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

Anyone know if Yamaha will start selling snowblowers in the US anytime soon ?Also does anyone know whats the difference between a Yamaha and a Honda as far as internally and the transmission??

Borat,

I didn't know you were interested in the HS621.  This model represents how they used to make things heavy duty.  I had a chance to take one apart and see how it can be more expensive to build than the current HS520.  For a single stage, the HS621 has full metal bucket and discharge chute, and the venerable GX160 4-stroke commercial grade engine. 

Dealers around my area somehow have agreed on a common price.  There was very little discount.  They keep very little on stock, so if you don't want it at the prices they set, it will be sold to the next customer.  This winter, inventory pretty much dried up beginning of December.  However, I do credit them for being straight forward and polite, they do not play price games.  They do not even try to steer me to other brands or over-sell the Honda.  No BS.  They sell you what you fancy.  No hard sell, at least that was my experience in this area.  Customers make up their mind if they want to pay Honda premium price, or they don't. 

I did come across a wheeled HS928 which was 2007 model new that was listed at 10% discount.  And another 5 year old used but pristine wheeled HS928 at $1800.  So even on used and leftover stock, the prices on both of these were firm and the only thing they were giving away was delivery charge.  This could range from $25 to $80 depending on the distance from the dealership. 

I have nothing against Honda other than the price.  If there was a comparable wheeled Honda to my Simplicity 9528 for a few hundred more, I'd probably go for it.  However, around here, an equivalent Honda is nearly double the price.  The Honda is an excellent snow blower.  I'll admit that it's probably a better overall machine than a comparable Simplicity  but  I don't think it's twice as good.  Not by a long shot. 

Yes, Honda prices are high.  It is on the right side of the diminishing returns curve where 100% increase in price yields 20% increase in performance, if even that.  If high end audio follows this curve, it's a relative bargain, so to speak.