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

I was at a local Honda dealer yesterday and I was stunned by the prices on their snowblowers. In Canadian dollars, they were: 928 wheels: $3000 928 track: $3400 724 track: $3400 1132 track: $3500 I know they have tracks, hydro tranny, honda engines, etc. but they're at least $1000-1500 more than equivalent toro and ariens models. Is it gold, they re making?

The 2010 price difference between HS724WA and HS928WA is only $200.  Essentially you are paying $200 more for additional 2HP and 4" width.  The 6.5 HP is okay for most scenarios but can be taxing when the snow is deep (i.e., EOD), which was the primary reason for switching to HS928WAS.  If the dealer had HS928WA in stock, I would have bought that in the first place instead of HS724WA but it only had 928WAS in stock and was $400 more compared to 724WA.   So for $400, you are getting additional 2hp, 4" width, electric start and a gas gauge.  One thing I miss about HS724 is its super quietness as the HS928 is a bit louder (it is a relative comparison).  However, HS928 has not given me any impression it is ever taxed or lacked power so it was an appropriate upgrade.  Turning with my 928WAS is getting easier and quicker so hopefully it will be much easier in Jan 2011.  I am also doing weights to compliment my 125LB body.  I do like the way Honda is built and made when I compare its construction against similar Toro and Ariens models. Paying $2400 for a new HS928WAS is not an easy feeling but then again operating a snowblower you always wanted is priceless.

Why Not?

Lets just look at the engine. American companies are only interested in manufacturing cheap junk. 

Briggs engines blocks are made of pot metal cheese and Techumseh is no longer in existance. Briggs does have a line of cast engine blocks, mostly for their performance product line and costs 3 times more that a Honda engine. ( Don't expect to see them on a consumer product any time soon)

Buy for resale products hold about 98% of the market and these companies are only interested in manufacturing their products as cheap as they possibly can. The few exceptions are companies like Honda who manufacture precision engineered machines and manufacturing costs are simply alot higher.

There is a big difference between pot metal castings and T6061 machined aluminum housings both in price and in quality.

Starwarrior

[starwarrior]  -   "Lets just look at the engine. American companies are only interested in manufacturing cheap junk. "

WOW !

starwarrior wrote:

I have 2 Honda snowblowers, both with GX commercial grade engines, and have yet to see a T6061 machined aluminum engine block.  They look like cast aluminum to me, with steel liners. 

My father's snowblower has a gc160 engine and it's not really a stellar engine to write home about.  It does the job, I don't particularly get too excited about it, but I don't think there's nothing better about it compared to a Briggs and Stratton engine of similar design.

No one company is exempt from going cheap to make a sale, domestic or foreign nameplate, regardless of country of manufacturer or origin.  Toyota is the first comes to mind, with the world's best selling car Corolla, has the most safety recall so far.

joed wrote:

Must be a Canadian Import Tariff.  The HS 928TAS in US dollars is 2900.00 and the US Dollar is almost the same as the Canadian these days, less than 1% difference. Either that or the dealer's just Ripping You Off.

The Honda Engine is superior to whatever is on the Toro & Ariens, and the Honda has an actual Transmission, not the 'friction wheel' drive system the Toro & Ariens machines use.  That Hydrostatic Transmission was why I spent the extra money on the Honda Snowblower.

joed wrote:

You Make a choice, and spend your money.  I could afford the higher quality of the Honda, some people can't.  I thank God for his generosity. I consider the Honda a gift from him.

alty wrote:
Yup, exactly! It wasnt until recently that American car company's woke up with reality and finally started to offer a "comparable" product. Pretty much goes for everything cars, snow blowers, fishing reels etc. You want quality buy foreign. Please dont get me wrong, I feel we should support the US and keep the work here. But we just cannot compete. JMHO

New_Yorker wrote:
There's nothing wrong with the friction wheel drive system. Just because you had a problem caused by you abusing your machine and purposely scoring up your drive plate doesn't cancel the fact that hundreds of thousands of other snowblowers and lawnmowers use the same system with no problems.

Ever seen the estimates for a repair on a hydrostatic transmission or tried to get parts for one? It's absurd.

Bill_H wrote:

Not to mention the lemon transmissions of Acura TL cars! If I hadn't blown thousands on replacing my 2000's tranny I could have bought a Honda snow machine .

Not everything Honda does is golden.

Sorry - had to vent, the financial haircut was mere months ago, ouch!  Actually I am a Honda fan; also have a Honda generator and 2000 Civic hatchback.

1. Bill_H wrote:

It just so happend I priced that out two days ago.  $500 for the transmission and $2-300 for the install.  It's not so scary though given they rarely fail.  At lease I would not consider it a factor in purchasing a new machine.  For a used machine I would.  By the way the Toro PowerShifter transmission is $700 and the same to install.  

After a quick check it seems that transmission has been the same for many years and used in all size machines.  Given it can drive an 1132 for many years the life expectancy must be even better on lighter 6 through 9hp machines with smaller buckets.  The same for the auger gearbox.

For Honda snowblower issues I have noticed a number of machines that have a bow on the top of the front of the bucket.  I've seen a few with cracks at the apex of the bow.  These were all machines without the gearbox to bucket brace and worked fine.  On a very rough esitmate of bowing in 10 years and possible 1/2 to 2 inch cracks in 15-20 years but the machine works fine.