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.

An Update!!!

The Yamaha is running well, about 20 hours use on it since last post.'

It can take 3 attempts to start in -25 weather, but I am very short on starter time, maybe 2-3 seconds per try. I beleive this is a result of Auto Choke, takes a while to get GAS into the carb.

The big news is I am away this week, and we had blowing snow all day.

My wife had to use Yamaha. I had trained her earlier, but this was her first attempt at long term use, on her own.

Started for her on second attempt, then she was out for 2 hours tonight, and prefers it to our previous MTD wheeled unit.

While she finds it harder to turn, she like the fact that it goes were she wants it too, and does not have to fight to keep it straight, or in the snow.

In order to turn she basically pulls it around while track running slow, she does not take time to change tilt. If it does not turn enough for her, then she backs up, and corrects.

My wife is ~120 Lbs, in good shape, but still managed this 400lb snowblower for 2 hours. It is all about technique. She did not wrestle it, or fight it, but used the hydro transmission, and the track movement to make her turn.

Did it take a little longer to turn than MTD, maybe, but then she could blow the entire pass without fighting it all the way.

While I am pleased with my decision, this make me feel even better, the knowledge that my wife can walk up to this unit, turn the Key, and clear herself out.

Looks like you got the same stuff we did.  My new Honda handled it well, started on the first try (once I remembered to open the shutoff valve) but some of the harder stuff required a second pass cause the blower tended to ride up on one side only, producing a bevelled cut sloping upwards to the unblown snow.  The Honda 928 came stock with both rear and side mounted skids and I am thinking that the side mounted ones may be causing it to ride up on one side only since one skid is always riding outside the cut on the higher hard unblown snow.  This only happens when the snow is super hard.  I believe yours just has the rear mounted skids.  I will try removing the side mounted ones and we'll see what happens.  Probably next year - with a little luck maybe this is the last blowing session for this winter.  Give me some time to get the auger off and grease the shaft etc etc.

Well... you have conquered the final hurdle for all snowblowers!  And you are ahead of me in this respect - all I got so far are polite refusals.  What technique did you use to entice her into training?  LOL

Dr_Woof wrote:

I think he did the same thing I did. We both bought snowblowers that our wives could use.

Most guys just buy what they want without involving their wives in the process. Yep you might like that 400 lb. Ariens with a cast iron gearbox, but if your wife is afraid of using it or can't manuever it you're SOL.

I had a Honda, my wife couldn't use it so back it went. She can use the Toro and she does and Rubinew's wife can use the Yamaha.

Maybe the fact it's blue helps too. Many women like Blue.

"Most guys just buy what they want without involving their wives in the process. Yep you might like that 400 lb. Ariens with a cast iron gearbox, but if your wife is afraid of using it or can't manuever it you're SOL."

OR......

You can buy a nice, light, powerful, easy to start Toro single stage that even a child could use.  

It will take a very heavy snowfall to sideline a 221Q.   I haven't used the Simplicity once since buying the 221 and I'd be willing to bet I won't have to pull it out any time soon.

borat wrote: Rubinew gets hard packed frozen snow so he needs his Yamaha.  Steve might be able to get by with a good single stage except he has a very long driveway the extra width of his two stage saves him a lot of time.   

We got around 7 inches of snow Monday night while I was at a meeting in North Carolina.  Just got back but my son had already shoveled the driveway so I didn't get to use my Toro CCR 3000.  I might play with it in the yard tomorrow...I'm anxious to see what it can do. 

My wife doesn't use my OPE but she is hoping that Sears will come out with a riding vacuum cleaner.

tkrotchko wrote:
IMPOSTERS!!!  The real ones don't wear plastic shower caps, they have toques.  They always drink beer, and they NEVER (well, almost never) eat yellow snow.

borat wrote:

Yeah most people could probably use a single stage. I'm certainly not going to use a single stage on a 2' high EOD that's about 30 feet long at the top. I can do my driveway in a bit over an hour now and even with 18" 1.5 hours. A single stage is actually a good idea for small storms. but 220 feet is really long and it's uphill.

Besides my wife can start the 2 stage Toro with 1 pull as well.

Dr_Woof wrote:

The Technique was leaving for a week at beginning of February, then fagain for 8 days this week!!

Either she learn, or get stuck at home with the Kids, she chose wisely

borat wrote:

I have used a single stage a few times in the past, not a Toro mind you, but I seriously doubt any single stage would tackle 20-30 inches of packed, blown, frozen snow.

Maybe if I kept backing up, going back in, lifting on handle bars, etc etc, 4 hours later, but then, might as well kept the MTD.

My wife liked the fact she could point, set a slow speed, and walk behind with one hand while the Yamaha chewed thru the snow, no hassle, no repeats, fighting, etc.

She would have been done in about an hour if I would have remembered to add gas before I left

She could not get gas can open, had to get help from neighbour to fill it up!

rubinew wrote:

Do you have the same crappy gas cans up there that we have forced on us here by Kalifornia regulations for vent free gas cans? It takes me 3 hands to use one of the damn things. When I take a holiday up there I will probably buy a gas can if you guys have the easy to use ones.