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

   Yamaha used a bit different than usual snowblower start arrangment.  120 in to a bridge rectifier to a 12 volt starter.  Big time smoked.  The rectifier blew, arcing and charing at the brushes, commutator sections chared and melted, wnding section melted and a broken magnet.   A total.   Yamahas are hard to come by and the electric start models a bit rarer.  The starter on these list from $750 to 850.  It's $660 from boats which usually has good prices. 

   These are nice starters so I suspect the usual, no maintenance -> hard to start -> lots of starter cranking -> burnt starter.

Sorry to see it's destroyed, that's a shame. I almost choked when I read the price. Is there any chance you could somehow adapt a cheaper starter from a more common machine? And/or, replace the motor itself with something else, but re-use the front end that interfaces with the flywheel? Of course, simply getting the machine back running properly, so it doesn't need the electric start, is probably the most straightforward approach Perhaps using the 120VAC->12VDC setup was Yamaha's way of only needing to produce a single starter motor, whether it was going on a snowblower (120V AC) or a generator (12V DC)?

That's some heavy expense for electric start.  Does the machine have a pull start? 

Any chance a motorcycle starter might either fit or be a parts source?  Might be some older models in a scrap yard that could be parts donors.

   Interesting possibility of using some motorcycle parts.  Just checked out a few motorcycle starters in the age and cc range.  They had a different flywheel end.  It was splined instead of a gear that sprang out. The brush heads were different also.  But there may be a possibility that some cycle armatures and stators are the same.  I'll give it a shot and take the parts to a Yamaha dealer and see if they can match a cross.

   The machine has a pull start so no problem.   The YS828 is up and functional though and a tiger with full compression.  I'm looking forward to trying it out against a 828 and 11/32 Hondas if we ever get any snow.

   It would be nice to get a starter though to get it complete.  Below is a YS624TEN with a starter.  Nice enclosure.

  BTW: the 624 and 824 are rated at 6 and 8hp @ 4000.  Sort of weird for 202cc and 291cc engines in comparison to Briggs and Tecumseh ratings at 3500.   You'd think the Briggs and Tecumseh might be more capable but just the oppposite is true.