# Honda Snowblowers



## skijay (Oct 17, 2013)

I'm getting ready to purchase a new snow blower.  Looking at one without electric start (HS724WA).  That part concerns me but the unit itself is solid construction unlike a Husquavarna or Ariens that I looked at.  I'm paying more for the Honda and am giving up heated handlebars, power steering, electric start and a headlight to pay a premium for a Honda that from what I'm told & read online that the Honda will last a long time. 

Anybody own one and or use one?


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## Hawkshot99 (Oct 17, 2013)

I do not own a Honda snowblower, but have had several pieces of Honda power equipment.  I have several Honda engines mounted on various machines and they are all great.
I have a OLD(17 years) push mower from them.  Sadl I dont think the oil has ever, or at least not any time recently been changed.  It starts first pull every time, except first time spring use, may take a few pulls.
Small Honda engines are the industry standard in the outdoor power equipment industry.  The complete machines are also great.


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## buellski (Oct 18, 2013)

I don't have a Honda snow blower, but I have 3 dirt bikes, an ATV, and a generator and I have to say they are all pretty much bullet proof.  The only new one is the generator.  The other three are all 2004 or older.  I don't have snow blower because I use the ATV as a plow.  I would not hesitate to buy a Honda snow blower.


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## Nick (Oct 18, 2013)

I use a snowthrower attachment for my garden tractor (Cub Cadet) which works well. It's expensive ... like $1000, as much as a standalone snowblower, without a motor. But; you get the 42" width so it clears my 110' driveway very quickly. I need to wear full ski gear when I use it (goggles, etc) as the snow mist gets every-where.


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## o3jeff (Oct 18, 2013)

Have a 6 year old Honda push lawn mower that starts on the first pull and has a great cut.


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## hammer (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> Have a 6 year old Honda push lawn mower that starts on the first pull and has a great cut.


Had a Honda mower, engine was fine but the tranny gave out after only 6-7 seasons.  Lawn is big so I replaced it with a JD Tractor and a less expensive Craftsman mower for cut-ins.


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## Geoff (Oct 18, 2013)

This is something where I always look at Consumer Reports.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2011/11/clear-the-snow-not-your-bank-account/index.htm

If you think about how many hours the engine actually runs on a snow blower, I don't think it matters what you use.   What matters is fully draining the fuel at the end of the season and spraying some carb cleaner around so it starts reliably on fresh gasoline the next season.   With wet snow, if you spray all the surfaces with spray cooking oil or silicon, nothing sticks.



> Fast clearing and the ability to tear through dense plow piles put the  24-inch Craftsman 88173, a CR Best Buy at $680, at the top of the pack.





> *For bigger jobs.* Full-sized snow blowers are faster and clear a wide swath, good for larger driveways. The 30-inch Craftsman 88396, $1,200



I checked the prices on the Sears site and both of those are a few bucks more than the reported CR prices.   $699.99 and $1229.99.


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## Geoff (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> Have a 6 year old Honda push lawn mower that starts on the first pull and has a great cut.



I have a 5 year old $129.00 Briggs & Stratton Brute with an an MTD deck that starts every time on the first pull.   All I do to it is drain the gas in the fall and change the oil every few years.


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## Warp Daddy (Oct 18, 2013)

My first Ariens dual stage 7 hp lasted 30 yrs , i sold it for a decent price and now have had my second one a 724 for four yrs with Zero problems . I have a 140. Ft of driveway and and 150 ft of walks i do and did I say we LIVE in  a snowbelt with Lake Effect


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## bvibert (Oct 18, 2013)

Warp Daddy said:


> My first Ariens dual stage 7 hp lasted 30 yrs , i sold it for a decent price and now have had my second one a 724 for four yrs with Zero problems . I have a 140. Ft of driveway and and 150 ft of walks i do and did I say we LIVE in  a snowbelt with Lake Effect



I've had an Ariens for several years now, it's never given me any problems.


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## o3jeff (Oct 18, 2013)

Warp Daddy said:


> My first Ariens dual stage 7 hp lasted 30 yrs



That was back when stuff was made to last. My grandfather had a big Simplicity that I think my aunt actually still has. Thing was a beast and iirc the transmission had a chain drive to the wheels.


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## o3jeff (Oct 18, 2013)

bvibert said:


> I've had an Ariens for several years now, it's never given me any problems.



I have an Ariens too that's worked fine for the past 6 or 7 years.


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## bvibert (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> Have a 6 year old Honda push lawn mower that starts on the first pull and has a great cut.



My ?? year old Craftsman mower starts on the first pull too.  I haven't done anything to maintain it aside from sharpening the blade and filling the gas when needed since my wife rescued it from someone's garbage on the side of the road over a year ago.  I forget what it has for an engine, but it's not a Honda, Briggs and Stratton maybe?  My point being that a mower starting on the first pull doesn't really mean much these days...


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## bvibert (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> I have an Ariens too that's worked fine for the past 6 or 7 years.



Mines probably ~10 years old.


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## skijay (Oct 18, 2013)

I'm replacing my 40 year old, one (my) family, owned Ariens.


