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

Well, after putting around with my new hs1332 I decided that the chute and hydro controls were not intuitive for me. I'm a right hander and it was just strange and uncomfortable to hold the left lever down and then reach across with my right hand to the left side to control the lever for the transmission. After looking it over, the brackets for the left and right side are the same so I simply removed the grips and switched them and removed the cables and switched them.  Now that the transmission control is on my right hand side it's much easier to control the beast. Funny how such a little thing can make a big difference! O-yeah, I removed the indicator stickers and ordered new ones which cost $5.00 each. Not a bad deal and it will look factory.

The handle interlock is now on the right side, and so is the chute crank and the chute deflector lever!  This is a mess.  Unless you relocate the chute crank to the left side as well, this reversing controls setup is going to be very very awkward.  Good luck.

Honda ergonomics makes sense like Reverse Polish Notation, once you get used to it, there is no other better way.  I wouldn't mess with it.

One more thing, whatever mods you do to it, keep that Dremel away from a brand new machine. 

Good idea, I will have to look into it in the next coming days and see if it looks like a better setup. I may be another switcher too!!! Like the poster said above, I need to see if makes logical sense to how I use the blower. I really want to put the shoot turning handle on the left side, but the motor sticks out too far to make it a quick fix.  I will give it some more time to see if relearning the new controls become second nature or not. Otherwise I do have a Heli-Arc TIG welder, so I could  fabricate new brackets if I can get a good designed pathway.

You need to do the Dremel mod to the shoot.  My shoot was a joke, it would turn from 8:30 position when turned to the left, and to the right it was at the 3:00 position.  Seems like Honda was listening to it's product liability attorneys on that one.  After the modification my shoot turns to the left to the 7:30 position and to the right the 4:30 position. I think I am going to cut one or two more teeth in to get a 7:00 and 5:00 positioning. That will work just perfect for my two driveways.

I would just do away with the crank all together and put make a bolt on bracket, get and old automotive window motor and make the chute rotation electric, which is exactly what I did on my Cub Cadet and it works like a charm.

aa335 wrote:
Ha, you had me at Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). Once I got my head around that, I loved it. I can't stand using a "normal" calculator, it feels so backwards. I even have an emulator for my HP 48GX installed on my computers, so I can always have a good calculator available :)

Those "fantastic"  Honda snowblowers still use a crank ?    

royster wrote:
I like crank handles IF they have a simplistic worm gear like the Honda or Yamaha. I was looking into an Ariens Pro, but the badly designed shoot turning mechanism was brought up here and there in forums as being a problem. I then went to Home depot and broke one and that sealed the deal AGAINST buy an Ariens.

I have not owned a electronic shoot turner so I can't comment on how it works, I never have looked into it, otherwise I could state an opinion on it's design.  I have to place snow in exacting places on 2 driveways and change it while throwing snow. Do these electric shoot turners have exacting placement of the shoot "in a fluid way" while blowing and going through it's full 280 degree spectrum of movement?

royster wrote:
 . .  . Sure Do . . .and it's all Stainless Steel.  Simple. reliable, no cables to freeze up, no big deal.  Just a good sturdy, trouble free and completely reliable way to turn the chute.  Less is More in this case, so glad I bought a Honda.  

royster wrote:
Yeah.  They still use cranks.  Like Honda snowblowers are still built by Honda, and only by Honda. It's nice to know that's consistent.

Now I don't know about Craftsman snowblowers, they are built by who know who year to year. 

Whoha wrote:
Would it work better if the chute can be positioned at 6:00 too?  Why limit the chute travel at all???  Then it truly will be full spectrum at 360 degrees, not 280.

""""Would it work better if the chute can be positioned at 6:00 too?  Why limit the chute travel at all???  Then it truly will be full spectrum at 360 degrees, not 280.""""





Funny Boy!!!!!!



.

I had an old Simplicity that was like that. You could throw it right back in your face, if you wanted. I never thought about how handy that full-360 was, until I got my MTD. Then I discovered that I could no longer turn the chute far enough to throw it where I needed, when clearing between the cars in the driveway :) I'd rather have the option to throw it wherever I want; let me worry about not hitting myself with it.

MY Husqvarna just has 2  separate levers.    One moves side to side to move the chute side to side

The other one moves forward or back to move the chute deflector up or  down

The mechanism is sturdy and effecient.

My neighbour has a John Deere with electric controls for the chute and deflector.

 It is  new  (built by Briggs )    So far it has worked fine and is easy to operate, but he wonders how long it will keep working.

Whoha wrote:
Not trying to be funny Pop. 

No need to crank the chute almost a full circle when all you want to toss it behind left or right.  If you're going to hack it, go all the way and screw the liability lawyers!

aa335 wrote:
Yes, there is a need to toss the snow behind me left and right, and a shoot that exits 8:30 and 3:00 dose not work for my application.  Why not modify it. From standing 2-4 feet away you would never tell what I did.  Maybe you hack stuff up when you work on stuff, but I don't. Seems you fear doing custom work. And saying in an idiot way of commenting I might add, "If your going to hack it , what not go all the way"  That is just a dumb ass comment. Yea,  I want it at 6:00 and going right into me.  Going 7:00  to 5:00  will clear the person who is running the snowblower. you know it, we all know it. You are just being a dumb ass about it. Wake up Forest Gump.