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

Looking to get a replacement belt for the auger for a Honda HS621 single stage blower.  Anyone know what size this is?  I'd like to get a generic one versus the Honda branded one.  Thanks.

Also, has anyone made a steel scraper bar for their single stage snowblower?  The HS621 comes with a plastic one which wears quickly.  I like to replace it with a more durable one made of steel. 

For the scraper (shave) bar, I made one for a 2 stage and I don't imagine it would be much different. Pick up a piece of 1/8 or 3/16 flat bar of the appropriate width at HD. Cut, drill.

My only concern would be drilling the mounting holes in the right place (use the worn one as a template?) and possibly bending the ends (if yours needs that). You might want to consider replacing the hardware that holds it on while you're at it. Paint everything when you're finished but before final assembly. I slopped some thick grease in the areas that touch other parts to further help prevent rust, then painted all the exposed threads before greasing them. You'll see why as you struggle to remove the old ones.

Thanks for all the helpful tips.   I'm trying to figure how to cut those slots.  I only have a cordless drill and I don't think those drill bits are designed to make slots.

Take the old belt off your machine and bring it in to a bearing supply company.  They should be able to match it or at least order one.  Make sure you tell that it's for a snow blower. 

As far as the scraper bar goes, I'd go to a scrap yard to see if they have a piece of stainless steel of the appropriate width and cut it to length.   Cutting the slots will be a major chore.  Particularly with stainless steel.  It's tough stuff to work with.  Especially if you don't have the tools.  At the very least, you should have a drill press.  That way you could tape your old scraper to it to use as a template, drill two or three holes per slot and use an appropriately sized file to make the slots.  Sounds like a lot of work though.  A machine shop might be able to help you out.  It will cost you but from my experience, if they're not busy, they're pretty reasonable.  The up side is, that if you put on a wide scraper bar with an inch of material on either side of the slots, you can reverse the scraper bar and use both sides.  It should last a very long time.. If you use stainless, it might be the last time you'll have to do it.    

borat wrote:

What makes a belt suitable for a snowblower?

aa335 wrote:

The belt has to be of the correct composition to work in cold temperatures, with high horse power loads as well as stop and go applications.   You can get a belt of the same size but designed to run a compressor on an air conditioner or similar constant load device.  It will last in that application but will not last nearly as long on a snow thrower.   Not all belts are created equally.  It's best to have the number of the belt being replaced.  If the bearing/belt outlet doesn't have it, they can order it.  It's usually around one third to one half price of the same belt at a dealership.   

borat wrote:

Thanks for all this useful information.  Not that I like to take sales away from my local OPE dealership, but I like not to get shafted with ridiculous prices, save a few bucks so I can spend on other things. 

aa335 wrote:
I wouldn't be too worried about the dealership suffering from the loss of a few sales.  There are more than enough uninformed people in the world to keep them afloat.  Maybe when enough of us stop throwing our money away at the dealerships, they'll reduce their prices to reasonable levels.  The dealerships know they're sitting on a gold mine with their parts and service departments.  That's where the gravy is.  Ignorant customers willing to donate disproportionate amounts of their money for outrageously priced parts will  ensure they stay in business.   What I find even more aggravating is that the a few  manufacturers, historically renowned for build quality are building  machines to lower quality levels which in turn require more maintenance and parts.  The monster is feeding itself and it's the consumer who's paying for the groceries....