Honda Vs Yamaha Snowblowers.

EWF, you should've been looking for them in the summer - prices and availability are usually not consumer friendly this time of year. Looks to be plenty of them around the net for sale though, for much cheaper than in years past. I'd grab one quick before the real snow hits - then everyone will be in a panic and there won't be a single one to be found under $800.

I just rebuilt my Toro 828 this past summer. I got it for free from a buddy. Stripped it down, painted, and rebuilt it from the impeller forward. I'm ready!

Hi guys,

I've been researching Yamaha snowblowers for several years. They were the very best snowblower available, with Honda a close second. In a perfect world I would drive to Canada and buy a brand new Yamaha YS1028J off the showroom floor. However, the best I can find is a pair of YS624's made somewhere around 1990.

The first machine is less expensive and in decent shape. The price is around $ 400 dollars.

The second machine is nearly mint and has supposedly been used just once and has been sitting ever since. This Yamaha will cost me around $ 1,200.00 if I decide to buy it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it if it were the highly sought after YS828 but it's only the 624. I have additional pictures if necessary.

What do you guys think I should do?

Ariens, Toro, Simplicity all make excellent machines and parts are readily available. Unless you have a special need for the track drive why have it?

Ariens & MTD snow blowers will blow snow much better than a Toro,not real familiar with the Honda units except their price ^,for the MTD naysayers,they have different grades,Cub Cadet & Columbia are top notch units & most of those have power steering ,the price of a new unit is not much more than those used Yamahas.

I can tell you candidly that you will have
to travel to Newfoundland to purchase a new
Yamaha snow caster.

OR be willing to pay for one over the phone
and let them ship one to you.

You can forget about warranty coverage also.

I wanted to import them and sell them and
they are not interested in bringing them
into The United States.

The other sucky thing is simply they no longer
have the track drive.

Tracks are a pain in the behind, you really need to start them every time you want to move them. So much easier to just push a wheeled unit out of the way.

I will second Franco and windyhill. Ariens builds a great machine and MTDs hold up well and work well also(depending which brand you buy)

If they do not have the yamaha's for sale in the states can you get all the parts for them in the states? If something breaks I would much rather go up the road for a part than to another country

Eric

Izaharis,

I believe the Yamaha's are built with tracks only, no more wheeled units. I've attached the link to Yamaha Canada and the snowblower page.

https://www.yamaha-motor.ca/products/list.php?gro ... B&catId=92

In a previous post I mentioned that Yamaha snow blowers have a fan club. I must be crazy because I also belong to a kerosene heater fan club.

Here's a link:

http://yamaha-snowblower-fan-club.10963.n7.nabble.com/

To buy that machine for residential use? That's crazy in my opinion. A new mtd used properly and maintained will last you better than 10 yrs. My $750 MTD bought in 2003 at Wally World still works as good as the day I bought it. This is only half of the area I plow.

EarthWindandFire wrote:In a previous post I mentioned that Yamaha snow blowers have a fan club. I must be crazy because I also belong to a kerosene heater fan club.

Here's a link:

http://yamaha-snowblower-fan-club.10963.n7.nabble.com/

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They must have changed their design again as the 2012 units were
only wheel drive and the "only retailer" in Newfoundland/North America
was obviously mistaken in stating they no longer have the track drive.

More power with the heavier weight and the independent lift for the
auger housing was always a huge plus. The serated narrow flighting
cross auger is an automatic sale grabber because the snow is chopped
into smaller bits and the impeller throws the crap sixty plus feet.

How come the forward speed of the track machines is so much slower than a wheeled counterpart? When I want to go, I wanna GO!

Freddy wrote:How come the forward speed of the track machines is so much slower than a wheeled counterpart? When I want to go, I wanna GO!

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The thing is the track drives have a much
greater surface area than the wheeled ones
and thankfully the weight of the Yahama is
much greater as heavy wet snows put up huge
resistance due to the total weight of the
snow per cubic foot.

A track machine is slower which aids in
clearing drifts with greater gripping
power as long as there is no little
or no ice under the snow.

The Yamaha units are designed for the northern snows
of Japan which are of high volume and higher moisture
hence the sawtooth narrow flighting cross augers
which cut into the snow banks aggressively cutting
the snow into very small pieces and conveying it to
the center of the cross auger and forcing it to the
impeller to be cast away from the work area.

The snows in Newfoundland are of nearly the same
consistancy.

The open auger design is more of a problem in snow removal
because the snow is constantly be pushed to the center and
then the impeller is casting the snow away from the snow blower.

The problem is the impellers are not big enough on most of the
american made walk behinds snow casters and do not rotate fast enough.

IF the impellers were half as deep they would perform much better.
The other issue is the chutes plug because they get warm from the
friction of the snow blowing out of the chute and spout and the
Yamahas have a slippery plastic sheet inside the chute and spout.

Yamaha impellers are sized properly and have the amount of
torque and RPM required to get rid of heavy wet snow.

Are you planning on a move to NL, Canada? I visited Newfoundland 2x. It's a wonderful place sparsely populated with wonderful inhabits. But I am glad I was not there in winter. Good luck with the blower.

Wow looks like a great place!! Nice pics Cap.

You guys are making me want to buy a Yamaha now ...

Enjoyed the Pic's,Cap ! Those Folks know where they're at,what they're doin',and 'aint sweatin' their Day ! I've got a BCS 725 unit with the 10 Horse Acme Gas Motor. Way out of availability. Parts are getting difficult for the Italian Acme Motori Motor. Kohler bought them ought and disbanded them in order to obtain European Market Share. It has the single stage Blower that chucks it all an easy 30'. I've got to admit that the two-stage Blower has always been desirable,but it wasn't available. Earth Tools in Owenton,Kentucky are the Folks to talk to...Excellent!...However,after seeing the Yamaha,I am impressed! Anything that develops a Cult-Like following deserves a hard look.