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

Hello,

This is my first post here.

I recently got a used old Honda HS35 snowblower for $80.

It starts and runs with choke 'closed'. The choke knob is loose, moves around with the vibration.And when I put the choke on 'open' position it most of the time surges (up and down). I added some seafoam and noticed that it helped it stabilize on that day. I started it again today and it still surges when the choke is 'open' during the first few minutes, then stabilizes. Is this normal?  To start the machine the choke needs to be 'closed' or it won't start.

 This is my first snowblower, I have not worked on a snowblower before.

Auger's rubber parts are not new, the previous owner said he replaced them 3 years ago.It looks like rubber parts are worn by about half an inch maybe.Because I can see where the tip of the rubber was at one point by looking at the very thin end of the rubber.

Scraper bar is not rubber, it looks like it is made from harder plastic and the edges have 3-5 indents froms scraping. Do I have to replace these this year or will they work for now?

Is the price I paid fair for the machine I described above? Is it too much?

Thanks.

MN_Runner wrote:

How do you connect the tachometer and where did you get it from, MN_Runner?  Is the RPM gauge reliable?Is it possible that it is not showing RPM lower than it really is?

Did you get the new spring?If it works in increasing the RPM to normal level I might get one as well.

Who else has Honda HS35?

Would not it be more dangerous if the snowblower is as heavy as HS35, on the pond?

HS35 is lighter than my HS928.  I almost sunk it last year when I went over the pond when the ice was not thick enough. 

I would buy tachometer from Norther Tools: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_524744_524744?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Engines-_-Small%20Engine%20Accessories-_-160590&ci_sku=160590&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}

MN_Runner wrote:

How do you connect it to snow blower?

Is your tachometer like this?: http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photo-Laser-Tachometer-Contact/dp/B001N4QY66/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1321906276&sr=8-4

If not, would something like this work?

I have never used this toy.  I think you have to tape someting (reflective part) on the rotating part and have the laser read it.  I am not too sure about the operation. 

You might be able to make an optical one work, somehow. But it would be a pain, I think. You'd need to get access to the crankshaft and put something reflective on it. Then leave that exposed (potentially dangerous, or likely not practical while also using the machine) any time you want to take a measurement.

The kind at the Northern Tool link are quite simple, you just wrap a wire around the spark plug wire, and it senses (via induction) when the spark plug fires. If the plug wire is exposed, you don't even have to install it permanently. Just wrap the tachometer wire around spark plug wire, and ground its other wire to the machine's frame.

RedOctobyr wrote:

Thanks for the explanation RedOctobyr.

Now I am the only one with a 30 year old snow blower.It was really a PITA to put some of the paddles.I damaged some parts around the collar.I gave a bath to the rubber in soapy hot water etc.Did not work.I have a couple of holes to match on bigger paddles and then the smaller ones.

blumonster,

You are a proud owner of 30 year old state-of-the-art snowblower.  I can vision myself sinking a ton of money on this machine so I quit before I lost more.  I thought about dropping GX160 but the height (base to shaft) was just too tall.

I have a concrete driveway, which is part of my development area code, so the rubbers would have wore out quickly and I have no desire to put those rubbers on again.  Look at the bright side, at least you have HS621 which is still being made today.

I have the early version HS35 (purchased 1982) snow blower that uses the discontinued 06761-730-000 Scraper kit or the 76215-730-000 "rubber shield", both of which are discontinued and very difficult if near impossible to find.  My rubber shield had cracked allowing snow to kick back (more or less at your feet).  Since the part is discontinued I decided to make my own part.  I ordered from a company named Zoro (www.zoro.com) product number G0805043.  This will get you a 3/16 inch thick piece of rubber (durometer 90 meaning hardness) that measures 6 x 36 inches for about $15.  My original piece measured 2-1/2 inches wide x 19-9/16 long.  You can get two pieces out of the replacement piece of rubber even if you do as I did and made the replacement 2-5/8 inch wide to allow for some wear.  Use a 3/8 drill to drill the needed (4) holes and make sure you insert the metal spacers into the holes.  They should be snug.

This worked like a charm.  Hopefully I can get a few more years old of the snow blower which runs beautifully in spite of it being 33 years old!

I guess it's a good thing that scraper is only a flat piece of rubber with holes.  Even though it is obsoleted, a duplicate one can be made easily.  If it was extruded or molded plastic, that would be a lot more difficult to duplicate the profile.

MN_Runner wrote:
Sorry to hijack this thread, but since there isn't much activity in this forum, I don't think anybody would get their panties twisted up.  :)

So I had a chance to replace the rubber paddles on both the HS520 and the Toro 421QE this winter.  So here's my assessment of what I experienced.

The Honda HS520 rubber paddles and plastic scraper replacement was fairly easy.  I bought the authentic Honda parts that included new shoulder bolts that matched up exactly with the holes on the rubber.  There was 19 fasteners to remove and install.  Everything was accessible with either a socket or box wrench  The rubber was fairly flexible and easily to align into the mounting holes on the auger.  Just take your time and make sure left paddles goes on the left side, right paddles on the right side.  An extra minute to organize the parts made the job goes smoothly  It took me about an hour to replace the paddles and scraper bar.  I had the machine in a heated basement so everything was warm and comfortable.  I would not have as much fun in a cold garage.

On the Toro 421QE, I decided to try the new Kage Polyurethane paddles.  These are the hefty commercial grade paddles and they look and feel tough.  It is very thick and stiffer than the stock paddles.  Here's the link if you want to find out more.  http://www.kageinnovation.com/en/snow-removal-products/rotor/  .  They are expensive, about 2x the price of Toro OEM paddles.  That's $39 a piece. 

I thought replacing the paddles on the Toro would be easier the Honda HS520, but that wasn't the case.  The single piece paddles means that I have to align all 6 fasteners into the holes.  That made it a little more difficult because the Toro bolts were slightly short when used with a thicker paddle.  Getting the threads to start was often difficult.  The paddles were stiff and didn't not bend as easily.  The 4 inner fasteners are relatively easy.  The two outer ones by the bucket sides were a pain.  I ended up taking the whole metal rotor assembly out of the bucket to install the auger.  That made the job 100% easier, even though it requires removing the drive belt, pulley, and bearing housing.  So if you get these thick Kage paddles. take the rotor off the snowblower and install the paddles.

So it took me about 1.5 hours to do the Toro with these Kage paddles.  if I had to do it again, it would taken me about 1 hour to do it I just remove the rotor in the first place. 

I haven't had snow to try out these new Kage paddles.  The fit is tight against the snowblower bucket.  I did run it dry and the extra heft of the paddles means that there will be more vibration and noise.  That is something to consider when upgrading to these.  But I suspect these paddles will attack the EOD piles more aggressively.  The tight fit means that it should be very effectively against slush.  I'll update when I have actual snow to test.