So I have a gravel driveway, actually crushed stone, and of course I cannot scrape snow down too close or I pick up a lot of stone. When I first got a Honda snowblower, it had odd, behind the bucket skids on it. The machine rides on tracks and the entire housing, including the bucket, pivot around in the main frame so the bucket height can be adjusted up / down. It has three positions and they recommend using the highest position for grass, gravel or any non- hard surface. That generally works OK but tends to make the machine rise up on the packed snow, making it a struggle to keep the bucket near the ground. If used in the second position, the skids did not seem to do a very good job of keeping the bucket out of the stones. So I ended up putting a set of regular skids on the sides of the bucket, setting them fairly high, and using it like that. That worked pretty well but whenever running into anything frozen or lumpy like the garbage left by the snow plow, the front end really wants to climb now. Hmmmmm.

Honda changed these machines a year ago to address this problem but they sort of just put a band aid on it by adding accessory side bucket skids, virtually the same as what I put on the machine. What I think would be a real solution would be a steel disk, rotating up front along the bucket; it would hold the bucket off the ground, cut through the snow in front of them and not ride up (a very thin disk- no more than 3/16" wide). Maybe painted with some kind of cartoon character to amuse the neighbors?

I just took the skids off the buckets and re- lowered the original skids on the back of the machine. Mother nature is dumping upwards of a foot of 'test snow' right now so there will be ample time to check this out. This thing tends to eat shear bolts as it is so I expect an increase there- good thing I got 100 of them last year :-) I actually carry some bolts, nuts and a 10mm wrench while I am blowing snow so I can replace them on the fly.

Maybe some of youse guize that blow a lot of snow have a cure for this problem? And "hire someone" is not the answer I am looking for. :-)

Brian

The next time it snows, take that big ol' heavy roller you use in the spring to flatten the lawn and roll the whole driveway flat. Then spray with a garden hose and allow to freeze overnight.

By next morning, it should be hard and smooth for the Honda blower or whatever. Good for skating too.

(In case you don't recognize it, this is called Canadian snow sympathy ).

Best solution?  A coffee mug filled with fresh brewed coffee.  Another option is U-Haul.  Move to somewhere with nicer winters

Best solution?  A coffee mug filled with fresh brewed coffee.  Another option is U-Haul.  Move to somewhere with nicer winters

That is our plan..... We are bugging out of MI hopefully within the next 3 or 4 months and heading down to central TN....

Have had enough of 4 months of snow!

Best solution?  A coffee mug filled with fresh brewed coffee.  Another option is U-Haul.  Move to somewhere with nicer winters

 

That is our plan..... We are bugging out of MI hopefully within the next 3 or 4 months and heading down to central TN....

Have had enough of 4 months of snow!

My friends in TN said they got dumped on too.  I spend summers in Asheville, NC, hope to ride with you when I'm up that way. I do TN rides a lot including the 421 Snake

I think Zed said it far better than I could:

[to candidates rejected as MIB agents useless in giving snowblower advise]
Zed: Gentlemen, congratulations. You're everything we've come to expect from years of government training. Now please step this way, as we provide you with our final test: an eye exam...
[a series of flashes occur]

  

Brian

Maybe some of youse guize that blow a lot of snow have a cure for this problem?

When the bucket rides up, I back up and hit it again.  Although my thrower has tracks and will gladly climb up and over most snowplow berms. 

Check the blade at the back bottom edge of the bucket.  It may be worn and not doing its job of cutting into the snow.

We got 2 feet up here, and another 4 inches today.  Today's was just barely enough to fire up the snowblower for, since I also have a gravel driveway.  (My Subaru Outback (of course) and Daughter #2's Subaru Forester would have been fine, but Daughter #1's Corolla wasn't going to get in the driveway.)

I have an 8 horse craftsman track drive snowblower that does the same thing.
Although mine has a "fix" for that problem. Mine has a pedal you step on which tilts the back end of the tracks downward about 2 inches. this spreds out the distance between the bucket skids and the track pivit point which places more machine weight on the front of the bucket.
This makes the bucket dig down in compacted snow, but now the machine is a nightmare to turn.
Unfortunately this feature also "self-activates" if you lift the back of the snowblower for turns.

I made a couple of blot/washer blockouts to keep this feature from entergizing.

Bob Skinner

That is our plan..... We are bugging out of MI hopefully within the next 3 or 4 months and heading down to central TN....Have had enough of 4 months of snow!

