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honda hrx217hxa vs snapper spv21675

14 years ago

I'm pretty much decided on the Honda mower, but at $729 the price is steep. Is it worth the extra $$$ compared to the Snapper that I can pick up for around $389.

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Comments (7)

duke88
14 years ago
I have the HRX217HXA and it's a great mower...but that's a big price difference for the Snapper. If the Snapper is new it can't be in the same league as that model Honda. When I was looking for mine I almost bought a Snapper Hi-Vac w/ Kawasaki engine and it was about the same price as the Honda.
mattv21
14 years ago
The Snapper you can buy for $389 must be the SE series, unless you are getting a killer discount. And no, the SE doesn't compare to that Honda. But the Snapper Hi-Vac that you can get for $500-600 certainly _does_ compare. You would not need the commercial version (which is the only Hi-Vac I can think of that would retail for anything close to the $729 you cite for the Honda). You could get a Kawasaki-powered Hi-Vac for less than the Honda, which has a commercial-duty engine anyway. Or you could get a Snapper with a less costly and lighter Briggs engine. I'm a Snapper fan, so I'm obviously biased, but I think there is more value in the Hi-Vac than in Honda mowers.
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I bought a CP215517HV a couple of weeks ago for $800 delivered. This is an commercial, 21" HI-VAC with the Honda 5.5 HP GXV160KA12 commercial engine and commercial steel wheels. This was a new, old stock model. The current commercial HI-VAC model has a plastic control panel with a cup holder and a slightly different ground speed control. The dealer included a side discharge chute and mulch cover at no additional cost. These are extra cost options on the commercial HI-VAC model. Another Snapper dealer offered me a CRP2160KWV for $750. This is the current commerical mulching model with the commerical Kawasaki FJ180V engine and commercial steel wheels. This dealer offered to included a side discharge chute and rear bag kit at no additional cost. These are extra cost options on the commercial mulching model. From my experience you can get a commerical Snapper 21" HI-VAC or mulching model for about the same price at the consumer grade HRX217K2HXA. To get the Honda 5.5 HP comercial GXV160KA12 engine that came on my new Snapper in a Honda mower you would have to buy the $1,169 Honda Commercial HRC216K3HXA model. Both the Snapper and the Honda commerical mowers have 14 guage steel decks and the consumer grade Honda HRX217K2HXA has a plastic deck. I have a brother who bought a plastic deck Honda Harmony. Even though he is careful with his equipment and only uses the Harmony for trim work, the deck cracked. Since Honda deems steel decks better suited for their commercial mowers and my brother's cracked deck experience, I prefer Snapper's steel deck over the HRX217K2HXA's plastic deck.
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cuff46
Original Author
14 years ago
Do any of the Snappers have the blade brake clutch? The ones I looked at at Sears did NOT have that feature.
mattv21
14 years ago
None that I know of anymore. Snapper tried that about 20 years ago and gave it up. If that's a priority for you, then Snapper isn't going to fit your needs. There are a couple of Toro Super Recyclers that have that, though, and they are also excellent mowers and similar in price to the residential Hi-Vacs.
jopopsy
14 years ago
What made you skip the HiVac w/ the Kawa power plant?
jopopsy
14 years ago
Hey, how come nobody mentions the regular snapper mulchers when comparing to the Honda? From what I have read, the Hi-Vac may not mulch as well as the Honda, but the regular Snapper mulcher should. No?
ericmvest
13 years ago
I bought a CP215517HV a couple of weeks ago for $800 delivered. This is an commercial, 21" HI-VAC with the Honda 5.5 HP GXV160KA12 commercial engine and commercial steel wheels. This was a new, old stock model. The current commercial HI-VAC model has a plastic control panel with a cup holder and a slightly different ground speed control. The dealer included a side discharge chute and mulch cover at no additional cost. These are extra cost options on the commercial HI-VAC model.

Another Snapper dealer offered me a CRP2160KWV for $750. This is the current commerical mulching model with the commerical Kawasaki FJ180V engine and commercial steel wheels. This dealer offered to included a side discharge chute and rear bag kit at no additional cost. These are extra cost options on the commercial mulching model.

From my experience you can get a commerical Snapper 21" HI-VAC or mulching model for about the same price at the consumer grade HRX217K2HXA. To get the Honda 5.5 HP comercial GXV160KA12 engine that came on my new Snapper in a Honda mower you would have to buy the $1,169 Honda Commercial HRC216K3HXA model. Both the Snapper and the Honda commerical mowers have 14 guage steel decks and the consumer grade Honda HRX217K2HXA has a plastic deck. I have a brother who bought a plastic deck Honda Harmony. Even though he is careful with his equipment and only uses the Harmony for trim work, the deck cracked. Since Honda deems steel decks better suited for their commercial mowers and my brother's cracked deck experience, I prefer Snapper's steel deck over the HRX217K2HXA's plastic deck.

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