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

Looks like a guy across the street from me traded in his old Toro for a tracked Honda.  We were all out clearing at least a foot of snow from our driveways.  End of driveway pile had to be a good 30" to 36" high & dense.  I watched the guy with the Honda.  He looked to be struggling quite a bit.  The machine seemed to want to climb the pile rather than dig into it.  The guy's a little goofy though.  He kept pushing it until it would stall.  Restart it and continue.  The guy directly across from me was using an 8 h.p. 24" Troybilt and he was doing much better than the Honda.  My Simplicity chewed through it quicker than both of the above mentioned machines.  I suspect that would possibly be due to a power advantage.  Can't say what the Honda's power is.  Once it was away from the e.o.d snow, it was throwing snow pretty good.  At least as well as the Troybilt but not in the same league as the Simplicity.  Neither in volume or distance.  However, from the looks of the Honda, it might only be around 7 h.p..  Looks kind of small but that could be due to the tracks making it look lower to the ground.    

Interesting,  I never used one but I always assumed that the track models would excel in that scenario.   Personally I think that the old design where the augers protruded well in front of the auger housing were better at cutting through EOD snow than the more modern design in which the augers are flush with the front of the housing.  My sense is that the change to the new design was made for safety reasons.

Of course the older Toro's with the Power Shift were the cream of the crop for handling EOD packed snow.  Don't know why Toro eliminated those models but it was likely due to the manufacturing costs.

borat wrote:

Sounds like he might have believed what the salesman told him, or he thinks it's a tank because it has tracks. Then again, he could just be having fun with his new toy.

Could be he was checking the salesman’s claims such as this thing will go through any snow. I’ve always thought tracks were a bad idea on a snow thrower. Tracks are designed to spread out the weight so a machine doesn’t sink in to snow, mud or your lawn. I don’t see where that would benefit a snow thrower that’s used to remove snow from a hard surface (road, sidewalk, frozen lawn). Unless the tracks have metal cleats I doubt they get as much traction as good quality wheels. If you need more traction, put chains on your wheels.  What do other think about wheels vs. tracks?

The guy with the new Honda traded in an old 8 h.p. Toro that was, well, pretty pathetic.  It was throwing snow maybe fifteen feet on a good day.  Probably needed  a bit of work.   It looked like a pretty old piece.  Had chrome handle bar and the big drum with blades on it for an auger.   Don't  know the guy but it would appear that the word maintenance is not in his vocabulary.  

I was also surprised to see him struggling so much with the Honda.  I know the dealer who sells them.  A champion bullsh!tter to say the least.  He probably told this guy that being a Honda, it would easily handle any situation.  The way this guy was forcing the machine into the pile you'd think he had a front end loader.  I suspect he learned a bit of a lesson today.   Looked like it did a nice job throwing regular snow but certainly wasn't spectacular. 

borat wrote:

Once I saw online a guy doing the same thing with a tracked Honda.  He had it going full speed and still pushing it with all his strength.  All this happen with a vehicle on the side and a store in front.  I think he was demoing the snowblower.

Anyways, this makes me chuckle that anyone would attempt to push a tracked snowblower.  That's about as effective as pushing an elephant's arse.  Even with the drive disengaged in neutral, it still takes about 80-100 lbs of force to get it to start crawling. 

Yeah, I suspect that the guy's head was pumped full of so much b.s. that he actually believed it.   Live and learn.

Funny thing is that during the last storm we had about a week ago, he was out with his old Toro crawling along painfully slow, dribbling snow out of the spout at a pathetic rate while I was moving along nicely.  I was pumping snow as good as one could expect from a good size, decent running machine.   I have to admit that I had almost perfect conditions.  The snow was just right (same for him too though), and the wind was in my favour for once.   I was hurling an almost solid stream of snow a good 40 feet or more.   The snow on the lawn was being kicked up into a bit of a cloud from the stuff landing on it.   I noticed this guy watching from a distance.  I'm wondering if that little display might have prompted him into replacing the old Toro?     

   The Honda should easily do better than the machines Borat mentioned and toss much further.  I've used the Honda.  The guy probably did not have the height  set properly.   I’ve thrown a number of times together in the same conditions with the maintenance guy next door who clears with a Honda.   It takes a 10 or 11 to keep up distance wise with an 8hp Honda.  Even with a 10 or 11 I could not keep up to him on straight runs but quite a difference.  For digging in at their bottom setting they are something similar to a Toro PowerShifter and drop all the weight to the bucket. 

 

   A new addition here in the last few weeks is a Yamaha YS624T which is a 6 hp track machine very similar to a Honda except better made and I think will out perform a similarly powered Honda.  The motor is an L-head which runs at 400 RPM.  The crank is on roller bearings.  The auger gearbox has 4 roller bearings inside and the arms supported on roller bearings.  The impeller like most is on roller bearings.  There are more roller bearings on the tractor axles.  It’s an impressive machine.  I don’t know what the impeller and auger speeds are but they are certainly higher than used in standard US machines.

