As mentioned, trying to mow a lawn that is too tall in one hit will cause blocked chutes. If a lawn in wet its even worse. Now technically, you should never mow a wet lawn or mow too short, but some customers cant wait or want to see that the lawn has been mowed, read scalped in the aussie tradition.
Talking Honda's in particular, if the it looks like the model below, with a full width chute, then there will be no issues, be it wet or dry, tall or short.
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The problem arises when with the below image, with a partial chute.
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The self drive hardware prevents a full chute and sufficient airflow to allow long, thick or wet grass to be efficiently discharged into the catcher. These type of mowers are designed to be used on a regular basis, where only the very tips of growth are removed. A lawn that is maintained at a taller height is generally healthier, less prone to weed infestations and actually uses less water. Something at odds with the aussie tradition or expectation, ie "mow it so short so I don't have to do it again for a while".
For me, I use a range of mowers to suit a variety of different lawns, lawn heights and customer expectations. As a rule there is no "perfect" mower hence the use of different mowers. The only one I have found to do
almost everything (mulch/catch/wet/dry/tall/short) is the Rover ProCut 560. The drive system isn't as robust as the Honda systems but it has a full chute meaning it is more versatile. It was also much cheaper to buy, allowing for occasional maintenance on the drive system when needed. The amount of money this thing has made me over 5 years if it blew up tomorrow I would be content knowing it earnt its keep. And its been HAMMERED, thrashed even.
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