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?

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. 

New_Yorker wrote:
That's some funny stuff. 

I can afford to own a garage full of Honda snow throwers or anything else for that matter.   Money is not an issue. 

I believe in value.  There's nothing that a Honda will do that my Simplicity can't do other than cost more.  Plain and simple. 

Didn't know that God was in the OPE business?  

My gift from God was the good sense to know when I'm being had. 

Bill_H wrote:

The friction wheel drive is capable enough.  My MTD -Sears Craftsman was admittedly not the best quality.  The friction wheel drive's "Flaw" is the same flaw the tires on your car have when you encouter black ice at 60 MPH.  If the snowblower was used, as it was in my case, to almost always move heavy wet snow, the rubber 'Tire' in the friction wheel became bald, cracked, or had a flat spot because when the machine can't move against the obstackle it encounters, the tires might slip, but with a Track Drive snowblower the tracks never slip, so the rubber Friction Wheel Tires does.  If you knew anything about these machines you'd have realized that is the problem and not that someone who kept the machine for 14 years was abusing it.  If that were true this chaep MTD machine would have died a lot sooner.

As to scuffing the drive plate that the friction wheel must grip, the 1 1/2 inch thik MTD repair shop manual I bought explains when and how to do that.  See we who do not abuse the machinery tend to purchase such expensive manuals so we don't make the mistakes you amateurs do, like ASSuming the drive plate is damaged by a maintenance procedure recommended by the machines manufacturer in their shop manual.

The Honda Hydrostatic Transmission will, based upon the many, many reviews if the HS 928TAS Honda Snowblower that I read Before Purchasing it, Never need repair or replacement in my lifetime.  Had I foolishly bought yet another friction wheel machine the thing would need constant attention and replacement.  Been There, Done That !   On to the better alternative, Honda.

  The design flaw in the MTD track was no dash mounted Idiot Light that flashed when over taxing the friction disk with those fine gripping tracks.

  Most people would know to let up on the drive clutch but some would not causing a flat spot on the friction disk.  That would then cause more problems and more rapid wear leading to a spiral of operator discontent. 

 In blizzard conditions one might not notice the blower stopped moving forward so a 6 inch flasher would have been useful.  Worse, in bad conditions the operator might even continue walking right into the dash and rupture his stomach or impale himself on the handlebar ends.  MTD is a cheap machine but you'd think OSHA would have caught this one.  They should have designed a more robust system in place of that stupid friction disk design.  Something like a 2 inch steel chain transfer system that would never slip like a poorly conceived friction disk.  The machine would always go forward no matter the obsticle and crush the bucket which would have been much better at getting the danger away from the operator.    

  To make matters worse MTD has a fuzzy service manual.  It leads many to believe the machine is at fault when being overtaxed and exceeding the design limits.  It mistakingly leads some to believe service is needed when none is needed.  More clarity is needed in the manual to square this point away and inform the servicer that slip is normal when exceeding the design limit. Many have applied the unneeded service and some often therby overly roughing the drive plate surface to the extent that, as hard to believe as it is, wear their friction disk out every year or two.  MTD has shot themselves in the foot on this one and should take care of it.