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

I bought a new Honda HS520A for my wife but she did not find it particularly useful because of the following: 1) the blower was a loud bugger; 2) it took a little more effort to pull start; 3) she rather shovel and keep the $600 for whatever shopping; 4) my son is 15 1/2 so she can retire and give him the shovel; 6) still more than one knob.  I thought my son would be interested in using HS520A but he said that he has too much homework and operating OPE does not interest him.  So he likes to wait for me to come home since I enjoy snowblowing so much and he does not want to take that enjoyment away  (my kids call me snowblower freak).  No I took the HS520A back next day to the dealer and they sold it to next guy in line for more that what I paid for the day before.  So the best snow moving equipment is either you or the shovel.  My wife did not give me any grief when I bought HS35 for $15 + another $85 for parts since she came out $500 ahead. 

MN_Runner wrote:

Ok my wife is only 84 lbs. and she's 4'10" tall and here is a video of her starting our snowblower for the first use of the season. My wife is awful with technical things and yet she was able to start the Toro.

It's not complicated at all you slide the throttle lever all the way over, turn the choke switch all te way left, press the fuel button 3 times, and Pull start it. Then after 20 seconds turn the choke switch and you are good to go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u9Y7ELfI3M

mvedepo wrote:
Yes, he drives a manly 4X4 with chrome wheels.  It's been offroad, climbing the curb while on the way to Starbucks.. 

Steve_Cebu wrote:

Your wife looks like a good sport.Certainly not the norm when it comes to snow blowers, lawnmowers.

blumonster wrote:

Yeah, she really is a gem. But she likes doing a lot of stuff so that's good. She'd like to have more time to do it but not with her current work schedule. I showed her how to use teh leafblower and she really wants to use it some more but it's mostly done now so she'll have to wait until next fall.

Steve,

Not only your wife a good sport but she is one good looking/fit woman.  She probably can kick my butt!

MN_Runner wrote:

Thanks and yeah she can probably kick my butt as well!

Thankfully she isn't like that at all.

 At 15 1/2 My Father was Dead from a heart attack.  In those days 15 year old sons replaced the snowblower quite effectively.  But the there were no video games, Mc Donald's had one burger store out in Centereach Long Isand, and nowhere else on Long Island, and we had not yet coined the term, "Couch Potato".    My Mother only shoveled snow when I wasn't around to do it, a rare occurrence at 15  A Honda Engine, with fresh gas, a clean or new spark plug and all the controls properly set starts on the first pull, and I own two of these engines GX 270's rated at 9 HP, one is 11 years old.  If your's didn't start on the first pull, you were doing something

Incidentally . . . I use ONLY 100% Synthetic Motor Oil in these engines Because Non-Synthetic or synthetic blends contain Parrafin Wax in the oil which Thickens and makes starting in cold weather when the oil is thick, considerably more difficult.  100% Synthetic 0-W40 Amsoil 4 cycle oil is what I use exclusively. 100% Synthetic Oil has NO Parrafin Wax to thicken when cold, and create Engine Sludge as the engine operates. 

I think women from Japan are tough and rugged.  My wife would like to have one of these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiPpp3HqbOA&feature=related.  She thinks she can easily handle this one without any problem and too bad we don't have it here in the USA/Canada.

MN_Runner wrote:

That would be almost useless where we live. Sure as a power shovel for 2"-4" of snow it might be good but 12"-22" of snow i think it would just stop like it hit a wall. It looks easy to use tho.

The other problem is where do put all the snow that accumulates after each storm. It's like having a plow on your tractor, at some point you'll run out room to store all the pushed snow. I guess it would work if you had light accumulations with warm spells in between snow storms.