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

Hello,

This is my first post here.

I recently got a used old Honda HS35 snowblower for $80.

It starts and runs with choke 'closed'. The choke knob is loose, moves around with the vibration.And when I put the choke on 'open' position it most of the time surges (up and down). I added some seafoam and noticed that it helped it stabilize on that day. I started it again today and it still surges when the choke is 'open' during the first few minutes, then stabilizes. Is this normal?  To start the machine the choke needs to be 'closed' or it won't start.

 This is my first snowblower, I have not worked on a snowblower before.

Auger's rubber parts are not new, the previous owner said he replaced them 3 years ago.It looks like rubber parts are worn by about half an inch maybe.Because I can see where the tip of the rubber was at one point by looking at the very thin end of the rubber.

Scraper bar is not rubber, it looks like it is made from harder plastic and the edges have 3-5 indents froms scraping. Do I have to replace these this year or will they work for now?

Is the price I paid fair for the machine I described above? Is it too much?

Thanks.

ralphfr,

Just to clarify, these Kage polyurethane paddles for the Toro 221 / 421 / 721 models are aftermarket parts.  I highly doubt that your Toro dealers will have them or will install them.  That would compromise the warranty from Toro.

Toro does have the commercial grade thicker rubber paddles that goes on the 721RC.  Dealers are stocking these and are offering them as upgrades, if you so desire.

aa335 wrote:

Appreciate your clarification. I did assume these were the paddles that Toro was using on the 721 R-C. Did a little googling and found that the Toro parts manual for this model lists the part number as 125-1128 for the extended life paddles and they are about $40 each. The kit is part# 38205 and it cost about $90 which includes 2 paddles and the hardware. Cannot seem to find any info on what material Toro uses to manufacture these paddles. Definitely going for them. It would be nice if they fit as close to the housing as you say the Kage paddles are. If not then I might have to consider doing it myself and going with the Kage paddles next time around. Again great info. Thanks again.

If anyone else is interested here's the link to the Toro 721 R-C Parts Catalog: www.toro.com/en-us/professional-contractor/snow-removal/single-stage/Pages/Model.aspx?pid=power-clear-commercial-721r-c-38751

You're welcome.  I'm posting information about alternative replacement paddles  just in case people may interested in trying them out for themselves.  Replacing the paddles isn't hard, sometimes you just have to find the easier way to do it.  I do like doing these things myself as I get to know the machine better and appreciate the engineering thought that goes into it.  The more I know about the machine, the more I like to keep it in top shape.

I don't like the initial tight fit of the Kage paddles.  It's a little bit too tight.  It creates some drag and robs power from the engine.  I have sprayed Fluid Film on the bucket housing to minimize any wear to the blower housing during initial break in.  As the paddles wears in, the performance should improve.  Vibration and noise should improve as well.  Kinda like having high performance summer tires that need to be broken in after a few hundred miles.

The Toro dealers around here have a display of both Toro regular and extended life paddles.  From what I can see and feel, both are made of the same rubber compound and cords.  The only difference is the extended life version has about 1/8" more rubber.  Other than that, the number of fiber cords and the construction are exactly the same.  I don't see a huge difference, that's why I went with Kage version.

I don't think there will be a great performance gain.  I think Toro offers the extend life version to stay competitive with Ariens, which has a fairly thick and stiff auger.  The extended life paddles may potentially extend the life of the scraper bar.  Just a speculation on my part.  I do like Toro's implementation of the pivoting scraper bar.  The scraper bar is always in contact with the paddles as it wears down.  It works well and easy to replace.

My problem is I redid all the cement on my property a while ago and it has accelerated the wear on the paddles for sure. Considering that Toro's extended life paddles

are still made from the same materilas as the OEM paddles those Kage paddles seem like a bargain.  I'll definitely try the new Toro's and hopefully they'll provide

longer life. It also seems that the more the paddles wear the more blowback I get fron under the scaper bar. I just replaced it before this winter and it didn't seem

to make much difference. Hopefully I installed it correctly. It seemed pretty straightfoward. Again thanks for the information aa335.

I used the Kage paddles today on varying amount of snow, from 2 inch all the way up to 10 inches.  The throwing performance is no better or worse than the stock Toro paddles.  I did notice more vibrations and bumps especially on uneven pavement.  The polyurethane is definitely stiffer and does not absorb bumps as well as the rubber material.  There is noticeably less forward bite.  A couple of times, I lifted the handles to tip the machine forward and got snow blow back under the scraper bar.  Hopefully, this will improve as the paddles wear in more.