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

I moved to a new house, top of a hill, with farm land across from my driveway.

This is our second winter, and my MTD is not up to the task of clearing the packed snow that blows into my yard, sometimes daily.

I have been looking for a couple weeks, and had made up my mind to get the Honda. I had been to the Yamaha dealer previously, but they were not willing to deal.

Well today a new twist, I went back to Yamaha, and was offered the YS928J for the same price as the HS928TC.

Specs are very similar, with some different features. The Honda has full Joystick control on the chute, and is 100 lbs lighter.

The Yamaha has plastic coated chute, manual up/down. Has no shear pins, which may be a bonus, if the 'Shock Protection' works correctly. Also the Yamaha is quiter.

I have been reviewing this site, however, there is limited information on the Yamahas, likely because they just came back to Canada in 2009 (15 year Hiatus) and I am not sure if they are available in the U.S.

Has anyone out there used these models? Can you offer an Opinion?

Don't take anyone's word for how easy/difficult they will be to operate.  Get them out in a parking lot with snow and test them out.  Make sure whoever will be operating the machine is there to try them.  

By the way, from the dimensions of your driveway, either of those machines are over-kill.   My driveway is 110' long by 20' wide with a 35' x 35' turn around at the garage.  It's also got an 11% grade.  I live in central Canada and we get a great deal of snow of all types.  My wheeled Simplicity has never had a problem handling whatever  type or how much snow comes. 

April 1st of last year we woke up to 30" of heavy wet snow.  I did my driveway plus two and a half other of similar size with the Simplicity.  The neighbours I bailed out were using fairly new 10 h.p. Craftsman machines and were struggling a great deal.  I even tried to use one woman's 10 h.p. Craftsman machine and ended up parking it in their garage.  I walked the Simplicity over to her place to clear her driveway.  All the difference in the world.  Can't exactly say why.  The Craftsman just couldn't pump the wet snow whereas the Simplicity was blasting it up 15' or more  and sticking it to the sides of the 30' wooden street light poles.  

If I were you, I wouldn't dismiss a premium quality wheeled machine such as  Ariens, Honda, Simplicity/Snapper/JD and Toro.  

borat wrote:

Thanks for your response!

The problem out here, is the drifting snow. I blows in from farm fields, and packs very hard.

My MTD is a 24 inch, 8 HP, and could handle most fallen snow, even wet.  It fails with the packed snow, pushing through it is a task, driving up, fighting to keep it level.

My new neighbor has a 30 inch, wheel drive, larger wheels than mine, I can not remember the brand, only seen him use it once so far, but he has same problem, will not push through, stops, or rides up. Last weekend he hired a bobcat to come clear his driveway.

He only has 25 by 25, fairly level, but he faced directly into the field, and 4 feet of packed snow, his blower could not even get going.

Yes the blowers that I am looking at may be overkill, but it seems that if you want track drive, and hydrostic transmission, honda and yamaha are it.

I would like to drive one into 4 feet of drifted snow, or EOD, to test and see if what I have read hold true.

I'm sure the Honda is a fine unit but that Yamaha just looks like it is built stronger.  Of course I am just basing a lot on pictures at this point.   I have a neighbor who is still uses his '89 Yamaha YS828.  If I were in the market right now the Yami would have my vote.

My wheel version is not that bad.  There is a good reason why Honda limits the tire pressure to 8.5 PSI.  Granted I have a very small driveway with ever so slight slope and my Honda pulls along good.  Don't assume that track drive is for everyone.

MN_Runner wrote:

I wasn't assuming track is for everyone! :-) not even 100% sure it is for me.

When my wife takes another one for a test drive, that will help.

I just know that several wheel versions are struggling on this hill. I need something that can plow through packed snow, and get us on our way too work in minutes, instead of hours.

Last year I wiggled and jiggled, pushed and pulled my MTD for 3 hours, and only got about 20% done, had to bobcat it to get done in a reasonalbe time!

My wheel version worked great for the last place we lived, just not able to do the same out here!

rubinew wrote:

Driveway size isn't everything it's also the type of snow that affects what machine you buy. Your driveway is small compared to mine as mine is 220 feet long 15 or so feet wide and has a 40'x50' section off of it. But if you get hard packed blown snow on a regular basis and we have a neighbor up the road who is across from a huge field (retired farm). They bought a Kubota tractor to deal with the snow. No dealer will let you drive into 4 feet of snow, but they should let you test drive it. I honestly don't see the problem with riding up on the snow for the first pass or two if you have that much snow. Except for commercial units there is no way you will remove hard packed snow in one pass anyway. The city uses machines that you ride on that will do it. But they probably cost $10K for a used one.

If your wife has to use this have her drive it and remember that a 5 minute test in a dealers lot is very different than muscling that unit around for a couple of hours. My wife could not use the Honda we bought because it's tough to turn it around and you will get a real workout using it. What you will want is something that has tracks that you can steer with triggers. Sadly the Honda and Yamaha models that have the trigger steering with tracks cost a boatload of money.

If you have snow bad enough that you'd need a Bobcat then Honda and Yamaha are safe bets but you will still need to go slow and use technique to move that level of snow. I'd look at a second hand truck with a plow if you have the space to put the snow. The windblown stuff is really nasty and unless you've had to deal with it like our neighbors have... in fact the apple orchard across from our house has windblown snow, but they have a lot of tractors so it's not a problem for them.

Just make sure that you and your wife can use it for the 1-2 hours you will need and yeah I'd say tracks are a must for that stuff.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

Thanks for your Response,

I don't mind having to make second, or even more passess, as long as I don't have to hold the bucket down, and push it all the way thru :-)

I just came from the Yamaha dealer, took my wife there to try steering a 624, they don't have the 928 in stock, sold out till next week. She liked it, and was able to turn it around, the trick for her was to tilt the auger up, and keep the track turning.

 I have to admit I am leaning towards the Yamaha. They do not have shear pins, which is a bonus for my wife, she can not change if I am on the road. I also like the quiter motor, and the lined chutes. We also like the controls on the Yamaha a little more, flat and waste high.

The dealer explained that the shock protection is built in the gear box, sounds like a pressure plate, that can disengage, then reset with next turn. I have heard of simular presured plates, using bearings.

I took the Yamaha 624 through about 20 inches of packed snow and ice, didn't even hesitate. The motor did work a bit to chew the ice, but it drove straight thru, no pushing.

I think the 928 with the extra weight and HP will chew right thru anything. But I will let my wife take it for another test drive before buying. I will update you with our final decision.

Rubinew,

I wish I had your dilemma.  In the states, we don't get either of these two excellent models to chose from.            

I like the shock protection feature for the auger.  No pins or bolts to deal with.  I'm sure it would work very well.  I have no doubt that Yamaha have developed this feature properly.

Is it correct if we buy one of these up in Canada and bring back down to states the warranty will be void at local retailers?    A 90 minute drive to Canada for warranty work is doable though.

aa335 wrote:

I thought the Honda was available in the U.S.?

It turns out the smaller modles, including the 624e do not have shock protection, but do have shear pins.

The shock protection feature is on the fully loaded 624 (edj?) and the 928, not sure about the higher modles.

The Yamaha just came back into Canada last year, they left for 15 years, not sure why, good news is that most of the blowers they sold back then are still working!

The first Honda Dealer I spoke too did not know that Yamaha was back, or played stupid :-)