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

For those that have more SB usage under your belt, feel free to chime in.

For Hard EOD, the breakup of it, wet hard EOD that comes out the chute.....are you seeing any difference in how far it will throw whether it be a 7 HP machine or a 13HP machine.

I'm going to assume the 13HP won't bog down compared to a 7. Speed is not the goal.
Does both throw just as far...as it's sheer weight of heavy wet snow coming out the chute. Or that is relevent to impeller speeds of each SB characteristics

My snowblower is a 11 hp with 32 inch width.  I think the power is well matched for the machine.  A few times, I do like to have more power just for fun.  But practically, I don't need more power.  Perhaps if I'm in an wide open area, I would throw snow as far as I can without worrying about breaking windows and damaging property.  Realistically, when the snow is deep, I tend to go slow.  Who knows what hidden object lies in the snow waiting to wrap itself around the auger and render the snowblower useless, or that object becomes a lethal projectile.   Also, it's hard to judge where the edge of the sidewalks or driveway ends and where the grass begins.  I sure don't want the auger to chew up my grass, or worse when auger strikes the concrete when one side of the snowblower just dropped off the sidewalk.

More power can be useful with certain density of snow, but not always.  If the snow is light and fluffy, I don't think more power makes any difference, you have to have pretty fast ground speed to feed the auger and impeller with enough snow.  In heavy dense snow, more power can put a lot of strain on the gearbox.  Also, the impeller and chute opening can only process so much snow.  If that snow cannot leave the impeller housing and the chute opening, it's like an flooding an engine and hydrolock.  Something is going to break, hopefully, that shear pin breaks and not the gears.

The other consideration is that the snowblower moves around like wild buckling bronco when the snow and surface is inconsistent.  Keeping the machine in intended path and control becomes much more difficult.  A heavier snowblower chassis with a powerful engine keeps the buckling tame.  Operating  a 2 stage snowblower is quite fatiguing, especially during long sessions with big snowblowers.  Manhandling a heavy and powerful machinery high power gets old pretty fast and chances of personal injury or property damage increases.

I think my snowblower is a well designed machine.  It doesn't have the most horsepower per inch of width, but the machine is efficient.  I don't have an itch to put in a bigger engine.

Here's a perfect example...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBh5tCemqjQ&feature=fvwrel

All I want to do is cut 28" Inch High Intial EOD, Hard Crusted Overnight EOD - and I'll be happy if it goes 6-8 feet from the top of the chute.
So going back to the OP, will I see any difference in HP relative to throw based on similar conditions in the video.

Between drivetrain loss, the 724 I'm looking it - I think power wise, it would be similar to the 621 minus - the 2 stage effect..

A Honda HS928 would easily throw that mess at least 10 feet away.  So any modern snowblowers with 9 hp and above can do the same, provided the auger has serrated teeth and tight impeller to housing spacing.  I assume a HS724 would do too.  The key is to have the right ground speed and proper feeding of snow to the auger on these lower powered machines.

aa335 wrote:
Agreed, technique is probably more important than power/brand of machine.  I've move slushy EOD with the Craftsman SS machine by taking in only enough snow to not bog down the machine.  However, once that stuff freezes, the SS machine is pretty much useless and even powerful two stage machines have their work cut out for them.  

I've slowly reading old threads and all this (tech babble).
How important is Auger Height, Bucket Height - important relative to the machine.

"How important is Auger Height, Bucket Height "

If the snow is not deeper than the bucket it's basically irrelevant. If it's over the bucket you'll be making a second pass in that area or doing a lot of backing up as you go.

mobiledynamics: Just curious - you stated in a previous thread that you used to have a HS724 but you're asking a bunch of newbie type questions. Did you ever get to use the HS724 or is that the reason you sold it?

Actually the bucket/auger question is because.....
The chassis of the HS is all the same in their lineup. I may be mistaken in this statement
The only difference is the motor and then the bucket.
I think everything else is the same.

However, going back to the 724 trax, that actually has a lower bucket height and hence smaller auger than let's say a 724 Wheeled or anything larger that has the same bucket height.
So for efficiency purposes, going back to the bucket/impeller size question, the 724trax might be deemed less efficient than the wheeled (horses for horses).

mobiledynamics wrote:
Yes, the lineup shares the same design.

I don't think you can stuff a larger engine in a 724, either wheeled or tracked.  This model has the GX160 / GX200 engine block.  Yup, the same as on your HS621.  Surprise! 

Putting in a bigger engine require some modifications to the mounting area.  That would be the 928 mounting platform with the next larger GX240 / GX270 engine block.

Making a souped up HS724 with larger engine may be a lost cause.  Just pick up a used 928, it will be a lot less hassles.  If you ever seen a 928 toss snow, its is quite a good performer.

So whatever you do to the 724, it will only perform almost as good as 928, but never as good as a 1132.  Throwing horsepower at a small chassis is like putting a Mustang 5 liter V8 into a Mazda Miata.  Fun and entertaining, but ridiculous.

If you want the biggest grunt to cut through the occasional EOD challenge, buy the new Ariens Professional 28 with the monster 420cc engine.  I'm sure that machine has been engineered from the start to the have the grunt and volumetric capacity of a big dog machine.

24" snowblowers are not designed for big power.  They're made to be cheap, lightweight, compact, and maneuverable.

I like the idea of a small and powerful 2-stage also. It's like the Rocky Balboa of snowblowers. I saw the Ariens 28 PRO and it's BIG. A lot bigger than my HS928. Of course the Ariens is powerful, but then it's just too big to maneuver around. i.e., Shaq in basketball. Now if you could take a HS928 and slim it down that might be easier.

One option for a more powerful 24 inch two stage is a Simplicity Large Frame, like the 860 or the newer version P1524E. I had a 860 and after install an impeller kit it could handle any kind of snow.

AA - you make a good point, which I was wondering - whether the platform for the Block was the same for all 3 models, or was that larger - accomodate the larger engine.

Simplicity C Channel Handlesbars does look beefy and brawly. I'm sure less flex....but I'd rather minimize the weight, and just have the weigh upfront where I would/may need it.

See Borats Murray Post. That's what I meant when I said I can Dance with the 621. However, 50% of the snow I get, aside from the EOD, is more Northeast Wet Snow. So even in similar conditions of height, the 621 bogs in the chute. I may just have to learn to take smaller bites to give the chute a working chance of letting snow get out.

I'm fairly sure they use different platform depending on the engine size.  Putting a larger engine will definitely interfere with the handlebar.  The chute crank would probably be too short to go around the engine.

Not that it can't be done, but I haven't seen anyone putting a larger engine in a Honda.   It's a lot to do to make to work.  There are older machines that are easier and better candidates for larger engines. 

I'm surprised that you have trouble with the EOD with the 621.  It usually does perform fine for me until the snow is higher the intake and frozen.  I keep the 621 in top working condition with everything adjusted properly.  The engine is quite tractable and has lots of low end torque.  But the trick with any of these SS is feeding it the right amount of snow and keeping the engine RPM in the powerband.  It won't have the power to toss EOD heavy snow 10 feet, but 5-8 feet is typical.