push Bar for Rush Hour lol . The Kawi Engine is a proven unit . Interesting to see the Comparision Pricing .

Actually, I accidentally found a gator blade made by Oregon at Northern Tool a couple years ago made for the Honda mower. I tried it on the commercial mower I had then, and this mower as well. It actually was the worst for leaving uncut blades. While it does have the teeth, it also has a big amount of lift bent into it which I think made it worse.

Well I did as tomplum suggested and altered wheel heights. I had been mowing with all wheels set at 3 1/2. Today I left rear at 3 1/2 and lowered front to 3. That plus the new blade set seems to have made a difference. (I tried to look at each pass I made as I mowed the next one.) The sky was getting dark while I was mowing and the storm came up just as I was finishing, so I wasn't able to look it over real well. I've found that only mowing about 1/2 the deck width or maybe just a little more seems to help also. Seems like a waste of time, but it works.

I have the basic Honda push mower. Since I've had it I always mowed in a stripe pattern with about a 1/3 overlap when the grass wasn't overly tall. Perhaps because of that I never experienced this uncut strip issue everyone seems to complain about.

Well, last weekend while online shopping for a dual mulching blade, I came across the Honda manual and it indicated an outside-in counter-clockwise mowing pattern for my lawnmower model. Thinking I might get a better cut, Tuesday I cut the grass using that pattern with my usual 1/3 overlap; it was a bit high from weekend rains so I raised the deck to the highest setting. As I cut, I could see how badly it was looking but went ahead and finished using Honda's recommended pattern; needless to say, when I finished it looked awful. Alright, I thought, maybe it was because the grass was too high, I'll cut it again in a few days.

Wednesday (the next day) I set the deck two settings lower hoping to clean-up the 'trail' left behind. I used the same recommended mowing pattern and ended up with mostly the same result, with just a bit shorter uncut strip because the grass was previously cut. Alright, I'm thinking, maybe it's because I still took too much height off in one cutting session. So this weekend I'll cut it once more at the current deck height and again use Honda's recommended mowing pattern, but I'm not expecting anything different.

Are you mowing in a stripe pattern or clockwise/counter-clockwise...inner/outer?

I'm not having a problem with strips of grass being left uncut, but instead a lot of single random uncut blades. Not sure what type of grass you have. I am in Florida and am mowing St. Augustine which is a wide blade grass. I've read that with this type of grass you should mow different patterns each time... north to south one week, east to west the next, diagonally the next, and even the pattern you described the next. Supposedly this helps the grass to grow more vertically than always mowing in the same direction. I've tried this, but again get the same results with each way. Is your deck more of a high domed type? Mine is, as was the commercial Honda I used to have. I still say it has to do with the dome shape and the aerodynamics under there, but that's just my thought. I was mowing at 3 1/2" and lowered last week to 3". A little better but still leaving uncut blades. I think higher settings allow more air to be drawn from the sides instead of up through the grass. Something that made me feel I'm not alone - a neighbor has an older 21" Toro Recycler with a B&S engine. He mows on what looks like the mower's very highest setting and it was doing the exact same thing as my Honda - maybe even worse! Toros are typically known for a really nice cut, so I'm thinking deck height is a big factor in quality of cut. It also didn't sound like his engine was running as fast as it should which could be another variable in cut quality. Funny thing is I was all set to sell or trade in my Honda until I saw that. Still the most frustrating thing is my 19 year old Honda still cuts perfectly, and NEVER had this issue. But it also has a shallower aluminum deck. Hmmmm...

I have a traditional shallow deck. My lawn used to be St. Augustine until common Bermuda invaded and took over, though I have about 120 sq. ft. of St. Augustine that's still holding out in a morning sun only location. I'm in south central Texas, and unless watered regularly, St. Augustine doesn't hold up in full sun. Once we lost the trees, the St. Augustine soon followed.

I think the idea behind the high-domed decks is to have finer grass clippings; it's supposed to cut the blade, kick it up and cut it again when it falls. It's supposed to both extend the time between emptying the bag, and leave finer clippings when used as a mulching mower. I agree, you'll probably get a better vacuum at a lower cutting height.

I don't know about 'training' the grass to grow more vertically, it sounds like an old wives' tale, or in this case old men. In our remaining section of St. Augustine, I've never noticed it leaving stray tall blades, and it's not something I ever noticed when the entire lawn was St. Augustine, but that was long before I was old enough to care how it looked (having moved back into my childhood home, I've been cutting this lawn for about 35 years), and it's always been cut with a shallow deck.

However, a few years ago I cut a buddy's St. Augustine lawn a few times with my Honda; it didn't look good without a double-cut. As I recall, it's recommended St. Augustine be cut twice in perpendicular directions. So level your mower deck and adjust it to your desired height, then cut the entire lawn in a north/south pattern, followed by recutting the lawn at the same height in an east/west pattern. I bet if you did that you'll be really pleased. Then next time change it up a little by cutting NW/SE and NE/SW. Really any lawn will look better with a perpendicular double-cut, but in my opinion, St. Augustine looks especially great. Though if you want stripes, you'll need to adjust accordingly; myself, I dislike stripes.

Paulo : You have the Science and Technology of Design Spot on . Mowermut , Feel for your frustration Bro , however the only way to find the perfect cut is Trial and Error situation , as I advised previously. Each mower has it Achillies Heal lol . Honda , it's deck design (1" reinforced Edge) which takes time to perfect with cut overlap , but Stout Engine . Toro has funky Kolhers Easy start carb or Oil Drinking Briggs but cut very well with single blade design . P.S. Personally I believe you both are a little anal retentive within grass cutting , take this with a Grain of Salt (Northern Humour) lol . I live in the Great White North and our grass is usually a mixture of Mongrul Grass and Clover , Pig Weed and Thatch , can never forget the Thatch a very hardy lawn that looks great from across the street , but eats mower blades lol . Anyway keep your Blades sharp and Have FUN EH ! Thanks for the Follow up !!!!

Hey guys! Over the weekend, I happened to see a lawn mower shop in a part of town I don't usually get to. I had to stop in, and it was like being in a toy store. Among other brands, the sell Toro, and Gravely. They have a big selection of Toro - both residential and commercial. They had a Toro commercial 22298. I had never seen one in person, and it was beautiful, and looks like it means business. They also had a Gravely 21" commercial 911290 which is also a very impressive mower. They both have the Kawasaki KAI engine. One unusual thing about the Toro is that the throttle lever is actually on the side of the engine. I've heard that a company named Eastman actually makes the mowers for Gravely. It certainly is a strong looking and feeling mower. The specs show it weighs 136 lbs. which is roughly about 15 lbs heavier than the Toro. I googled and found Eastman, and they offer a commercial mower identical to the Gravely, only in a different color, so I'm thinking it's true they make Gravelys, but don't know it as fact. I've looked every way I can think of and cannot find any reviews on the Gravely. Regardless, I fell in love with both, but am having trouble with the thought of spending over $1,000.00 on a mower, although I think they'd last a life time if used for residential and a couple of neighbors yards. They both are calling my name though.