 

   I’ve been using it on the same day in the same conditions for comparison to a newer Ariens 1028 with a rebuilt motor in peak condition with fat tires, a newer Ariens 11.5OHV 24 inch with the latest standard tires, and a Yard King 12OHV 33 with very strong compression and super fat Xtracks.  The 624 throws just shy of the the big machines.  It ploughs through snow better, and is much easier to handle.  I would easy put the 624 against a 9hp and match it for distance and a speed run.  For digging in it has the back foot bar for easily changing the bucket height and weight distribution for conditions.  It’s the most impressive machine I’ve ever used and that’s even about a Honda.

   A Honda is very close to the Yamaha.  I just can’t see the Honda having so much difficulty unless the guy was just flubbing up.

I suspect that operator error might very well be a significant factor. 

trouts2 wrote:

There was a mention of the Yamaha YS624 in a Yamaha forum which outperformed the bigger engine Honda 1132.   He said it ran circles around the 1132, for what ever it means, it doesn't say much.  That's about as useful information when someone bash by saying "Ford Sucks, Chevy's Rule".   That's just blind brand loyalty .  However, your description of the Yamaha indicates that this is very nicely spec and designed machine, even if it has modest hp (or underrated) for its capability, allows it to put most of the HP produced to do actual work.   Is this YS624T a new model or is it the one discontinued for sale in the US many years ago?

Did I read this post correctly?  The Yamaha L head motor runs at 400 RPM? 

I think the US, there are regulations on how fast the impeller/auger speeds can be. 

borat wrote:

I would think the operator was not aware of how to operate his machine in most efficient manner. 

By the way, was his old Toro a 2 stage machine or single stage?  If he's going from a single stage to a 2 stage machine, there's some learning curve/adjustment in methods involved.

Never mind, I don't think Toro or any manufacturer made an 8 HP single stage, yet.  it's highly likely operator related issues.

>>There was a mention of the Yamaha YS624T in a Yamaha forum which outperformed the bigger engine Honda 1132.  

 

   I’ve used an 8hp Honda track and the first few times I though it was an 11 because of its performance but later found out it was an 8 and amazed.  A YS624T will not come very close to a Honda 11 in anything performance wise.  The quality of the Yamaha is a tad better.

   A guy brought over his YS828T today and we tested together.  It’s was an impressive machine but also would not out perform a Honda 11.  His 8 beat my 6 in distance by about 5 feet. 

 

>>However, your description of the Yamaha indicates that this is very nicely spec and designed machine, even if it has modest hp (or underrated) for its capability.

 

   My guess is it’s honestly rated which would be tough to compare to US ratings because of fudging and fibbing.  (Yesterday I was at Lowes and asked about engines on the MTD’s knowing very well who made them.  The sales guy assured me they were Tecumseh engines made in America.  I pressed and he assured me that the info was direct from MTD people who came to the store.)

 

>>  Is this YS624T a new model or is it the one discontinued for sale in the US many years ago?

 

   It’s a 1987 model and has not been for sale here for many years.  Parts are still available though.  I got it from an owner who was the only owner.  He garaged it, took care of it well, and it looks to me did the maintenance.  It’s tight, paint in great shape, everything works and outperforms larger machines easily.   Its got a very well built engine and plenty of power.  The key I think partly is the crank is on roller bearings. It may have a cast iron bore but I’m not positive.

 

>>Did I read this post correctly?  The Yamaha L head motor runs at 400 RPM? 

   No, I fat fingered 4000 RPM.  It’s run speed is high and sounds nice. I’ve asked about the impeller and auger speed but have not found out yet what they are.  Someone has suggested the impeller runs at 2000 rpm but I don’t think so.

   Whatever the impeller and auger speeds are they are obviously higher than US makers speeds.  There equal to or higher than a Honda.

 

>>I think the US, there are regulations on how fast the impeller/auger speeds can be.

  Never heard of a limit on this. ?

borat wrote:

Speaking of BS hype, I had a car salesman told me on a test drive to just go ahead and drive the VW Jetta around a corner in wet pavement without slowing down.   He said the car electronics would take care of me.  This was in downtown traffic with pedestrians on the crosswalks.  I told him that I've have owned 3 cars and driven for a total for 200,000 miles and that is the stupiest thing I've ever heard.  I told him to get out of the car, stand on that corner and I'll do what he suggested.  He didn't say anything after that, which was good, because I can actually concentrate on evaluating the car instead of hearing him boast and bash other cars.

trouts2 wrote: 

I was looking into getting one of these older Yamaha snowblowers.  The older Yamahas, while well built, are aging machines and needs more maintenance and attention.  I need something that I can rely on to clear the driveway and sidewalks without thinking about it.  At the end, I settled with a Honda, after much going back and forth between an Ariens/Simplicity. 

Thanks for clarifying the engine RPM at 4000.  For a moment I thought Yamaha went over the top and put in a direct injection turbo diesel engine purring at 400 RPM.