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,

After watching your great video clips, I am a convert.  Toro snowblowers are really great machines at a reasonable price and Honda does not appear any better.  My tummy is aching really bad from paying too much for a Honda and am too broke to buy some anti-acid medication.  I only wish I have gotten a Toro and save some serious money.  My poor experience with a Toro lawnmower 15 years ago steered me away from a great Toro snowblower (Minnesota Made).   Thanks and keep up the good work. 

Steve_Cebu wrote:
The nice thing about Honda is the chute is all metal.  One can chose to line it with plastic if one desires.  Oh, and when the gravel hits, it makes a nice metallic sound.

Try lining the Toro stock plastic chute with metal and it just doesn't work so well.    And how the heck do you wax plastic? 

Nice videos by the way.  Well sort of.  I was hoping to see a 83 lb gymnast wrestling a snowblower, instead, I just see some big dude blowing snow downwind.  What's with that?    Let's make some good use of that HD camera.  Hehehe.

MN_Runner wrote:

You're welcome  Honda makes a great machine, I had one. Yeah the cost is a bit steep and No joystick, did you see how fast I could whip the chute around in the video? It was this video around 20 seconds in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u66VEMXQtPA  Just flick and go. One bad experience with a brand doesn't make them all bad. Don't sell Honda short tho it's a class act and you already own it. Take some videos of it and you'll be more impressed. Have your GF/Wife/SO take some videos of you doing the driveway. Then post them on YouTube and put the links on here.

aa335 wrote:

Yeah I love the sound of rocks denting metal LOL!  You do have a point you can't wax plastic it's already as slick as a no-stick teflon pan.

Thanks my wife actually wanted to be in the videos but the wind picked up and she was having trouble with just using the camera. seroiusly the wind at times would blow most of the full stream of snow right back at me in several spots. I promise you will see an 83 lb. bodybuilder manhandling the Toro next storm that doesn't have 35 mph winds. Got some good distance shots and measurements tho. I won't get the camera until Feb that's when I'll get it. I really would love to get a GoPro HD Hero and mount it on my snowblower.

http://www.goprocamera.com/video

Now imagine that mounted onto the dash of my Toro! Widescreen Hi-Def 720p60p awesome! and waterproof! $300! can't have that and the other one tho.

Steve,

I was doing fine until when you cleverly showed that slick video then I was having a major stomach pain.  My driveway is a joke compared to yours.  I have a pond behind my house so I have been plowing to make an ice rink for the kids. My city has a much nicer skating rink and it is free.   In reality, I have been plowing there to justify my expansive purchase and convince myself that I did the right thing.

MN_Runner wrote:

Yeah the joystick chute control is amazing.  We have 11 acres but most of it is downhill and unusable. The backyard is almost non-existant and grass won't really grow there. I don't think anyone needs to justify why they spent $X,xxx on a snowblower. I had the 928TAS and gave it up for the Toro 1028. There were factors other than my wife not being able to use it. The rear skid shoes do not work very well on our driveway. They tend to hang up a lot whereas side skid shoes don't. There were some other minor things but at least you have a machine that will last you 15 years or more. We do have a really big driveway very long and in one part pretty darn wide. The EOD is almost 40 feet wide at the very top and on a slant to boot. Pics don't show that but it's why I always throw the snow in one direction. I'd love to have a pond behind my house! That's be awesome!

Steve_Cebu wrote:
I'm considering one of these cams to capture snow drifting in my car, trail rides on a mountain bike, and sledding.  I just wished it had a screen display so I know what I'm pointing at.

I noticed a lot of cameras get electronic video noise when placed near an engine.  It's kinda of wavy noise like the camera is sloshing around in water.  I wonder if this HD Hero is shielded well enough against that.

Is there any other competent alternatives to the Gopro?

Honda's Have actual Hydrostatic Transmissions, not friction wheels

Honda's Have the Best Small Engines on the market.

Honda's are well designed

Honda's have fuel shutoffs, sediment cups that can be easily removed and cleaned, fuel drains, and other extra details that make the machine better.

Honda's have an Excellent Frequency of Repair record.

Honda's are The Best.

Honda's cost more because in life, you usually only get what you pay for.

aa335 wrote:

GoPro is THE camera to use over it's competitors by far. The Contour is a decent unit but has terrible sound. GoPro has a better pic and yeah the lack of even a viewfinder kinda bites but you do get a waterproof camera that will take anything you can throw at it. I don't know about the wavy electronic noise. You will get some "Jello shots" (rippling) all of that type of camera has them no matter who makes it. I don't think it's bad enough to be a problem. It's an action cam after all. But you can clean then up in post most of the time. Contour is GoPro's biggest competitor and there is another brand as well. Still it'd be awesome to try.

Hi New_Yorker,

If you can please show us the video of your HS928 blowing that monster snow.  I have seen HS1132 blowing monster snow but not too mcuh on HS928.