Abby’s Guide > Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) > Discussions > Help, have new 2012 Honda HS928 have questions.
Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions |
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FrankMA
Location: Merrimack Valley/Northeastern Mass
Joined: Jul 1, 2010
Points: 587
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Re: Help, have new 2012 Honda HS928 have questions.
Reply #1 Nov 5, 2011 1:42 pm |
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It's easier to start out with the lever close to the neutral postion. If you have the lever in the fast forward postion, the machine will tend to jerk a bit when you engage the drive lever. I've never had a Yamaha but I would imagine that it's pretty similar in the way it functions.
This message was modified Nov 5, 2011 by FrankMA
Toro Wheel Horse 522xi GT, Honda HS928TA, Honda HS621AS, Honda HS520A, Toro CCR3000 (work in progress), Honda HS624WA (sold 08/23/2010), Stihl BR550 Backpack Blower, Stihl MS250, McCulloch MS1635, Honda EM6500SX Generator
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aa335
Joined: Nov 29, 2008
Points: 2434
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Re: Help, have new 2012 Honda HS928 have questions.
Reply #5 Nov 5, 2011 7:01 pm |
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Welcome to the forum, are you from NJ? There are Honda owners on this forum that are not even aware of this BIG fail. Surprising Honda had not received complaints about this more often. Maybe the 2012 model comes with racing clutch, which can be abrupt? Honda is typically and fashionably slow in making changes to their product. They don't have the budget to hire visionaries like Steve Jobs, nor would he be interested. Honda has never aimed for perfection, their snowblowers are already quite expensive and quirky.
This message was modified Nov 5, 2011 by aa335
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Whoha
Location: Minneapolis
Joined: Nov 5, 2011
Points: 35
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Re: Help, have new 2012 Honda HS928 have questions.
Reply #7 Nov 5, 2011 8:59 pm |
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I would of went with a Yamaha, but they are only available in Canada, track drive only, and I want wheel because of having two small driveways with lots of 180 turning. A 9hp is $3,800, to 4,000 So that is out of the question. I know there is no option because you get what you get, but defending a bad design of implementation because you are a Honda fan makes no sense. I know I will get use to it, but having to pull back the speed handle every dam time you let off the clutch seems like a half ass way of design. It is missing a key element to make it work like the rest of the snowblowers in the world. Having a valve that brings on the oil flow from 0 to 100% in 2 to 3 seconds to stop the clunk and save the abuse on the tranny would seems so logical. This valve would work going any speed you would preset your snowblower at. FWD or REV. Problem solved and then it would run like any other snowblower. How do you know people have not complained? Why would not any of you see it? I did, right away when I brought it home, and I am just an average guy. I will be sending an email off to Honda so at least they get one complaint for a better way of implementation of the Hydro-drive. I know by the end of the season it will be like driving a clutched car and I won't even notice it, but at first glance it seems they could of went one step further to make it right. We are paying the premium for a Honda. BUT then again, there is the Acura TL and Odyssey tranny issue that plagues those models too. Honda needs to fire their tranny guys, it seems to be their only real problem as a whole. Everything else is top notch. When chewing up an end of the driveway that a snowplow left I may engage the clutch 4-5 times while chewing up the massive snow heap. I will have to change my style to a less aggressive Mr. Rodgers way of snow blowing :) ( joke, don't take it in the wrong way) http://old.nabble.com/file/p31817286/2011_SB_YS928J_l.jpg http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/55741-0-1.html
This message was modified Nov 6, 2011 by Whoha
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aa335
Joined: Nov 29, 2008
Points: 2434
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Re: Help, have new 2012 Honda HS928 have questions.
Reply #8 Nov 5, 2011 10:50 pm |
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Perhaps the problem is specific to your snowblower. I've had not noticed that it was abrupt. I don't expect to do clutch dumps on a regular basis on a $2500+ snowblower. Maybe you should try testing out another snowblower at the dealer to see if it behaves the same. If it doesn't, then maybe your unit needs work or adjusting. If it does the same thing, decide if you can tolerate it and get used to it, learn how to feather the clutch, or ease the drive lever to speed. If not, try other brands, do a clutch dump on all of them and see which one is the softest. I'm not trying to defend how Honda implement their hydrostatic transmission, I never operated a Yamaha with hydro trans so I don't know if the Yamaha handles clutch dump as gracefully. Maybe Honda should put in a slipper clutch or hydraulic bypass valve. Who knows? Perhaps the next generation of Honda snowblower should be a softer and kinder design.
This message was modified Nov 5, 2011 by aa335
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Whoha
Location: Minneapolis
Joined: Nov 5, 2011
Points: 35
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Re: Help, have new 2012 Honda HS928 have questions.
Reply #9 Nov 6, 2011 12:07 am |
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I am waiting till I run it on the first snow. I will call the dealer that is 50 miles away and see what they say. As for my old Yamaha, it was a conventional disc drive, not hydro-drive. The new Yamaha's are Hydro. I will ask the question on the Yamaha board and see what the new Yamaha's are like. HERE IS WHAT I POSTED ON THE YAMAHA BOARD
I need a description or characteristics of how the Yamaha hydro drive works.
Here is why. I just bought a 2012 Honda 9hp two-stage wheel model to replace my 1988 YS828. It has a hydro trans. I am just curious how the Yamaha's is compared to the Honda's. My problem is the tranny on the Honda clunks and does an instant engagement with no slipping to start with when you push in the clutch like I do on my YS828 and any other snowblower I have owned or used. Even feathering doesn't work. I posted this weird characteristic on a board with a lot of Honda users and it seems some of the Honda guys have to pull back the hydro drive "speed" lever to neutral every time they let go of the clutch so they can engage the clutch and THEN advance the speed lever to go from zero to what ever speed they pick. Otherwise the trans violently engages if you just push in the clutch like any other "disc drive" snowblower that has smooth engagement. Some think I could have a bad tranny ( I will call dealer Monday)
Too many people for my liking seem to do the pull back to neutral and THEN engage the clutch and push on the speed lever to make me think this is a design flaw that everyone has lived with. If so it is a crap design and an incomplete design. The more logical design would be to add a valve that would increase flow from zero to 100% in 2 to 3 seconds to what ever the speed lever was set at when the clutch was engaged. This includes FWD or REV. This would make starting a smooth affair and wouldn't hammer the trans. Then it would run like any other snowblower that I have ever seen or used.
Always having a hand on the speed lever and dicking around with it seems flawed to me.
How do the Yamaha's with hrdro tranny's work, like Honda above???
This message was modified Nov 6, 2011 by Whoha
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