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

I just purchased a new Honda HS928TA and used it for the first time.  Is there any way to adjust the skids so that the bucket clears the snow down to the pavement?  It leave about a 1/4" or more of snow on the pavement.  I have the bucket set at the middle setting.  If I set it to low, I would obviously be hitting the pavement since this is the setting for iced pavement.  Would it help to purchase a pair of side skids instead of using the rear skids?  I have a feeling the tracked unit probably can't clear down to the pavement as well as the wheeled unit.  I'm beginning to think I might have liked the wheeled unit better.  Any suggestions?

I don't have the Honda, but My Yamaha has rear skids and was adjusted to allow it to hit the pavement. In Fact I had to raise it a 1/4 inch, since i have exposed aggregate, and did not want it shaving the rocks out.

If it is only leaving 1/4 inch then maybe your scrapper bar is set to high, can you lower the scrapper, then you don't have to risk having your Augers wear against the pavement.

Oh, and for the record, a wheeled unit would not have made a difference. You would still have to set the skids and scrapper for your preference.

If you look in your Ops Manual, they should talk about adjustments of the scrapper and the skids for different surfaces.

lseap107 wrote:
How's your surface?  Is it smooth?  IF it's rough, 1/4" is works fine for now.  I wouldn't touch it unless you want the snowblower to catch on every little cracks and imperfections.

If it's smooth, you can bring it down to 1/8".  Get two paint stirring sticks, place it under the scrapper blade, one on each side so that it's an even gap across the blade.  Loosen the two 10mm nuts on the skid shoes on both skid shoes.  Tighten it back up. 

I don't recommend letting the scraper blade touch the surface.  You'll wear it out unnecessarily and will definitely catch on every crack.  It will make snowblowing very frustrating and slow down your productivity.  Definitely do not let it touch on concrete with expansion joints, unless you like a kick in the groin every 5 feet.  Definitely do not let it touch brick paver.

Try the existing rear skids before getting side skids.  If it works to your satisfaction, no need to add side skids.  Unless you like invent a problem looking for money.

If you go with side skids, you will loose ice scraper mode.  When you use side skids with scraper mode, the scraper blade will go up, leaving a larger gap and more snow behind.  Simple geometry.  The bucket pivot point is now in center of the bucket, as opposed to right behind bucket.  The only way to get the auger and scraper blade closer to the pavement is to have the pivot point behind the bucket. 

Again, spend some time learning how to maneuver the track snowblower and adjusting the scraper blade gap until you find a reasonable compromise of cleanliness and smooth operation.  Don't add the side skids yet unless you want to chase your tail figuring out what changes did what.

Page 51 in your Honda Manual provides a fairly in depth tutorial on how to properly adjust the skid shoes/scraper bar.

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/pdf/manuals/00X317677240.pdf

Yes, I have smooth pavement.  Concrete driveway and sidewalk.  Should I have the bucket at the middle setting when lowering the skids with the sticks?

Yes, the bucket should be at the middle setting. Use a 10mm socket and ratchet to tighten the nut, makes it a lot easier. Or 6 point box wrench, not crescent wrench

Thanks a lot for the suggestions.  I will give it a try and let you know how it works

aa35>>If you go with side skids, you will loose ice scraper mode.  When you use side skids with scraper mode, the scraper blade will go up, leaving a larger gap and more snow behind.

At least on my HS828 with side skids the difference between middle and low for the scrper height is minimal at best may be an 8th.  There certainly is no "loss" of scraper mode.  My scraper is quite worn so not much adjustment room left but with a full blade and all the adjustment lenth to play with the differnce could be lessened.    There are no back skids on the 828 so not a factor in adjustment.  The thing handles much easier at least to me with the side skids.  I never ran it with back skids but have and 1132 and 624 with just back skids and don't like them.

The factory skids are $56 for the kit which includes the bolts, spacers and very meaty skids.  The OP may be fine with adjustment and like the pickup and handling with back skids.  No point on adding expense if your happy.  I'm not saying skids are the way to go either.  I just wanted to note that there is no big penalty for going with skids or introducing problems with side skids.  Many factory models ship with side skids.

                  trouts2 wrote:
Scraper mode is when the auger makes contact with the pavement, or very small gap, less than 1/6".  When you have the rear skids and put the pedal in the scraper position, the auger does come down about 3/16".  This allows the auger to actually chip at the ice, not just glide over it.  The teeth are sharpened and has kerf like a saw blade.  Scraper mode is a misnomer since the scraper bar itself has no part in the scraping.  The auger actually does the ice chipping/scraping action.

If you have side skids and put the pedal in the scraper position, the auger gap to the pavement stays the same.  The scraper bar gap actually increases.  This is what you are seeing.  There isn't much difference between middle and low position.       

Right now, I have the set the rear skids to support the bucket to make steering turning a little more nimble.  The side skids on the 1132 makes the bucket more stable, but it requires more effort to turn.  I have the side skids off the pavement by 5/16" and does not prevent the auger from making contact with ice or pavement.  The side skids are currently used as bumpers to provide  side protection to the bucket when I get too close to the curb.