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

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.

I think it is normal.I had not had a snow blower before or anything with a choke.After a few minutes with choke 'open' it runs fine after I 'close' it.

I downloaded the manual and it tells me to replace the rubber if the measurement from the shaft of the auger to the edge of the rubber is at 8.87cm. or shorter. It is 9-9.05cm. now if I measured correctly.

Inside auger housing and on parts of the auger itself there is rust.I want to sand it and paint it next year if I can.

Thanks for the link, aa335, I checked that website and found out that the 'scraper bar kit' is obsolete.How do people replace it then?I called Honda Power America, they confirmed that that part (starting with 06...) is discontinued.However I saw this part and its MSRP on Honda Power's Canada website.Interesting.

Last night I asked my wife to come with me to look at another snow blower I saw online.150 miles roundtrip.I ended up paying $246 for this Honda HS621.A lot more than what I paid for HS35, hopefully it is worth it. What do you think? Its scraper bar might need replacement, but not sure if I should replace paddles yet.I did not understand how to measure the wear on this one or the manual was not clear.

Below I added a picture showing both.There you can see the rust on HS35's auger and its housing:

Thanks for the reply.

6 inch from where? When I look at the new part pictures the rubber's width does not look like it is not 6 inches even when brand new.

The manual says:

'Measure the distance from the outer edge of the auger (the metal parts paddles are bolted on or the housing?) to the outer edge of the rubber paddles.The paddles are worn out and should be replaced, if the distance is less than 15mm (0,6 inch).'

Did you mean 0,6 in? Or is it a different measurement?

The scraper bar, the hard plastic part of it has one broken part less than1/5 in in width and 2 in in length at the end of the scraper, not seperated from the main plastic yet.Is this hard plastic the material you mentioned?

Thanks again for your suggestions.

I had an issue with my choke as well because it was not connected.  Please take a look inside and make sure the Choke knob rod is connected to your carburator. I had to put some paint on the metal rod to make it thick and now the Choke knob does not move around and moves as directed so it works great. 

If  you don't have the choke working, it would be very hard to start.  I should be getting my OEM scrape bar and belt next Tue so I will can finish the project for now,  Your rubber pedals are no good and they are too worn out.  These rubber augers are real pain in the neck to install.

I do not know any efficient way to install them.  $36 is the best price I got including shipping.  These are not OEM as they are about twice as much. We will find out when we get some real snow.