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

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jrtrebor


Location: Michigan - 3 hours north of Chicago on the lake
Joined: Feb 10, 2010
Points: 539

Snow at last!
Original Message   Dec 31, 2011 10:34 pm
Happy New Year to everyone

"Hooray"
Snows on it's way to central western Michigan.


Winter Storm Warning
Statement as of 9:42 PM EST on December 31, 2011

... Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from 10 am Sunday to
8 PM EST Monday...

Hazardous weather...

* rain and snow will transition to all snow by noon Sunday. The
   snow will continue through Monday.

* Potential for snow accumulations of at least 8 inches across
   portions of the warning area by Monday evening. Localized
   heavier snow bands near little and big Sable points along
   with much of Van Buren and Allegan counties could lead to
   amounts over a foot.

* It will become very windy late Sunday morning with wind gusts
   expected to reach 50 to 60 mph through Sunday night. This
   will cause considerable blowing snow.

Impacts...

* near blizzard conditions possible.

* Snow covered to icy Road conditions developing by mid
   afternoon Sunday and lasting through Monday due to snow...
   blowing snow and falling temperatures.

* Power outages and downed tree limbs likely Sunday and Sunday
   night due to very strong winds.


This message was modified Dec 31, 2011 by jrtrebor
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RedOctobyr


Location: Lowell area, MA
Joined: Nov 5, 2011
Points: 282

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #59   Jan 20, 2012 6:19 pm
When it would clog, could you tell if the paddles were still spinning? Was anything coming out at all, or still getting flung around up front? If the belt was slipping that badly, I'd expect that the paddles might have stalled out entirely, and maybe you'd be able to see some evidence of that? If they had definitely stopped, then you're definitely chasing a belt issue, and you can narrow down the possible clogging causes.

With the fluffy snow, there wouldn't have been much resistance against them. Could you try pulling the plug wire (or killing ignition, etc), hold the bail down with something, and try rotating the paddles by hand? Can you tell if they can turn without the engine turning over with them? I replaced the belt in my Ariens while getting it ready for action. It did have a belt tension adjustment using the idler pulley, which I had to shift quite a bit to snug it up to the spec in the manual. Just trying to think of ways you can check the belt without opening the machine, as removing the cover on mine was a bit of a pain. Don't know if the Hondas are the same way.

Edit- Another option for checking the belt- With the engine off, hold the bail down with something to engage the paddles (I like zip ties). Stick something (a piece of wood, whatever) into the paddles to jam them up so they can't turn. Now pull the cord, and see if the engine can turn with the paddles stuck. That would let you put more torque on the belt than you could by simply fighting the engine's compression as you turn the paddles by hand. Plus you can't somehow lose a finger
This message was modified Jan 20, 2012 by RedOctobyr
FrankMA


Location: Merrimack Valley/Northeastern Mass
Joined: Jul 1, 2010
Points: 587

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #60   Jan 21, 2012 5:31 am
Thanks aa & Red. I'll check it today at some point when I have a chance. Going to be near a Honda dealer today so I may just stop in and get a new belt. I'd rather have one on hand when I remove the belt cover just in case it's needed. I actually meant to do this when I first got it but never got around to it. We're supposed to get up to 3" or so today so I'll be able to put it to the test when I'm done. I'll let you know how it goes.

Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT, Honda HS928TA, Honda HS621AS, Honda HS520A, Toro CCR3000 (work in progress), Honda HS624WA (sold 08/23/2010), Stihl BR550 Backpack Blower, Stihl MS250, McCulloch MS1635, Honda EM6500SX Generator
MN_Runner


Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Joined: Dec 5, 2010
Points: 622

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #61   Jan 21, 2012 8:49 am
If you like you can generously spray silicone lubricant inside the chute starting from the base to exit.  If the belt is in a really bad shape, the inside of the belt should be hard and very slippery with burnt black stuff.  I was a bit surprized to learn that it does not take too much engage/disengage cycles to beat up the belt.  Hopefully the belt will do the trick.
FrankMA


Location: Merrimack Valley/Northeastern Mass
Joined: Jul 1, 2010
Points: 587

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #62   Jan 21, 2012 9:32 am
I got a new belt and replaced the old one which was well worn and stretched a bit. The old belt came off the pulleys very easy while the new one took some coaxing. It feels much more responsive than before so I'm sure that this was most likely the problem. I cleaned what I believe was the remnants of the old belt from the housing and gave everything the once over. I also did an oil change while I had it up on my bench just for good measures as I never got around to doing that either - I know, I should be ashamed of myself!  

We're getting about 3" or so of the light fluffy stuff this morning into the early afternoon so I'll give it a whirl and report back later today. This is the same type of snow we got the other day when I first used my new to me HS621 so it will be a comparable test.

