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

After breaking my Ariens 9hp twice this year (stripped worm gear in auger case) I want something tough and reliable for years to come.  With appropriate maintnance ofcourse.  I think I have narrowed my search down to two models.  Either the Honda 1032 or the Simplicity P1628E.

My driveway is about 150' long, 40' wide with a pretty good slope.  I also need to go along the side of the house to maintain access to the propane tanks out back.  Trouble there is the snow and ice comes off the steel roof packing in right on the  path that I need to keep clear.  This can be tougher that the snow at the end of the driveway after the plow goes through.

I like the Honda with tracks to get through the tougher stuff.  Not sure if the Simplicity will tend to ride up on it.  The downside of the Honda is the manuverablility (lack there of) and the inability to move the machine at all when not running.  A plus for the track system might also be to climb the steps to my back deck.  It would be neat to be able to snowblow the deck, but not sure if it is realistic to expect even the track dirve to climb the 25 steps up. 

The upside of the Simplicity is it looked to be a little better built.  Purely subjective from looking at them quickly, mayby it's the big steel plates instead of the tubes normally used for handle bars that make if look heavier duty.  The Simplicity's cast iron gear case looks heavier duty and the drive mechanism seems like it might be more reliable over time (less complex and fewer parts.)  The other thing I noted at my local dealers was the directional chute control.  The Honda seemed potentially better.  Well designed mechanical system.  The  Simplicity seems more convenient with the electric control and is easier to reach.  I think as convenient as the electric system is, I would prefer haveing the mechanical system rather than look for replacement parts in an electrical set up.  By chance can anyone say if the electric chute control will ever freeze up?

I'm trying to not factor in the cost of the machine, as I hope it will last long enough not to care.  Is there really a clear winner among these two?  Is honda engineering that good that it will outlast simplicities heavy duty machine?  Is the track system worth the loss of some manuverability?  Hopefully there is no bad decision between these two, I'm hoping someone can make some more educated points on either machine to help me decide.  I hate to by one and then wish for the other.  Thanks for any insight!

Thought I would add one last thing.  My drive way is course gravel on a gravel road.  For this reason I also thought that the height adjustability of the Honda track might be better.  My Ariens always throws the rocks until there is a good base of ice/snow.  Sometimes it digs the lawn going down the side of the house as well.

pgill wrote:

Great review.  I think my observations of both machines are similiar to yours.  However, I did not had a chance to test drive either machines.  I  bought mine when before there was any snow on the ground.

There's something about the clean and straightforward design of Simplicity that I really like.  The channel bars is the cat's meow.  It is solid and makes steering very precise.  The Honda is an example of thoughtful engineering.  It is complex and is expensive to fix if something does break.  The handles are tubular design, which does allow for some flex.  It is directly welded to the engine bed.  If and when it does break, it will be expensive and time consuming to replace.

As far as your observation of the tracks spinning on slick pavement, I can see that happening at full forward speed when you engage the drive lever.  The tracks overpowered available traction.  This is same as dropping the clutch at high RPM on slick surfaces, impressive wheelspin but doesn't there no forward motion.  It wasn't clear whether you had the bucket in the lowest position (scraping mode).  That would put more downforce on the front which in turn causes more resistance to the prevent the tracks from moving forward.  In my operation of the hydrostatic transmission, I would start out at a low speed and gradually increase the speed.  That's the beauty of hydrostatic transmission, you can drive it like a car.  Engaging the drive at full speed puts a lot of stress on the drivetrain, something one would not want to do often.

I don't think the Honda auger needs zerks fittings.  I checked out the assembly diagram and the auger is supported by bearings, not by a shaft that runs the whole side of each auger.  One can pump grease in there but I don't think it will help.

I actually prefer the Honda deflector control over the notches on Simplicity.  The deflector stays put and has never moved no matter how much snow is going through it.  In fact, it is a little tight now which needs a little bit of silicone lubricant to smooth it out.

On servicing the Honda on something major, I think it would require more time and labor to replace a part.  I spoke to an owner of an OPE store, he said that he had two Honda tracked machines that had oil leak.  The gasket had failed.  It took 4 hours to pull everything apart to get to the gasket and put it back together.  The cost of the repair somehow scared the customer and convinced hin to buy a new snowblower of a different brand.  I don't think it is as bad as it is presented.  These kinds of failures are rare.  The customer was probably steered into buying a new machine while the store owner fix up his Honda trade-in and turn around made a killing on the used sale.  The store owner came out ahead, made money on both transactions.  Unscrupulous but brilliant.

Enjoy your new Simplicity snowblower.  I would probably break it in gently to allow the gears, pulleys, levers to mesh nicely.  The engine will also benefit from not enduring sustained high load when new.  However, it's your machine, you can ram it into a ice encrusted snow bank if you so chooses.

aa335 wrote:

Yes, it was down in the scraping mode/position when the tracks spun.  Like I said, perhaps not a fair way to assess the power of the tracks, but that is the way I have always used my wheel blowers.  I agree that engaging the drive at full speed puts stress on the drivetrain and might not be a good idea all the time on the Honda.  This is why I kind of prefer the friction disk of the simplicity.  You can do it all day long and not be concerned at all.  I don't want to have to pull a lever to adjust speed everytime I make a turn at the end of the driveway.  Most seem to feel the Hydrostatic is overkill and very reliable, but I get more nervous about the what if's when using a system the way I want puts excessive strain on it.  I know I can change a friction disk myself, and I don't think the parts to do it are much more than $30 or 40 dollars.

I really may be wrong on this one, but I would look really close to the design of the augers.  I believe the auger shaft on the honda and simplicity are supported by ball bearings at the ends.  However the augers themselves simply sleave onto the shaft and are held in place by shear pins.  The honda fits rather tightly on, and I didn't see how there could be room for any tipe of bearing.  I did not see a way to get grease between the auger blade and shaft.  I read in another post somewhere that their augers had seized to the shaft because of lack of grease.  This defeats the shear pins and caused serious damage.  Their auger assembly was replaced under warrenty luckly.  They said they tapped and drilled to install there own grease zerks solving the issue.  I asked my dealer about this, so we went and looked at the machines he had outside.  He said he thought I was right and it was a plus for the Simplicity model.  If I had the Honda I wouldn't necessarily be upset over this at all, but I definetly would be sure if this was a issue and install the grease zerks.  It's really easy to do and completely solves the issue.  Infact, even if they were actually supported by bearings, I would do this.  If nothing else the small area between the shaft and tube can't fill with water that sits there causing rust if the void is already filled with grease.  Simple solution that could make a great machine even better I think.

-----Came back to edit this post.  I was surfing around different discussions on the blowers and came accross this;

 

Re: Greasing the auger shaft assembly Reply #10   Dec 22, 2005 10:31 pm

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So it appears they have some method of getting grease in there after all.  Not sure I fully understand what end bolt they are referring to, or how it would give access to any void between the auger shaft and blade sleave?  Probably easy enough to figure out if you have the machine infront of you to look at.  Hope it helps.  Might add the grease zerks if it makes doing the job regularly easier anyway, guess I just like greasing things.