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

Sold my single stage snowblower and now I want to but a new one. Would you get a toro 621ZE for 595.99 of a honda HS520S for 689.99? Both have electric start. Thanks in advance, the guys on here know a lot more about this stuff than I do.

Did you have problems with your old HS520?  Why a new one?

I had the HS520 a few years ago.  It was decent snowblower, light on it's feet and maneuverable.  The overall machine is solid.  It is the least rattle machine I've used.  However, the older HS621 was better at heavy snow even though it didn't throw the snow as far..  The chute rarely clog and it was hard to stall the engine.  It is my slushblower champion.

I have the Toro 421QE, now called 621QZE.  The Toro is better than the HS621, definitely better than the HS520.  Good power and distance, even with the Chinese Loncin engine.  Although the Toro looks big and porky, the weight is balanced over the wheels, so it is very maneuverable.   The rubber paddles are most aggressive at pulling you along.  I really like the Toro for the convenience features of the Quick Chute.  However, I like the Honda deflector adjustment better, one lever to adjust both direction and angle, it would be perfect only if I didn't have to reach as far to get to it. 

The Toro is the worse at rattling, there's a lot of plastics. Although you rarely notice it over the noise of the engine.   One day, I may put Dynamat on the inside of the plastic cover, when it's out of warranty.    Because there's more plastic and there's more flex, a lot of the engine vibrations don't go up the handles and onto your hands.

Oh yeah, I would pick the Toro 621ZE over the Honda HS520 anyday, unless one is free.

I never thought the honda would pull itself along like it was supposed to do, it seemed like you had to help it along and everyone who had the toros would aways say how you almost had to hold them back some. The paddles looked good on it so I just thought it maybe was just like that? My honda didn't have electric start on it and when it got really cold out I had to pull it a few extra times sometimes to get it going so I always told myself that my next one would have electric start. I did like the shoot control, that part did work good and it did throw the snow a long ways also.

Yeah, the Toro is very aggressive at pulling.  I have to be very careful going down hill because it will take off faster than I can safely follow behind it, it's scary when there's ice on the driveway.  A slight tip back on handles is all you need to slow it down, but you need to be quick before it builds momentum.  :)   Or be prepared to let it go down hill by itself without taking you down. 

I hear you, another thing is I thought the honda would of been a little quieter than it was, it was pretty loud. I have a honda generator and I love that. I think honda makes good stuff over all.

Coldfingers, were the Honda paddles able to touch the ground when you raised the handle? I have basically 0 experience with SS, but trying my new-to-me Ariens last night, it was trying to pull itself along rather hard, once I lifted up on the handle and let the paddles hit the ground.

I'd used an electric Toro SS before, on my deck. I never tried pulling up on the handle, and I wouldn't have wanted the plastic paddles hitting my wooden deck. But using one with rubber paddles on pavement was eye-opening. I had to pull back against it, then "fix" the problem by lowering the handle a bit, to slow it down. It was trying to run away from me at times, and was even pulling itself uphill, as I recall. Granted, there wasn't really any snow to speak of. But the paddles certainly aren't new, and it can pull itself pretty well.

First off, I'm definitely a Honda fan. Three honda cars and three Honda motorcycles right now. Several of both in the past.

It's been over a year since I was researching snowthrowers and I think I remember the Honda 2 stage machines being highly recommended, but not everyone cared for their single stage units.

Everyone with a Toro SS seemed to like it so I bought the Powerclear 421QE.

After only one season, I have no regrets and would buy the same machine again.

The 621ZE does not have the Quick Shoot and if you have to change the chute direction a lot, I would certainly recommend it.

The electric start isn't needed, but I bought it for possible resale benefit. People seem to like having the electric start, but I have never used it.

I'm a honda fan also, having had honda cycles and a Ridgeline truck but like you said, in the single stage machines it looks like Toro is the deal. Yes, my paddles would touch the blacktop when I lifted it up some but it still never gave you the impression it was pulling you much at all. I wondered if I got one that had a curved skid or something but figured after awhile it would wear in and be okay. I always wanted to try someone elses to see if it was just mine or not. I finally decided to sell it and just use my two stage but even when you have the skids set fairly close it just doesn't clean down to the pavement like a single stage will. So then I run a shovel over it afterwards and think, no, I miss that single stage cleaning and need to get one again. Like so many have mentioned, its really nice to have both as when you do get a bad storm or the plow comes by the two stage is nice to get rid of the big stuff. I have a track drive Ariens that does a nice job with the EOD and storms but not for the finishing touch ups.

The new Toro 621XXs are also having leaky carborator problems so I would hold off on buying a Toro.  This is the primary reason why I helped a friend last Saturday to buy a new Honda instead of Toro.  It is not fun having a foul smelling garage. 

aa335 wrote:

I had an opportunity to try Toro 97CC 2 cycle blower at my church on 1/1/2012.  It took me about 20 pulls to start it but once it got started it ran fine.  The rubber did look new and fresh.  It did nice job pulling and removing the wet 1" snow but when the snow was about 3" deep it started to choke and showed weakness.  It pulled a little too hard but it is probably good going up the hill.  Maybe not so safe for going down.  The Honda does not pull that hard so it can be more work going up the hill but just right for going down.

MN_Runner wrote:

Ouch!

This is the first I have heard of this. Makes me wonder if my 421QE is actually fixed after the recall was performed. I never had the problem and I do have and use a fuel line shut-off valve so I'm not overly concerned yet.

There is no recall listed on the Toro site, and a Google search doesn't bring up any references to any problems with this years models.

How about a link to any information you have seen about the problem still existing?