Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I was at a local Honda dealer yesterday and I was stunned by the prices on their snowblowers. In Canadian dollars, they were: 928 wheels: $3000 928 track: $3400 724 track: $3400 1132 track: $3500 I know they have tracks, hydro tranny, honda engines, etc. but they're at least $1000-1500 more than equivalent toro and ariens models. Is it gold, they re making?

Steve,

Sorry to hear that your wife has problems with turning the tracked 928.  I did went back and read your first post on your driveway situation and I felt you had made the right decision.  The 928 you bought is perfectly suited for the job.  Like you said, the other option was an ATV with plow, or blower, but that would have been a lot more money.

I have a 1132 and it is not without frustration the first year of ownership.  It is all with turning, everything else is wonderful.  These tracked machines are quite capable and they excel when the worse of conditions are present.  I can see that with 2" inch of snow, the tracks have way too much traction, 5"x 14" footprint, and  locked axle which is not conducive to turning. 

Turning it is an art in technique.  Perhaps you and/or your wife can try this and see it works for you.

1.  When approaching a turn, decrease forward speed to nearly crawl.  The slower the speed, the more time you have to execute the turn, but requires more effort.  The higher the speed, you have to be swift in making the turn, but less effort.  Find the speed that you are comfortable wtih.

2.  When turning, lean your hips into the handle bar.  You are allowing most of your legs and some of your upper body strength to turn.  Make sure your pocket zipper is closed so that it doesn't catch on the handlebars.   Keep the drive lever engaged and the tracks moving during the turn.

3.  When you have completed the turn, increase speed as necessary.


Now if that is still too much effort, try these two techniques in conjunction of the above:

1B.  Release drive lever, stop forward motion.  Step on foot pedal, raise and lock front bucke to high positiont.  Engage drive.
2B.  Release drive lever, stop forward motion.  Step on foot pedal, lower and lock front bucket to middle position.  Engage drive.

Step 1B lifts skids shoes as to not dragging them on the ground while turning.  Your snowblower has a 2.5' x 2' footprint and lower center gravity.  Don't try to out push a sumo wrestler only by sheer strength.  You may need to employ 1C to make turning easier.

1C.  Exert down pressure on the handle bar.  This puts more weight and shifts the pivot point to the back of the tracks, increasing your overall leverage.

aa335 wrote:

All good ideas aa335. Sadly I did tell here these as did the dealer we bought from when we tested it. Slow or fast bucket up or down there is no way to get around the fact that my wife is 83 lbs and 4'10" tall. She did try and muscle it around and i repeatedly told her NOT to do that we did practice just turning on a cleared section, slow speed and even with the handles all the way down it's way above her hips. So she's using her chest to move it and it's just too much for her. I will speak with the dealer today and see if they will take it back. I don't want to part with it but if my wife can't use it and when I'm out of town, who will? Our neighbors are quite far and no one can help. It's teh right machine but having a small petite wife means making allowances for many things. my wife is great, so hopefully the Honda dealer will help us out.

Steve,

Soon after I posted, I remembered you had mentioned about your wife size and weight, I realized that technique will not work unless the hips is at least level to the handlebar and at least weigh 125 lbs. 

Like Borat have said, maybe a wheeled version of the HS724 would be more suitable for your wife.  I know it's a locked axle, but it is lighter so turning it will be easier.  All wheeled snowblower will slip at one time or another.  It depends on if the surface is icy or if the tires have enough bite on the snow or make contact with the pavement.  Hopefully your dealer can work something out with you.

With amount of driveway that you have, it's always useful to have a single stage snowblower around for the light, up to 6 inch snow.  I have a 10 year old Honda HS621 (originally $850, now no longer available in the US, currently $1300 Canadian, yessir that is correct, single stage unit) and I find it quite enjoyable to use, it's gutsy enough tackling end of driveway pile up to 12 inches.  However, it does not have the throwing distance, maneurability, or the slick convenience of the Quick Chute of the new Toro 221Q / 421Q.  My neighbor has the 221Q and I like it.  Very efficient and intelligent rubber auger and metal/plastic bucket design coupled with a very capable 2 stroke engine.

A possibility given your situation could be an 8-10hp MTD track machine.  They have triggers under the handlebar levers which cause tank like steering by disengaging one or the other track.  They can do slight to zero turns without effort. 

 

The tossing ability is on par with any similarly powered machine.  The weight is ok and they dig in well enough but slightly less than a similar Toro or Ariens.  With a slightly smaller cut you can work through the more difficult areas like EOD piles.

