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

Hi all, new to this forum after having searched for a solution to my surging hs 1132.
Among the several problems I've had with this machine is the severe pulling to the right when the bucket is in the mid or low position. I've put it on a flat surface and adjusted the shoes and scraper to manual specs and no luck. Shoes are even and scraper is even so no misalignment there. I've tried to adjust the shoes and scraper to counter the pull but nothing worked. Track tension is even. This is a pretty frustrating problem as I clean a long drive and fight against the pull the whole time - tiring and forget it if my wife ever has to run the machine. As usual, my honda dealer is no help whatsoever. I had to inform them of the icing kit I learned of on this forum after three years of bugging them about the surging, backfiring problem I was having.

Hi 9 Years ago walked into a Honda dealer and said I want the toughest machines to go through the snow drift at the end of my driveway, I have a bad back and i can't take it anymore. He sold me a Honda track. I am not a mechanic but I am mechanically inclined. So, please take what I write as you wish I don't have the answers just what has worked for me. I've usually had at least 8-10 small engine machines in my business. I just retired. I have a Honda HS928. This is my 9th season. The blower kicks butt. It operates flawlessly. However, there are issues and I would think Honda would have by now taken a look at the design of the skid shoes, scraper bar and Auger clearance. I want to mention one thing about surging before I get into the pulling problem . SURGING: Here, in NYS, we have gas with ethanol. Ethanol has caused more problems than what it is worth. And the gasoline is not like it use to be in the "good old days" it goes bad very fast. First, all my gas is treated with stabilizer - winter or summer. I use ........ brand. Second, at the end of the season, the gas line is shut off and the carb is run dry. Clean carb bowl. I fill the tank with gas to the top, I don't care what the companies recommend I fill the tanks. Prior to next season operation. the gas tank is emptied, I throw the gas from the small engine into the truck and then refill the tank with fresh gas. I have eliminated all gasoline and carburetor problems. Before I implemented my storage gas system My Honda blower had a surging problem. To me surging is when the engine carb runs the RPM high - low - high - low, etc. Backfiring from time to time. Remove the carb brought it to my Honda dealer and let him clean it in his special non corrosive solution, when it comes out of the machine it is ready to go. Change the gas line filter. It eliminated the problem. Ditto for my Honda generator and my Yamaha generator. The first few seasons I ran the snow blower the machine tracked pretty straight but it would bump left-right-left-right, etc and you had to really hold on to keep it straight. I think it was the third season I brought it to the Honda dealer. He billed me for an adjustment. I ran the blower, it seemed to get progressivelly worse, little by little over the seasons. In this area some winters we hardly use the blower and sometimes we have 4-6 good snows - not much compared to other areas. I haad Honda adjust it again. The problem - basically is the blower "digs in" left, then right, left, right, etc. Another way to explain it the bucket bumps left-right-left- right and you really have to hold on. You have to hold-on to the handles for some feet. Then it will track pretty straight and then for no apparent reason it starts again. Eventually, I figured out the problem no thanks to Honda. Oh, If you are wondering why I didn't do my own work. When you work 8 days a week running a small business you have to give out some work. Honda adjusted this blower twice without success. Ultimately, this is what I found. My scraper bar had worn out so much the bottom of the bucket had started to wear away! Second, the auger was bitting into the blacktop and wore down the ice cutting blade tips on the auger. I know what you guys are thinking, you concrete head you didn't feel anything? Well hold on now, first keep in mind I was having a problem all along. As the scraper blade was wearing down, the tips of the augers were getting ground down slowly little by little. When I realized what had happened I started to tackle the problem by myself. Here is what I figured out. If you read the Honda owners guide or the Honda's mechanics manual, as I have, they speak of setting the auger height depending on the condition of the snow NOT THE CONDITION OF THE SURFACE. My blacktop is not flat as ice, far from it, it has some waves and bumps in it. So, when the Honda Mechanic sets the auger and scraper to the specs (or you or me) that is for a flat surface. It does not work on my bumpy drive. My scraper bar would catch on a high ridge and crabs, it starts this process of digging in left right until the driveway flattens out. The other thing is I think the last Honda mechanic really blew it he was way off because as mentioned above everything was grinding down. Solution: The problem for me was the scraper bar digs into the black top high stops, the bucket wants to pivot around the skid shoes. Only speaking for my situation. I threw the specs out. I give the auger a good half inch clearance when I set up the machine. I set the scraper bar with the "foot pedal" all the way down full weight on front and give the scraper bar 1/8 inch clearance. (I operate most of the time with the foot pedal in the middle position, the scraper bar leaves a good half inch of snow but the scraper bar only infrequently digs in. The problem that I experienced has improved, it has not eliminated it. It worked for me. I think part of the problem maybe the combination of the tracks and the weight on two skid points. Maybe some of you guys have a different view point. I wonder what would happen if the skids were mounted out-bound on the bucket? I'm sure there is a reason why the engineers mounted them in front of the tracks. Out bound on the bucket; wouldn't the skids give more resistance to pivoting around the skids in the position they are now? The downside is I have to leave more snow on the driveway than with previous less expensive machines. If I kick the pedal down, getting the weight down on the scraper bar, then I get the problem back again but, I leave less snow. Maybe you can use the information here to solve your own problem. Oh, the Honda HS928 does not have bucket skid shoes just the HD skid shoes that are attached to the back of the bucket. The Honda blower is a hell of machine. I think Honda ought to take a look at the design of the skids, the scraper bar and the auger clearance. If you bring the machine to Honda they have no clue. Maybe I need to find another Honda dealer. When I service the blower at the end of the season I recheck and set up everything as mentioned above. And don't forget to tighten the shear machine screws. Put a split ring washer under them too. Good luck guys and stay warm.

The pulling to one side or the other is due to a very smallish skid shoe footprint and a huge bucket down force (30+ lbs).  There's only 3 square inches of skid shoe per side.  This combination is what makes a Honda snowblower so tenacious in digging into EOD piles and resisting lifting up on the bucket.  However, this combination is also a source of frustration as it tends to grab pavement irregulatories.  I think this is the reason why US models have the skid shoes behind the bucket just in front the tracks.    At this location, there is less torque generated that will affect the direction of the snowblower.

You can alleviate the effect of "bump steer" by lowering the skid shoes and let the auger and scraper ride higher above the pavement, leaving 1/2 inch of snow behind.  This also allows you to skid steer the tracks better since its not on super high traction surface.  The higher the bucket, the more weight is shifted on the tracks.  Another solution is to use both side and rear skid shoes, now you have more contact surface with less weight on each shoe.

In this regard, I think the Yamaha snowblower have put skid shoes behind the bucket and towards to the sides as well.  I have thought about doing the same modification on my HS1132 and see how it works.

I agree that Honda needs to do something about this design as this is a source of frustration on the operator.  I can deal with locked axles, but constant steering correction can be tiresome after a while.