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

Well, I found some great info from a guy on here so I thought I'd post up my initial thoughts on this snowblower I purchased last week. I really didn't want to purchase a snowblower that cost this much but I have a 900ft stone driveway and did not want to buy a plow. I paid 3100.00 for the snowblower and picked up the optional side skid kit which I have not installed yet. If you decide to purchase one, make sure you drain the oil after you get it. I found out that the dealership that I purchased mine from added 10w40 oil instead of the reccomended 5w30 because this is what they had by the drum. I picked up some cheap 5w30 and swapped it out and it looked like it needed it, there were already break-in metal flakes all throught the oil. I'll change it again after the first hour of run time and then again over to synthetic once I get some time on the motor.

The augers and shafts need to come apart as soon as the machine arrives. I found less than a dab of grease on the shafts and splines. The bearing caps can be packed with grease as well. I used bell ray waterproof grease. After running it a little bit, I was not happy with the dim output of the headlight. I'm upgrading to this as soon as it's in stock. http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED-Bulbs/DRLFOG-LED/Universal/27W-9-LED-SPOT-AUX-WORK-p9622351.html#ReviewsTabAnchor

It puts out 1600lm and uses about the same amp draw as the stock halogen. I also ordered a cheap hour meter from ebay that should fit the bill.  I'll post up some picts later on.

Mike

Do you think your engine is damaged forever since the dealer added 10W40 in lieu of 5W30?  Are you getting any light for your behind so you don't get rear ended?

Congratulations on your new Honda. I have the HS1132TAS going on its third year. Awesome machine though expensive. What's the benefit of doing all of these things? Is it any better than Slick 50 and Sea Foaming?

MN_Runner wrote:

No, the engine was not damaged. It was run less than 3min max and right now in Pa it's in the mid 50's. If the engine was started for the first time in sub zero temps I might be a little worried. Not sure what you mean when you say light for behind?

I own the HS 928TAS machine and use Amsoil 100% synthetic 4 cycle 0-W40 oil in it.  I too changed the oil after just a few hours, the metal wear particles are normal in any engine that new, so don't be alarmed by them, they will have no negative impact on the life of the engine. My machine has no auger shaft to be greased at all, the machine you have must be made differently than the 928 model.  I purchased the service manual for the machine, it is the same one your machine uses, and it has both snowblowers in it.   Use Stainless steel bolts, washers and lock nuts instead of the rust fast impossible to remove plain steel ones that Honda gives you for the Heavy Duty skid shoes.  After you drill the necessary mounting holes in the hood, put a little synthetic caulk into the hole so when the bolt goes in the bare exposed metal from the drilling is coated against moisture to retard rust.  I also used SS bolts for the light mount kit, your machine comes with a light, mine sold it as an accessory.  I upgraded mine to an LED unit. These are great machines mine is one season old, I love it.  Good Luck with yours.  FYI, to get the oil out of the engine, and not all over the tracks, I cut a small piece of PVC pipe to let the oil flow from the drain hole on the side of the engine into a drain pan out past the tracks.  It works well, and costs next to nothing.

aa335 wrote:

Well, my previous snowblower was a Honda HS55 from the mid 80's. Here is the deal with the augers. If you break a shear pin and the auger spins enough it could cause enough friction to "weld" the auger to the shaft. Tolarances are pretty tight from honda. Also when water and time get into the shafts, they can rust and cause it to bond with the auger making it impossable to seperate. This is what happen to my Hs55. I had to use a torch to cut off the auger to free it from the shaft. Honda doesn't put grease fittings on the auger from the factory so this is worth the investment of time in my opinion.

New_Yorker wrote:
Thanks Newyorker. I want to thank you personally for all the great info you posted up on this site. Finding any info at all on these blowers is hard to come by. Amsoil is great stuff. I run it in my trucks auto trans and noticed a 10 degree drop just from the switch. I'll be running Mobil one high mileage as soon as I have some time on it. Tomorrow I'm going to try putting the skid shoes on per your instructions in anouther thread. Any advice for running on a stone driveway as far as height goes??

MIkecr250 wrote:
I'm not familiar with the HS55, never seen it in person.  Sounds like what you are describing is the same construction for all current snowblowers, except the  newer Honda HSxxx and the new Yamahas.

The newer Honda with model names HSxxx are different.  I would suggest you look at the how the shear bolts are attached to the carrier block.  Internally to the auger tube, there is a short length of shaft, but it doesn't go all the way to the other end of the bucket side plates, very little shaft surface area for it to accidentally weld on.  When the shear bolt breaks, it doesn't fall into any tubes, but out to the ground.  You can grease it if you like, but offers no additional benefits.  What I do twice in the spring and fall is to take out the shear bolts, spin the auger and feel for any resistance.  It should spin nicely without much drag, no corrosion.  That's all there is to it.

MIkecr250 wrote:
If you have a light in the back people can see you.  When I bike in the winter time, having light in the rear is just as important as having one in the front.  If the front light is for a safety reason then having one in the back is just as important.

aa335 wrote:

Struggling with the picture hosting or linking on this site...=(

MIkecr250 wrote:
Highly dependent on the browsers that you use.  Safari on mac doesn't play nice.  Firefox works better.