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

I bought a HONDA HS35 snow thrower in garage sale last fall. It runs great, 4 stroke, except will not throw snow at all. I determined significant space between paddle and housing meaning they need to be replaced. I expect belt should be replaced as well. Parts are not cheap. I am wondering if this unit is worth fixing or not. I have awesome Toro 16 inch CC whatever it is and it works great year in and year out. We have 150 ft driveway, in snow belt/lake effect a few miles inland of Lake Michigan, three car pad by garage. Bottom line I need a good, reliable unit for the tons of snow we get. Is the old Honday worth fixing? Do they throw snow very well when paddles are in good shape? Seems a bit underpowered. Thanks!!!!

One more thing - The Honda seems extremely heavy - is that an issue? Thanks

PeteB88 wrote:

The weight is an issue only if you need to lift it onto a vehicle often.   Other than that, the extra weight helps keeps it from hopping around on the pavement.

The HS35 model is fairly old, being Honda's first single stage model to the US market..  The HS35 is a underpowered for today's standard.  If you don't expect too much from this 3.5hp snowblower, it does fine for most situations.  Still beats a shovel if you picked it up at a yard sale for cheap.

My dad has an 8 year old HS621, next generation to the HS35.  The GX engine runs great, quiet and smooth, starts up on first pull with no effort.  However, it doesn't throw snow very far and gets clogged when pushed into thick snow.  I found out that the paddles and scraper bars were worn, and auger drive belt was slipping.  I decided to do some maintenance on it, costs around $100 in parts and 2.5 hours labor by myself.  Here's a thread http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/34587-0-1.html . 

You may want to consider doing it for the HS35.  For around $100 and some elbow grease if you are mechanically inclined, you can have a machine running for another 3-5 years.  Parts are still available for this model on the internet.  I believe that it is a robust design so with a little care and maintenance, it should provide reliable service for many more years.