The Man with Many Mowers

Many people have hobbies to keep them busy or to entertain themselves with when they have a moment of free time. Some read books or play sports or participate in any number of activities. But Michael Luque has a unique pastime: collecting and restoring HR214 and HR215 Honda Lawn Mowers.

When asked how this passion began, Luque explained, saying, “When I was a teenager me and my brother had a lawn mowing business and my dad got me and my brother a nice Honda Lawn Mower. My brother and I mowed lawns together and wore the thing out.” He then explained that his father held onto it, and that, many years later, Luque brought it down to his own house, deciding that he would fix it up and get it running once more.

But the lawn mower sat in the shed for some time, waiting until about six years ago, when Luque’s son decided to start a mowing business with a friend. They quickly wore down the nice lawn mower, and as a solution, Luque decided to fix up the Honda Lawn Mower that he had in the garage.

However, the fix didn’t go quite as planned. “I got down and started working on it but it wasn’t running so well. It was blowing a lot of smoke and it was worn out. And I thought, ‘Wait, if I get on KSL.com Classifieds I might be able to find some mowers that are the same style that I have.’ And sure enough, I was able to find them on a regular basis.”

After this wondrous discovery, the collection began. According to Luque, these Honda Lawn Mowers, built in the ‘80s are “a very high quality lawn mower.” He explained that “They built the engines so they’d last a long time.” And that, coupled with the aluminum deck of the mower, ultimately makes it king of all mowers.

But Michael Luque doesn’t just collect lawn mowers— no, he helps other people to find this same Honda Mower. “I think I’ve helped seven people get mowers. It’s a hobby. It’s something that entertains me,” Luque explained. “I just go on KSL every so often, someone’s getting rid of their mower for 25 bucks I see with development. And usually I can fix it or I have the spare parts to fix it.”

Luque has even gone as far as Bountiful to pick up one of these lawn mowers. “I probably spent more on gas than I did on the mower,” Luque added.

With so many lawn mowers, one might wonder where Luque stores them all. Well, there’s an excellent story for that too.

“So when we built this shed I had actually in the meantime collected a few more mowers. But I didn’t want to fill up all the floor space of that shed and not be able to use that shed,” Luque said. “So when I’m building the shed I wake up one Saturday morning and a lightbulb goes off in my head and I’m like ‘I know where I’m gonna put all my mowers. I’m gonna have a three level shelf so I can put most of my mowers in this lawn mower caddy. Three rows of four mowers.’ It’s about full now.”

Despite his impressive lawn mower collection, that is not all that Luque has collected.

“I don’t just have lawn mowers,” Luque shared. “I have three rototillers and two snowblowers. So sometimes I like to tell people I don’t just collect lawn mowers. I collect vintage Honda power equipment.”

Though this mower— or vintage Honda power equipment— collection is rather one of a kind, Luque is “very judicious” in who he tells about it. “I don’t want to get mocked,” Luque explained. “A few of the guys at work know. I’ve got to be careful who I tell. Some people think it’s weird and some people think it’s cool.”

Whether or not you have any interest in lawn mowers, you have to admit that above all, Luque’s collection is impressive. May we all aspire to someday get a Honda Lawn Mower with an aluminum deck and an engine built to last.