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

Lots of packed snow drifts, 8 to 36 inches high. -20C

I go into unheated garage, push the throttle forward, turn key, va va va , second attempt, va vroooomm, starts, we are off and running!

I just spent 2.5 hours with this beast, cleared 3 driveways, and the curve to the main road, so about 500ft, by 25ft wide.

Used almost a whole tank of gas. The pictures are from my phone! so excuse the quality!!

First off, at 373lbs, this thing is a tank, and it drives through snowdrifts like butter. No riding up, and very little slip. The biggest problem was I could feed it too fast, and actually slow the engine down. a quick adjustment oh the Hydro Drive, and I found a nice pace.

Having used a wheel drive for the last 14 years, I can say that the track drive is a bit of a challenge, and will take some getting used too. I was able to turn it 180 to make next cut, but definately not as easy as a wheel drive, not terrible, but definately more of a challenge. I found that leaning the auger back to take the weight of the front made it a lot easier to turn.

Were the tracks did work well, was pushing through the drifts, no riding up, once I set a nice pace, just held on with one hand, and let it eat and throw through, much easier than my previous snow blower. I really like the Hydro Drive, makes it real easy to find the speed that you want, anywhere from a crawl, to a brisk walk.

Throwing snow for this Yamaha works very well, I could easily throw to the other side of the road, I would estimate I was getting around 40 feet at times.

The electric direction change for the chute works very well, moves it quickly, without struggle, even after 3 hours, and buildup of snow and ice. The deflection on the Yamaha is manual, cable, 2 stage, and built into the same control for direction.

Unfortunately, when I did my neighbors driveway, he had an area were the rocks were loose, and I did catch a few of them

So there are a couple of dings in the impeller, and a few scratches in the plastic guard, so it looks like there is no returns now

I am very happy with the performance of this Snow Blower. It made short work of the packed snow, easy to start, easy controls. My only concern from using it for 3 hours, was the turning, which got better with time.

Overall though, I am way less worn/tired as I have been in the past with my previous unit. With out a doubt, I know I would still be out there, lifting up on handle bars, backing up, pushing in, etc.

Underdog wrote:

My understanding was there is a 'shock protection' system on the Auger. My take from what I could read, and what the dealer explained, is that if you jam the Auger, it wil absorb the shock, but hit again, or harder, and the shear bolts will break.

It may have some type of slip plate in the Guard. I visualize spring loaded bearings, that can slip with enough force, but then pop into the next groove, as they rotate. This would cause a jerking action when jammed up, that would eventually break the bolts.

But without any actual schematics, I am just guessing, not prepared to rip them apart at this point!

rubinew wrote:
I believe it's what Yamaha calls their "power assisted easy turn" feature.  Its only available on selected models...none of which are available to the Canadian market.  The designation is a letter "T" at the end of the model name.  Examples:  YS-870JT, or YS-1070T.  For The Japanese market the feature adds around 50,000 yen to the price...or around $600 Canadian.

Here's a video of the feature in action.

http://www.yamaha-motor.jp/snowthrower/detail/popup/0014.html

Paul7 wrote:

I might have paid extra for that feature! Looks like it works very well.

The 1132 they sell in canada has clutch levers, you can pull to disenage one side or the other, to make it easier to turn.

So lets see, they keep the best stuff in Japan, we get a slightly watered version in Canada, and the U.S. gets nothing! hmmm, strange marketing scheme!

rubinew wrote:
Nothing is stranger than YamahaCanada's Youtube video of their entry back into the Canadian market. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH2fnu1GRNY

Paul7 wrote:

Hmmm, not saying much for their impression on Canadians EH!!

At Least the Neighbor looked somewhat normal!

The first Blower, is the YS928J, the one I bought. Then they demo the 1132. The 1132 is a heavy beast, they should have leaned it forward a bit, and slowed it down, in the demo, it was riding up a bit 

So for those of you who can not wait for my own video, have a look at this Yamaha Video, you can see the 928 throw snow in this video!!

rubinew wrote:

rubinew - I am totally impressed with your description of the Yamaha YS 928 J's performance.  I cringe when I think of 18" deep, wind-driven snow, that's icy and crusted over to the point that you can walk on it without sinking.  My Ariens 11.5 hp 28" machine would struggle heavily with that.type of icy snow...and my Ariens weighs 293 lbs.  Even with normal heavy snow that deep I never go faster than the slowest speed, and even feather it down at times to let the blower catch it's breath.  What you're describing is a type of snow that most blowers would choke on...so the Yamaha being able to clear that snow at a slow walking pace, is amazing, and well worth giving up some maneuverability.

Paul7 wrote:

Well lets be clear, in 18" of packed snow, I had it going very slow, almost a crawl. If I tried to keep it walking, it would bog down, and sound like it was working to hard, did not want to stress it that much.

In 8" of packed, I could keep it at a slow walk, but not 18", then it was slow going, probably  1/3 slower than 1 on my MTD.

Just wanted to clear that up!

But it is an impressive unit, had it out today, in 5-6 inches of fresh snow (not blown), then I could fly, so did the snow, did my driveway and front walk in about 20 minutes.

Understood.  But still whether its 8" or 18", hard packed snow is tough stuff.  Most brands of snow throwers would perform the same as your MDT.   Your Yamaha will likely handle anything that winter throws at you, trouble-free for a long time.  And if you eventually get the driveway paved it will be even easier to snowblow. 

Paul7 wrote:

The first 25 feet is exposed aggregate, the rest (about 40 feet) is gravel. This summer I am going to put a couple inches of crusher dust on top of the stone. It should pack and reduce the problems with loose stones.

I had to raise the scrapper bar, because of the exposed aggregate, so even when Auger is leaned fully forward, the scrapper runs about 1/4 inch above the driveway.

Paul7 wrote:

Look at the next video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfPCBulvKx0&feature=watch_response Just the first 10 seconds, Doug and Donnie are changing oil on their snowblower singing "Tom Sawyer". Hilarious.