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

One is shown here: http://www.powerlandonline.com/product/PDST24/Snow_Blower_24_65_HP_on_Sale__free_shipping.html

Any information on who makes it, reliability etc appreciated.  Searching online was fruitless.

It doesn't seem to have pinned wheels....  am also curious how easily it'd navigate.

Honda have been building gasoline engine powered generators in China since 1994. That's fifteen years. You can bet that many of their Chinese built generators are powered by the GX200 engine. To say that the GX200 engine is not built in China might be inaccurate. As difficult as it is to determine how intertwined Honda is with Chinese manufacturing, it would take a fair amount of in depth research to find out exactly what they produce there. Here's a couple links just to give you an idea:

http://world.honda.com/China/

http://world.honda.com/power/engines/

I have a power washer with a 6 h.p. Mitsubishi engine on it. Nowhere on the engine does it show country of origin. Despite being a Japanese company, I strongly suspect it was built in China. I've been using it for several years now and it has performed flawlessly.

I feel secure in saying that if you have a Honda engine and it does not have the country of origin labeled on it somewhere, it probably was built in China.

My recent purchase of a Chinese built Champion generator with the GX200 clone has tempered my view of these little engine. Only time will tell for sure, but this engine is one of nicest running single cylinder OPE power plants that I've ever seen or used. From outward appearances, it's built with the same level of finish and detail as any genuine Honda engines I've seen. I'm truly impressed.

The Honda GX200 was made in Japan up until about 6 years ago; now it is made in Taiwan. I suppose some might say that -is- China; I wouldn't (nor would anyone that lives in Taiwan, hence the political tension). From a manufacturing quality standpoint, they are certainly two different places as well.

Snowmann wrote:
I agree that overall, Taiwanese manufacturing has been well established and building products to western standards considerably longer than main land China. However, when you look at how much Honda relies on China for auto parts manufacturing, one would think that their confidence in Chinese manufacturing is secure. As much as I hate to admit it, Chinese products being imported into this country have improved immensely over the last ten years or so.

Approximately twelve years ago, I was in a building products store buying some lumber. I noticed they had Chinese built vice grips in a big box on sale for $5.00 a set. They looked very much like brand name vice grips so I bought a couple pair. Weeks later, when I finally got around to needing a pair, I tried a set of the Chinese vice grips. At the time, I was fairly fit and did a fair amount of physical work and would consider myself a bit stronger than some men my size but certainly not powerful. When I applied pressure to the vice grips with one hand, the bottom handle and locking mechanism actually bent sideways rendering them useless. Talk about crap! These days, things have changed. Almost all tools sold in the big box stores are Chinese made and pretty damned good too. They also have life time warranties. I own numerous Chinese built tools and haven't had a problem since the original cheap vice grips. From this perspective, it's hard to ignore the fact that Chinese manufacturing is making huge strides in quality while we watch our own industries stagnating or sliding backward. It's disconcerting to see how our domestic manufacturers are building cheaper and less reliable products. Large appliances are a prime example. Washers and dryers don't last anywhere near as long as those built twenty years ago yet they cost twice as much! What's up with that?

Sorry to make assumptions when I said it appeared to be a MTD line of machine and LCT engine. The LCT is a Honda knockoff and I didn't want to imply that it is of low quality (I have one on my blower). I did want to point out the image and specs are the same as some MTD models. If it is a knock off, then the question of reliability should be addressed.

Sport

I had never heard of the LCT engines before so I checked them out. From the specs and appearance, the 208cc engine looks very much like the Mitsubishi engine on my pressure washer. I'd say that it's more of a Mitsubishi clone than a Honda. Either way, they look like nice engines too. If it runs anything like my Mitsubishi, it should be a fine engine. Here's a link for anyone interested.




http://www.j-thomas.com/Catalog/164_lct_engines.html

My Powerland 24" 6.5hp snowblower arrived today. I was a little nervous when I saw 2 belts just laying in the box and no air filter in the air filter container. I called Powerland and found out the belts were replacement parts and that snowblowers don't need/use air filters because filters tend to get wet, freeze up and bog down the engine in freezing weather. I have since verified this of most (if not all) snowblowers searching the web. The engine started with one pull and runs smooth and quiet.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the discharge chute was metal and similar to Ariens design vs. the plastic version used on MTD machines (as well as seen in some older Powerland machine photos.. or maybe non-Costco versions) .

However... it was obvious the metal chute attachment got smashed somewhere from the journey from The Far East to my house, causing the base of the attachment to be out of round and an obvious significant ding mark nearby. After applying great pressure (practically standing on it) I was able to round it out enough to fit on the connection however it did not rotate smoothly. I called Powerland again and they offered to mail me a new metal chute and volunteered to throw in extra shear pins for my troubles, obviously all free of charge. I did not have to beg or plead. They even called me back later to give me the tracking number and advised the part would arrive by the end of the week.

Only time will tell whether this machine is durable but it appears solid, runs smooth and quiet and the customer service so far has met, if not exceeded my expectations. I can't wait for the first big snow... hopefully only a few weeks away. Hope this helps.

Also, it appears the manufacture is Chongquing Sanding General Power (based on some web surfing I've done) and uses a 168F engine. They have factories in China, Viet Nam and Cambodia according to their web site. American SD Power is the company name on the box and appears to be a subsidiary of Sanding. To your other question, the balance is pretty good but since this is my first snowblower it is hard for me to compare on it's ability to navigate vs. others.

The snowblower and the engine should give you years of service if you do the standard maintenance. Keep us updated on how it works for you.

I'll start a new thread on the LCT engine so that this one doesn't get highjacked.

Sport

What's the drive train like, ie is it pin drive in two wheels or does it have a differential?

Can you post or PM their service number... thanks.

Here is the owner's manual with contact info for Powerland snowblowers.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/14733887/Powerland-GASOLINE-SNOW-THROWER-

Here are some reviews on Costco's website.  Doesn't look good ...

http://reviews.costco.com/2070/11497650/reviews.htm