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

I had some fun looking at Honda Japan and saw the specifications for HS970i.  It uses GX340 instead of GX270 (HS928, HS970).  The HS970i is a heavy and strong machine and every bit as beautiful as the BLUE machine.  I am just wondering if Honda uses 340CC for that model, why is YS928 only using 250CC engine?  100CC is a huge difference.  Too me, Yamaha YS928 may be underpowered. 

I don't know the specifics of the new Yamaha blowers (I have tried to get the info) but I can tell you that the earlier generation of Yamaha blowers imported into the North American market employed a gear reduction and drove the blower off the cam shafts. There was 2 for one ratio that created a lot of torque.  I was trying to repower an old Yamaha when I discovered this. Reminded me of those small 5hp Bobcat snowblower setups. That is why the yamaha pulleys are all off-set to one side unlike the Honda blowers from the same era. There is a striking difference between the Honda and Yamaha designs.  I would be interested to know if the new Yamahas employ a similiar gear reduction on the output shaft. 

First time I've seen one of these pictures up close.  Are those rubber engine mounts? 

Sorry if this has been posted before but in case not here's the link to the Yamaha Canadian pdf brochure.

http://old.nabble.com/file/p30366721/2011_sb_en.pdf

I have to admit being a little enamoured by these blue machines.  Except for a small generator I never owned a Yamaha product but that generator was the definition of "whisper quiet".   

I don't think we are going to know a whole lot about the new Yamahas until someone purchased one and starts taking it apart. I would like to see a service manual.

Maybe Steve (our official spokesperson) could call Yamaha and formally ask for a service manual.  Better yet, ask if Steve could get a demo for a year and provide a full review of the snowblower in return.

MN_Runner wrote:
Steve maybe on Toro's payroll already so that may not work out. 

MN_Runner wrote:
Good luck getting a service manual from Yamaha. 

I bought a nice used 2005 8 h.p. outboard motor the other day to put on my small boat at camp for my neighbour's kids to use.  I've been doing some work on it the last few days and wanted to pull the bottom end to check the impeller.  So I searched for a manual.  Yamaha will allow you to view their Owner's manual online but not the service manual.  If you want to see that, be prepared to shell out $87.00 to get a pdf. of the Service Manual.  

If you want a snowblower manual, $82.95 CAD will get you one.    Personally, I think that's pretty cheesy for Yamaha to charge for an operator's manual and the price they charge for a pdf. service manual is about four times too much.  Yahama have great machines but lousy public relations....

MN_Runner wrote:

Heh, no chance of that happening I did read that trouts2 said the manuals are expensive. So yes, I can get one but I'd have to pay for it. Companies like Yamaha generally will not let you demo a product like that unless you are a well established company that provides reviews of snowblower products. So they might IF they sold in the US and you have to be the snowblower equivilant of Edmunds.com.

@aa335

Work for Toro, are they hiring?

Actually Toro makes a great product and since they don't get mentioned enough I just want people in the forum to know that Toro is every bit as good a machine as Honda, Ariens and Simplicity. Better in some ways even.

Steve_Cebu wrote: This is true, other than the single stage blowers we don't hear as much about the Toro blowers.  Maybe their owners never have issues and don't need to come here.

Underdog wrote:

That might be true. Toro seems to be the kind of snowblower people buy, use and not think about. Kind of like a Honda car. I have 2 Hondas now and have had many in the past. I honestly don't think much about how well they do their job, it's seemless. You start it up on 1 pull blow the snow with no drama, the quick chute with joystick is brilliant. Then I put it away. Maintainance is minimal and it just plain works. You also don't hear about Toro owners modding their equipment like you do with other brands like Ariens. Ariens seems to be the Hot rodders snowblower of choice.