This message was modified Jan 21, 2012 by FrankMA


Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT, Honda HS928TA, Honda HS621AS, Honda HS520A, Toro CCR3000 (work in progress), Honda HS624WA (sold 08/23/2010), Stihl BR550 Backpack Blower, Stihl MS250, McCulloch MS1635, Honda EM6500SX Generator
aa335


Joined: Nov 29, 2008
Points: 2434

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #63   Jan 21, 2012 10:00 am
If the old belt was very easy to come off, stretched belt very likely is the root cause of the clogging. I haven't had problems with it since I usually perform frequent maintenance and replace parts that seems questionable. When I last replaced the belt on the HS621, there were a lot of black dust, tell tale signs that the belts are wearing. Also, if you're running out of holes to adjust the belt tension, it's too stretched out and should be replaced. Also when adjusting the tension, too much will cause premature wear and stretch. I don't spray anything into the chute because I've never felt it needed it.
FrankMA


Location: Merrimack Valley/Northeastern Mass
Joined: Jul 1, 2010
Points: 587

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #64   Jan 21, 2012 3:13 pm
There was a bunch of fairy dust inside the belt housing so I'm sure it should work better. I also took up a little slack by adjusting the cable one notch down to tighten it up a bit. I did this after I tried it out and it still seemed a bit lackluster in the distance department. Going out now to give it another shot and see how much (hopefully) the distance performance improves.

Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT, Honda HS928TA, Honda HS621AS, Honda HS520A, Toro CCR3000 (work in progress), Honda HS624WA (sold 08/23/2010), Stihl BR550 Backpack Blower, Stihl MS250, McCulloch MS1635, Honda EM6500SX Generator
aa335


Joined: Nov 29, 2008
Points: 2434

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #65   Jan 21, 2012 4:26 pm
I'm afraid the HS621 is the old school design where throughput was favored over distance.   On light fluffy snow, it doesn't throw very far.  However, the paddle design and the engine perform well under heavier wet snow.   It is most impressive moving a full bucket height of snow.  Although the auger doesn't pull itself forward very much, you have to push it to feed it snow.  :)
FrankMA


Location: Merrimack Valley/Northeastern Mass
Joined: Jul 1, 2010
Points: 587

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #66   Jan 21, 2012 4:55 pm
Well the new belt and some adjustments made a BIG difference! WOW is all I can say. After using the HS520 with GC engine I became slightly disillusioned with SS machines in general but that's all changed now. Once I got the HS621 dialed in properly (subject to change without notice) it was really fun to operate and did a great job on my +/- 130' driveway, garage apron area and EOD.

A few notes of interest: The HS621 seem to throw best when the chute is in the zero degree location, not quite as good to the left or the right but acceptable. I was getting a good 15' - 20' feet throwing distance straight on which was really cool. I realized that I had to change my usual course of attack that I would use with the 2 stage in order to get good full bucket, zero degree, straight on runs for it to work the best with the SS machine.

Once I got it figured out (and I'm still learning) how to manipulate this SS machine, it became quite easy and fun to operate. A slight lift to the bucket and you get pulled along nicely - too much of a lift and you're chasing the SOB. Not having to muscle around a 250 lb. 2 stage for less than 6" of snow is a lot less work than usual. I cannot wait to use this bad boy in some heavier snow because I think it's going to kick some serious A$$!!!

I might just have a new "go to" machine for anything less than 8" or 10" of white gold!

This message was modified Jan 21, 2012 by FrankMA


Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT, Honda HS928TA, Honda HS621AS, Honda HS520A, Toro CCR3000 (work in progress), Honda HS624WA (sold 08/23/2010), Stihl BR550 Backpack Blower, Stihl MS250, McCulloch MS1635, Honda EM6500SX Generator
aa335


Joined: Nov 29, 2008
Points: 2434

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #67   Jan 21, 2012 5:23 pm
Got 5 inches of snowfall on Friday night.  It was a good mix of wet heavy snow, then transitioning to lighter fluffy stuff.  Not a big snowfall, but enough to have fun.  Of course, this kind of snow, I took out the Toro 421QE single stage machine, and my 30" human powered snow pusher.  :)  Couldn't wait until Saturday morning to clear the snow, instead got out there Friday night while some snow was still falling.

I got my OPE fix and some good exercise with manual shoveling.

Unless there's a 20" blizzard, I'm very happy with the Toro SS.  It has plenty of power and the agility cannot be understated. 
FrankMA


Location: Merrimack Valley/Northeastern Mass
Joined: Jul 1, 2010
Points: 587

Re: Snow at last!
Reply #68   Jan 21, 2012 5:36 pm
100% on the agility factor.It was nice to not feel kind of beat up after a snow clearing session. I realize that 20" of snow is a lot harder to clear than 6" or 8" and absolutely requires a 2 stage machine but it's sooo nice and easy  to manipulate that SS machine as compared to the 2 stage. File this one under using the right tool for the job at hand!
This message was modified Jan 21, 2012 by FrankMA


Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT, Honda HS928TA, Honda HS621AS, Honda HS520A, Toro CCR3000 (work in progress), Honda HS624WA (sold 08/23/2010), Stihl BR550 Backpack Blower, Stihl MS250, McCulloch MS1635, Honda EM6500SX Generator
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