Rookie! You landed here barely 10 yrs. ago & already moving on...tsk, tsk, tsk...    Should've bought a snowmobile to enjoy those awesome trails on your side of the state....   You gonna do a fly-n-ride for the tug boat job?   

Where-abouts in central TN are you looking?  If you're s.w. of Nashville near the start of the Natchez Trace, make a stop at the Loveless Cafe for some pretty decent meals....Then there's that cool lookin' Natchez Trace bridge as you head south on the parkway crossing over Hwy 96.  Another place to check out a little further south along the parkway is Leiper's Fork & the market/deli there.

The machine is 'as- new' in all aspects, and the cutting edge is in excellent shape. It is raised as high as it will go, which is not nearly as high as I would put it.

I do the back up and hit it again thing too, which is really easy with a hydrostatic drive (no clutch, infinite speed adjustment) but it again tends to climb up until I lift up on the handles hard enough.... and then the tracks lift off the ground and it has no drive.

Perhaps I am just expecting too much but I really did expect this thing to slow down and grind through rough patches better than it does, at least with my aftermarket skids on the bucket. I have them off now and am back to using the OEM skids, which are behind the bucket in the first place, so there is a lot less steel up front to ride onto anything. I got this as a replacement for another snowblower that had a solid axle and I just got tired of fighting that thing all over the place. I thought this one would power through debris better than it does, at least so far; it is better than the wheeled version but not by enough to justify the price difference (3X).

Yeah, we got about 4- 5" but I have to blow it out tomorrow.

Brian

When the bucket rides up, I back up and hit it again.  Although my thrower has tracks and will gladly climb up and over most snowplow berms. 

Check the blade at the back bottom edge of the bucket.  It may be worn and not doing its job of cutting into the snow.

We got 2 feet up here, and another 4 inches today.  Today's was just barely enough to fire up the snowblower for, since I also have a gravel driveway.  (My Subaru Outback (of course) and Daughter #2's Subaru Forester would have been fine, but Daughter #1's Corolla wasn't going to get in the driveway.)

Yep, got the same pedal and bucket 'adjuster' on the Honda but it is three position: 1 is kinda' high, 2 starts to throw a lot of stone and 3 scares me too much to contemplate :-) The tilt won't self- activate on this unit and locks into whichever place you put it before latching the lock. But same deal on #2, it puts enough pressure on the front bucket to dig in and stop the machine. What I think I need is a 1.5 adjustment position.

I will give it hell tomorrow and see how it acts with the original skids.

Brian

I have an 8 horse craftsman track drive snowblower that does the same thing.
Although mine has a "fix" for that problem. Mine has a pedal you step on which tilts the back end of the tracks downward about 2 inches. this spreds out the distance between the bucket skids and the track pivit point which places more machine weight on the front of the bucket.
This makes the bucket dig down in compacted snow, but now the machine is a nightmare to turn.
Unfortunately this feature also "self-activates" if you lift the back of the snowblower for turns.

I made a couple of blot/washer blockouts to keep this feature from entergizing.

Bob Skinner

ditch that biotch...
you paid too much if you are breaking shear pins like that.....puny foreign machines.....

Sell it to your neighbor, and Buy a Troy, pocket the extra money, or buy some good beer / spirits for the apres-party...
these machines are built here in Ohio....and frankly if they didn't work, the company would be out of business....


I am on my third season with this little monster.....and have yet to shear a pin off.....(I have 4 spares, sitting in the toolbox, rusting)
The skidders are side mounted, up front, and I have them adjusted so I can scrape pavement, yet a slight downward pressure on the control bars and I don't pick up gravel at the end of my drive. It's light enough that I never even use the reverse gears, just walk backwards with it and run again.



lectric start (plug in an extension cord...)
always starts.... pull starts easily also.....

helll, it'll clear my yard with 24" deep snow.... like walkin in the park...



I think we have had 1 day out of the last 30 that it didn't snow here, and that was a rain day, followed by a freeze and 6 " dump....

thank's for reminding me, I have to go out and clear the drive....... again.....

Rookie! You landed here barely 10 yrs. ago & already moving on...tsk, tsk, tsk...    Should've bought a snowmobile to enjoy those awesome trails on your side of the state....   You gonna do a fly-n-ride for the tug boat job?   