 

For reliability they are ok but an MTD and down a few notches from the big guns.  The friction disks wear out sooner but can last for 10 years or more, are easy to replace and inexpensive.  Another weak point compared to the better machines is a small worm gear. But that also is easy to replace and can be bought as an individual part, inexpensive, compared to the big machine names, and also fairly easy to replace.

 

MTD I think has discontinued making the tracked models.  There are plenty available second hand from 200 to 400 and parts readily available.  I’ve had several with various problems of support bearing, worm gear or friction disk but never a track problem.  The track design is fairly simple but robust enough to last. 

 

The auger drive is done with two ½ inch belts rather than one.  They grip well and will toss heavy snow the same as any machine in the hp class.  They’ll do as well in slush and bog down with the best of them, except for Honda and Yamaha. 

 

The tracks are a slight advantage over a standard size tire with chains and not an advantage over 10 inch wide tires with chains.  For maneuverability they are much easier than Honda or Yamaha which I’ve used. 

 

For average eastern Massachusetts conditions they are fine. 

 

 

snowmachine wrote:
This article mentions production of engines, GC160 engines, and lawn mowers.  I didn't see any mention snowblowers, tillers, or string trimmer as complete assembly.

MTD still makes a track blower.  It is under the Troy-Bilt name at any local Lowes Home Improvement store.  What ever you do Steve, don't get an MTD.  It sucks, especially in slush.  If the Toro couldn't throw your slush then the MTD will not throw anything in your conditions.

Which makes me really surprised that the Toro didn't throw the slush.  I bought a 826oe and it threw 6-8 inches of slush 10-15 feet.  Maybe something was adjusted wrong?  I personally would get a single stage Toro and the dual stage 1028oxe.  The little Toro will be much easier to use for the wife but in worse case scenario she can always pull out the bigger machine.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I spoke with the dealer and they said they are willing to take back the Honda for a 10% restocking fee. So $250 for using it 2 hours....... Still we'll do that if they call us back to arrange a pickup time. No idea what we will get. I'm going to price out a John Deere tractor with a snowblower attachment probably $$$$$$. The other option is of course use a Toro 1028 and spplement it with a Toro 1800 since 2 stage throwers don't clean down to the pavement. I'd have to buy at least 100 feet of cord on top of my old outdoor extension cords. No idea at this point what I should do. I'd rather design my own snowthrower. I'd have a Honda engine with their hydrostatic transmission. The Chute system from the Toro and a tracked skid steer system that would allow either track to freewheel. I guess for slush a power shovel like the Toro 1800 is the only way to go.

Thanks everyone for your help, it's much appreciated.

aa335 wrote:

Here is another article: http://www.hondanews.com/categories/1092/releases/192

"Honda Power Equipment Mfg., Inc. Swepsonville, North Carolina General purpose engines Walk-behind lawn mowers Snow blower String trimmers Water pumps Tillers Aug. 1984 252,000 sq. ft. 380,000 mowers 2,000,000 engines 580"

Wikipedia hit for Swepsonville, NC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swepsonville,_North_Carolina

"The Honda Motor Company manufactures general purpose engines, walk-behind lawn mowers, snow blowers, string trimmers, water pumps, and tillers in Swepsonville."

Steve_Cebu wrote:
That's good that your dealer is giving you the return option.   If she can't use it then it's probably better to pay the restocking fee and get something that she can use.  Sounds like an appropriately sized 2 stage wheeled machine with either an automatic differential or a remote lever activated axle lock/unlock feature may be the ticket. 

For the slush a single stage would work.  I'm not familiar with the Toro 1800 power curve but I found a youtube video of one in action.  For my taste I'd rather have a gas powered engine than have to deal with dragging semi frozen extension cords behind me...but then again the electric model would be one less engine to maintain.  In any event I think that Toro is the brand to buy for single stage snowblowers.  I have a large 11.5 hp Ariens 2 stage and I love it...but I also have a 7hp Ariens single stage and it dosen't come close to matching the performance of my neighbors 5hp Toro single stage snowblower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQOBq-tF3pY

Paul7 wrote:

I sure hope they will follow through with it. For them it gives them a demo and they make $250 on it. No idea what we will buy. I can setup the Toro so she can use the electric start. No way can she pull over the B&S engine. She's strong enough but not tall enough to pull the cord far enough. I can reroute an extension to the other side of the garage for her to use to fire it up. I saw the video on YouTube, thanks, and I saw a few others as well. The fact that it's light and goes down to bare tar is what I like. I don't want a 2 stroke machine and a 4 stroke is pretty heavy. This is just to clean up after the big machine or for small snowfalls. I'm not thrilled about electricity and snow mixing. The Toro rubber augers look like they can really get down low but no way do I want my wife mixing gas. She's too blonde for that.