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

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.

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.

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'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.

Firefox worked thanks.  Anyway you can see the shaft ends in the pict I posted. These were assembled dry from the factory.

Yes, the shaft doesn't go all the way through the auger.  Isn't the shaft diameter stepped down so that it doesn't actually touch the auger tube?