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## o3jeff (Oct 18, 2013)

bvibert said:


> My ?? year old Craftsman mower starts on the first pull too.  I haven't done anything to maintain it aside from sharpening the blade and filling the gas when needed since my wife rescued it from someone's garbage on the side of the road over a year ago.  I forget what it has for an engine, but it's not a Honda, Briggs and Stratton maybe?  My point being that a mower starting on the first pull doesn't really mean much these days...



How does it cut? Does it leave nice lines on the lawn?


I do have a Toro also that always seems to start on 2 pulls.


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## o3jeff (Oct 18, 2013)

bvibert said:


> Mines probably ~10 years old.



Is it orange?


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## bvibert (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> Is it orange?



Yup


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## bvibert (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> How does it cut? Does it leave nice lines on the lawn?
> View attachment 9309



I don't know, my "lawn" is mostly weeds and dirt... :lol:


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## jack97 (Oct 18, 2013)

skijay said:


> I'm replacing my 40 year old, one (my) family, owned Ariens.



Why change? 

One important thing I wanted from a snowblower is how far the impeller can throw the snow. Long ago, I bought a craftmans, a bad purchase, had little throwing power. It would take forever to clear the snow and if it snowed on consecutive week or days, the blower could not clear the banks. I noticed my neighbors with Ariens or Toro, those things can chuck it far away, especially wet or road salted stuff. I have a U shape driveway and a long sidewalk easement that I plow for school kids, those areas always has salt treated stuff. Only reason I may consider another brand is a "renamed" version of the Arien or Toro.


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## Hawkshot99 (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> How does it cut? Does it leave nice lines on the lawn?
> View attachment 9309
> 
> I do have a Toro also that always seems to start on 2 pulls.



Those lines that your mower leaves are just tire tracks. The wheels are to skinny on push mowers, for their weight.

These are some nice stripes.

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2


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## o3jeff (Oct 18, 2013)

Hawkshot99 said:


> Those lines that your mower leaves are just tire tracks. The wheels are to skinny on push mowers, for their weight.
> 
> These are some nice stripes.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2


Really, those are all tire tracks across the whole path? Same pic zoomed in a little. Your picture seems to show a lot of tire tracks too.


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## ScottySkis (Oct 18, 2013)

We need blow job blowers.


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## Nick (Oct 18, 2013)

Scotty must be on a bender. 

My lawn gets striped in the summer pretty good but now it's already browning up for the winter.


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## Hawkshot99 (Oct 18, 2013)

o3jeff said:


> Really, those are all tire tracks across the whole path? Same pic zoomed in a little. Your picture seems to show a lot of tire tracks too.
> View attachment 9311



Looks totaly different in that 2nd pic.

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2


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## skijay (Oct 18, 2013)

jack97 said:


> Why change?
> 
> One important thing I wanted from a snowblower is how far the impeller can throw the snow. Long ago, I bought a craftmans, a bad purchase, had little throwing power. It would take forever to clear the snow and if it snowed on consecutive week or days, the blower could not clear the banks. I noticed my neighbors with Ariens or Toro, those things can chuck it far away, especially wet or road salted stuff. I have a U shape driveway and a long sidewalk easement that I plow for school kids, those areas always has salt treated stuff. Only reason I may consider another brand is a "renamed" version of the Arien or Toro.




The drivetrain is worn & not worth fixing as it's about 2/3 the cost of a base model Ariens 24" cut. 

It's been well maintained over the years and always garage kept. In 2003 I spent $900 on a new motor & starter, in 2011 I had the gearbox rebuilt at $200. In 2003 I was laughed at by not purchasing a new blower. I appreciated the quality construction of the Ariens and the Honda seems to be as well built as a domestic one produced 40 years ago.

Kind of surprised to see the "Made in Japan" label on the Honda.  I thought Honda produced power equipment in the USA for North America.


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## ScottySkis (Oct 18, 2013)

Nick said:


> Scotty must be on a bender.
> 
> My lawn gets striped in the summer pretty good but now it's already browning up for the winter.


Up and I sober but this if fun.


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## skijay (Oct 24, 2013)

Thanks for the information. All I can say is we better get some serious snow this winter so I can justify my purchase!


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## andrec10 (Oct 25, 2013)

I have a Honda Snowblower Circa 1989. Still runs and works great. Don't know if I can justify the difference in price now though. A decent Honda now runs 2500$, as opposed to a Cub Cadet at 1000.


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## tree_skier (Oct 28, 2013)

I have 1 20 y/o MTD 8 horse runs like a champ, throws snow a good distance. starts right up.  The best investment was the $79 cab.  now i don't get covered in snow.  I did have to rebuild the carb $8.00 kit last winter thanks to the ethanol in the gas, but i have had to do that to the 50 y/o Troy built rototiller, the 30 y/o wood splitter and the 20 y/o honda mower in the lost 5 years.  the splitter might have just been the float but while i had it apart did the rest, cheap and then they all ran like new.


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## bigbog (Oct 29, 2013)

Just a 5.5hp Craftsman, ~24".  Except for a new belt a few years ago, has been running fine, surprisingly, for ~8 winters.   Electronic start option.  
Lacks a little power throwing deep slush for distance.....but other than that works okay with my ~30+?' driveway.  Was a special on the 5.5hp....seemed like kind of a challenge to succeed...think I'd go a little bigger if given the option today.   Family had one ~10hp decades ago in upstate NY(snowy 60s) threw for distance.


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