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

Heading out to look at an HS621 for $ 125.00 that's supposed to be in good condition. Got to love this time of year - I call it "dump your snow blower" season! Lots of good deals to be had if you keep your eyes open. Hope it's as good as the owner says! Update to follow.

Good deal for $125.  If the paddles and auger are lightly worn, that is even better.  Electric start is nice but not needed.  These engines with compression release pull start so easy, it's more effort to find a cord and plug them in. 

Looks about the same condition as my HS621 when I took ownership of it.  A few scratches and rust spots here and there, mostly superficial, no pitting.

What's your plan with the machine besides a tune up?

I'd bend the handle on the chute/deflector upward to get better side clearance.  Might be a bit more of a stretch to reach it but it at least wouldn't be a clearance issue sticking out the side. 

Got that carb issue straightened out on the Toro yet?   I really enjoy working on carbs.   In the last couple days I pulled and cleaned two 20mm Teikei and two 28mm Mikuni carbs.  Not sure what will be on that Suzuki engine in the Toro.  Maybe a Mikuni or Keihin or even a Teikei.  Let us know.

trouts2: Thank you - I'm looking forward to providing a comparison of the two next winter.

aa335: It's nice to have the electric start but I agree that it really is not needed as 1 or 2 pulls is usually all it takes. She has a few scratches and dings but nothing really bad. I think I'm going to try and do a complete makeover and really make her shine pretty. BTW, you're the reason I sought out an HS621. I read many of your posts praising the attributes of this machine and could not resist going to look at it when it came up on CL. The rest as they say, is history!

borat: The carb on the Toro is a Mikuni and I have not pulled it yet to clean it. I'm hoping to get to it this week so I can get it out of my garage as I'm running out of space now that I have this new project. Any suggestions on removing, cleaning and reinstalling the carb is appreciated (I've not done this before).

FrankMA wrote:
The HS621 is a great machine for people who appreciate quality.  It's very robust mechanically.  It's like a German car with Japanese reliability.  It was expensive to buy new and repair.  But with reasonable care, it runs forever. 

I like my HS621 a lot.  It was a big purchase and I splurged to buy it ($850 new in 1997) as present to my father for Xmas after I got my first job, so there's some sentimental value to it.  I did put in some money, time, and effort to spruce it up nicely, but it was worth it.

I think this machine will be more sought after because it no longer available for sale new in the US.  A $1200 Honda single stage snowblower is a hard sell in the US.  In addition, with the proliferation of Chinese clone engines, there's nothing for the homeowner to buy with the true and original GX160 engine.

I hope you have fun working on your HS621.  When you're done, I bet you'd be itching to see how it works on snow.

Still in search of the Toro CCR3000 (2-stroke) at the right price to add to my collection.


Here's a pic of my favorite Honda, de-badged.





Another pic of the Honda (left) with the new Toro 421QE (right).  The Toro is actually larger and porkier than the slim HS621.  Look at the
handlebar height and width.  Definitely made for the American girth demographics.

That's one of the things about the HS621 - it's very sleek and compact but is also very robust. I really like the look of it, especially compared to the HS520. I almost wish we'd get just one more quick snow storm at this point just to take the edge off. It's going to be another long spring, summer and fall this year. If you guys may recall, I got my new to me HS928TA last March and it never snowed again so I had to wait almost 9 months before I could put it to the test. This is the curse of buying used OPE in the off season...

"borat: The carb on the Toro is a Mikuni and I have not pulled it yet to clean it. I'm hoping to get to it this week so I can get it out of my garage as I'm running out of space now that I have this new project. Any suggestions on removing, cleaning and reinstalling the carb is appreciated (I've not done this before)."


Mikuni carbs are excellent pieces.  Easy to work on and perform very well.  

Pull the carb off, remove the float bowl and take a couple pics of the carb from sides top and bottom.  Post the pics and once I've had a chance to look at them, I'll have a better idea of what you have and how to guide you through the cleaning process.    Rest easy.  It's a lot easier than you might think.

I finally pulled it off last night and gave it a really good carb cleaner spray down. I honestly could not see any type of orifices to clean. It came off in one piece so perhaps it needs to be separated into pieces for proper cleaning. It did seem to make a difference in terms of being able to fire over easier after I reinstalled it  but the engine still will not stay running. I'll pull it off again this morning and post some pic's as you suggested borat, and we''ll see which direction to go from there.

FrankMA wrote:
For a snowblower with 4 stroke engine with OHV, I think it's a pretty good packaging without looking porky.  To remain compact looking, some of the newer crop of 4-stroke OHV snowblowers have their valve covers and mufflers hanging out in the back without any housing.  It doesn't look as nice.

Not that most people care too much about aesthetic, but a large looking single stage is going to invite would be buyers to cross shop into the compact two-stage machines.  Comparable price and size, why not get a compact 2-stage?

For me, I am not a fan of in-betweener products that's more gutsy than a single stage, but somewhat wimpy and feature stripped as a 2 stage.  But for some people with tough EOD to deal with and small garage space, these compact 2 stage are good comprise.  Not that compromises are bad, but it is what it is.

I've seen a video of someone reviewing snowblowers performance year round using finely ground wood chips as a substitute for snow.  If you want to take the edge off, that could be an option.  :)

Frank,

   The carb should be a Mikuni and easy to clean.  There are pictures and cleaning info here:

http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/mikuni_carb_15003.asp

aa335 wrote: "I think this machine will be more sought after because it no longer available for sale new in the US.  A $1200 Honda single stage snowblower is a hard sell in the US.  In addition, with the proliferation of Chinese clone engines, there's nothing for the homeowner to buy with the true and original GX160 engine."

This is the problem with a lot of people in today's world. They don't want to pay for a quality product, do not know what a quality product looks like to begin with and are basically mechanical morons when it comes to even the basics of keeping a quality product performing properly. There's a small engine repair shop that I drive by all the time and this guy does a great business. I would guess that 75% or more of his business is tune ups, belt changes, blade sharpening, etc... that the average homeowner would normally do himself 25 - 30 years ago. If you peruse CL you'll often see ads stating that the machine ran fine last year, last week, etc... and now it won't start so they're going to get rid of it. They then go out and buy a 50 hour POS OPE and complain that it's cheaply built or only lasted a couple of years.