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

   Yep, an all beef Yamaha 828 track.  It came wounded with a bad drive system and no governor or throttle (bunge gords only to keep it going).  When it did drive it would not stop when the clutch was released.   Ten minutes to fix the drive and an hour to fix the governor and throttle.  The engine tests out at the peak of it's spec'd value.  The muffler was all rusted and that had to come off to get at the governor so it got wire brushed, sanded and painted. 

   The starter does not work.  I'm hoping it's something minor as the replacement is $800.  It fires right up with the rope so no rush on getting to the starter.  On the initial go through I can't find any problems so it's ready to challange the Honda 1132 and 828. 

   The Yamaha tracks are pretty nice to use.  Easy enough to turn and they have a neutral which allows the machine to be pushed around when not running as easily as a wheeled machine.   It's got four bucket positions and two reverse speeds that very nice with the 2 being very fast.  

    All in all a great machine and will for now take the place of my hearts desire - a Honda 928.

Ran across these two not far from you.

Two Blowers for sale

This would be a good price around here.

My old lady roped me into getting a snowblower for her girlfriend, and there are a few of these for sale in Alaska and I am interested in picking one up. My only question is how they start in cold weather (around 10-15 sometimes). I know a Honda will start like a champ at that temp. Have you had any experience or heard about anyone starting the Yamaha 828 when it is that cold?

   Yamaha’s (the80’s-90’s machines) have a fuel pump that seems fairly sluggish, even new replacements.  It takes a few pulls to get the fuel up for a start.   There have been a few that fired up on first pull but generally it takes a 2-3 pulls to get them going. 

 

   It’s a little easier to start with a couple of easy false pulls to go through a few compression strokes then a full pull with choke for a start.

 

   The compression release requires a decent tug, higher than a Honda.  They’re more like pulling a Tecumseh.8hp. 

 

   Never had a problem in cold weather around Boston.

 

   If you did have problems, you could make things easy by drilling a small hole in the heaterbox cover just big enough for a carb cleaner straw.  That would get the shot directly into the throat.  A small hole would be a good addition to any machine.