Just knew that I'll catch some grief from you..... But it's been closer to 18 years working here on the Lakes and 17 years living here; realized my mistake some time back too.... If I have to trailer something for the few times a year I would get to enjoy it is just not worth the investment or effort!

We are looking from outside of Nashville to Knoxville more than likely and I can do just about any mode of transportation for the tug boat job as the company will pay us for our travel expenses; I can get up to 700.00 per round trip for the area we be looking in....

MOB Troy must have made my 24" Craftsman as it looks just too much like yours.... Mine has served me well starting on the 1st or 2nd pull for the last 7 or 8 years; I just replaced the scraper bar as it was worn down.

T, are you able to work with the lakes iced over?

Yeah, I believe the 'Troy Built' brand falls under the gigantic logo of AYP, an acronym for American Yard Products. They make about 95% of the outdoor power equipment sold at the big box retailers and just slap the colors / brand name / logos the buyer (John Deere, Husqvarna, etc. ad nauseum). The much higher end units from companies like Ariens are still made by Ariens but those are sold virtually exclusively through retail / repair facilities.

Honda power equipment is the most American made outdoor power equipment made in America today- I kid you not.

And even if dumping $4,500 on a brand new Ariens snowblower, that was designed and primarily built in America, it will have a Briggs and Stratton engine on it that was made in China. Honda OPE engines are made in Maryland if memory serves. :-) 

Honda always ends up in the top 2, 3 brands of OPE in whatever they make. Overpriced to be sure but on that level, they all are IMO. There is no way in the world a $4K snow blower is worth 4X what the $1K and under units cost. But such is the cost / value curve; the cheapest thing will almost always yield the best performance to price ratio. But yep, it do eat shear bolts but I have to say, they are esy to change (a 6mm X 20mm bolt with a hex nut on the other side, and they are in-line with the auger axle- a very different system than most snow blowers use but pretty slick).

I used it again today without the skids on the sides of the bucket and it was much better regarding digging into the hard stuff. The sidewalk in front of my house is a horror show to blow out- it is two or three times the snow as what fell, all of it from snowplows, full of ice balls and gigantic frozen chunks of snow / ice / salt. Unfortunately, I think the best answer would actually be a smaller machine; the 29" cut of my Honda is just too much to chew through that stuff. I also have a wheeled blower, also 29" with an 11 HP engine and it does not handle that snow plow mess very well either.

I do have to say I miss the wheels for overall maneuverability. The hydraulic unit can be de- coupled from the tracks but really, this thing cannot be pushed or man- handled more than a foot or two; tracks are horribly unyieldy. I remember dragging the wheeled machine backwards at almost a trot.... that just ain't happening with this tracked unit; you will use the hydraulic drive, and you will like it.

Brian

ditch that biotch...
you paid too much if you are breaking shear pins like that.....puny foreign machines.....

Sell it to your neighbor, and Buy a Troy, pocket the extra money, or buy some good beer / spirits for the apres-party...
these machines are built here in Ohio....and frankly if they didn't work, the company would be out of business....


I am on my third season with this little monster.....and have yet to shear a pin off.....(I have 4 spares, sitting in the toolbox, rusting)
The skidders are side mounted, up front, and I have them adjusted so I can scrape pavement, yet a slight downward pressure on the control bars and I don't pick up gravel at the end of my drive. It's light enough that I never even use the reverse gears, just walk backwards with it and run again.

<snipped photos>

I think we have had 1 day out of the last 30 that it didn't snow here, and that was a rain day, followed by a freeze and 6 " dump....

thank's for reminding me, I have to go out and clear the drive....... again.....

T, are you able to work with the lakes iced over?

Typically my boat is the first out and last one in within the fleet that I work in as I've got an ice strengthened bow. This year we came in several weeks early or the first week of Jan. We are usally sailing again by the mid of March. We use the down time to rebuild, repair, upgrade our eequipment.

I can't seem to find the video now, but a guy I know built a snow blower... Ok, it is an articulated 4WD tractor frame, powered by a small block GM motor, with a cab from a trail groomer.  Sticker on the back says "Bitchin' Blowers".  Really neat machine!  I'll keep looking and post if I can find it.

My old Lawn Boy 5/22R POS might be giving up on me.  I have re-built everything but the motor at least once.... and now I think it is going too.  Oh well.  I just hope it makes it through the 12+" predicted for Thursday.  A new blower is in the plans for next year.

Here is a machine similar to what he has.
Claas Xerion 3800 VC am Großglockner