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After having used a "full size" honda tiller/cultivator for years, I bought a harmony fg-100 mini tiller thinking it would be just as reliable, it is a piece of crap, it has been in the honda certified shop several times and for months. First with the first 2 hours of use (first day), it quit running, (bad carburetor, is what they told me, after they had kept it all spring waiting on honda to approve repair they told me) then it had to go back the next time the following time I used it when the engine died with any load on it (and it had been used for only approximately 3 hours of use) then after several more trips to the shop for divers issues, I called them because the engine would run great, but the tines were not turning, with only approximately 12 hours of total use on the unit.
I was told the unit had plastic gears in the transmission and they were crap, and honda would replace them free of charge (with more cheap, crappy plastic gears) just so I would not complain about it, well I took it in and after keeping it for months again they now gave it back to me, all torn apart and told me I would have to pay them to put it back together, as the honda rep would not authorize them to repair it.
I will never buy another item from honda after the horrible lack of service I have received with this item, the service and the tiller are crap.
Paul
Email: [protected]@gmail.com
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My FG 100 is still running fine after 17 years! The orginal post does not say whether the tiller was bought new or used but based on the year of the post it would seem to be used. If this is true perhaps some of the frustration needs to be directed at the prior owner(s) lack of proper maintenance and care. In particular the gears require regular gear grease.
Hey there, sorry everyone is having so many problems with this Honda Mini. I've had this tiller for a few years now and quite frankly I'm not sure even how old this one is. Upon finding this one in a can from an eviction at my job, I took it home and did the basic little clean up on it. Changed spark plug, cleaned air filter, drained the oil and gas and replaced with fresh. She started right up, I have used this little dynamo for the past few summers and the worst thing to happen was having a rock jam in the tines. I took the gear box apart and cleaned all the parts and removed the metal shavings and put it back together with fresh grease, and she started working once again. Love this little machine.
I let my tiller sit for two seasons after using it twice when I bought it. Now the transmission is locked up. And my small engine repair man says that it will cost more to fix than to just replace it. This thing looks brand new. It's a piece of crap. I bought Honda thinking it was a good brand. Wish that I hadn't now.
I agree I used mine for one season. The next I greased and lubed and ran one hour and it locked up. The Honda dealer told me they could check with Honda but they had gone down the this road before and they wont fix a one year old tiller. The dealer said they are junk, so I having a 325 investment broke it down and I have some experience. They are worm drive "Metal" gears. They have roller bearing, which is not to say ball bearing. The "Metal' is and inferior grade as is the case with the casing. Probably one grade above "White Metal' if you know what that is. The bearing are really low grade and I tried to replace with a better grade non OEM but the are fused to the shaft and I don’t think this happened in the failure process I believe they "Sweat the Bearing onto the shaft in the manufacture. Not sure why unless they want to avoid people replacing the bearings. Needless to say I did buy a new transmission (DUMMY) and installed however the clutch to drive set up was so I had to adjust the clutch several times. Finally got it in the garden and after a month thought out of an abundance of caution I'd grease the trans but it did not accept a drop. So I took it apart again and low and behold all the grease I put in was gone and the fill plug was well plugged. Lastly this year I got it out and did all the maintenance (people think I'm crazy for the maintenance I do on equipment, usually it pays off). Anyway I went to crank it up and the prier bulb was rotted away, so I hung it up on the wall of shame and will never buy HONDA anything again. Once burned and all.
It's a shame though Honda must make some good stuff unfortunately some one in the organization they could capitalize on the rep and make a quick buck. I suspicion is this is contracted out of China without and Manufacturer supervision. The Chinese I’m sorry to say can make a good product but they have to be monitored every moment
I have one of the harmony FG 100's by Honda and its always been a piece of junk. I paid more money thinking I was getting a good tiller boy was I wrong now the transmission is out. I will never buy another Honda product. I mean good grief it only has about 20 hrs on it. Does anybody know how to get to the complaint department at Honda. This is rediculous!
I have had my Honda FG100 apart, and the gears are not plastic. It's a worm gear setup, and the worm is steel and the large gear is brass or bronze. Worm gears create a huge axial force along the vertical shaft, be sure the thrust bearings are in good condition and keep the gear house lubricated.
what type of oil goes in the gear case
Paul- I have owned my Honda FG100 for almost 10 years now. It is the only small one I have ever used and while it did light jobs initially, it has been used in semi-rocky, heavy clay since. I now till my garden initially with a 6-foot PTO driven tiller and then use the smaller one to weed and do smaller jobs around the property. I have never had it in for service and just last year added the edger attachment to it. Just this year we are finding some things that need to be done: blades sharpened, primer bulb replaced, new filters, etc. Sounds to me like you found a service department that, itself, needed help. It probably wasn't so much a problem with the tiller but the mechanics! I Love my Honda!
Hi Paul, sounds like you need to find a new repair shop. The gears on my FG 100 are not plastic. It is important to check and fill the lubricant in the gearcase. If you are basically mechanically inclined, the gearcase and clutch can be easily replaced, saving a lot of the labor fees. Pretty straight forward, even without a service manual. These tillers do well in soil that is not rocky or hard clay, or has been previously tilled. The only real problem I have had was when a rock lodged in the tines and cracked the gearcase.
I hear ya ! my tiller cost $325.00 it has aprox. 75 hrs on it and has been nothing but a pain in the a$%. I've had to replace the gas primer bulb 4 times, Gas tank cracked the first year, also had to replace throttle cable after the second year, and now they tell me the transmission is shot along with the clutch, they will repair it for a mere $400.00.. I'm really ticked off, I'll will never buy anything Honda again!