snowblower advice needed

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Holy Batman…..my phone froze up and posted like 10 duplicates lol

Never had that happen before

Please delete

Wow she looks tough! And for 27yrs nice condition. Thanks for sharing

Rob i am not mechanicaly inclined-I had a subaru with an oil leak and ran it that way for 100k-sold it with over 300k (oil still leaking) an oil leak in a car is not bad if you keep on top of the level.Different for a blower? No idea. Anyway if I brought it to a shop and dropped another 100 on a well built Honda that would be fine.
Thanks

tim hurley wrote:

Just saw an older Honda on CL-they say: needs some TLC and is burning oil-should I stay away? (not spending a lot of money and it does not have to be pretty)
Thanks

On a Honda, it’s more likely to be the valve guides than the rings if it’s burning oil. The key is how MUCH is it burning?

A lot of those older GX engines burn and smoke on startup, but then the head gets up to operating temp and the guides tighten up so total oil consumption is minimal. A Honda GX engine can go a long, long time while using a little bit of oil. There’s a reason that the Chinese chose the Honda GX engine to clone and make all those Chonda knockoff motors.

The valve guides themselves on a Honda GX are fixable, but it’s not generally economically feasible because it’s so labor-intensive. The way most go now is to buy a Chonda knockoff cylinder head off of eBay and replace the whole cylinder head, then give it new rings as long as you’re there. As odd as it sounds, there are Chonda copies that are so good that the parts are usable on a real Honda GX motor.

Grouse

Thanks Grouse-so I might be able to live with some start up smoke (might like it)
I can pay someone a hundred-enough for a cylinder head replacement?

tim hurley wrote:

Thanks Grouse-so I might be able to live with some start up smoke (might like it)
I can pay someone a hundred-enough for a cylinder head replacement?

You didn’t say which Honda model you’re looking at.

If it’s a model powered by a GX 160 or GX 180, then yes. Knockoff Chonda cylinder heads are all over the interwebs and if you buy a built head with valves already installed this is not a difficult swap. I could do one in an hour or so, it’s pretty basic.

I would try to get a look at that snow blower and see if it just smokes on startup and then clears up when the engine gets warm it’s one thing. If it smokes all the time even when running and blowing snow it’s probably got more problems including worn rings in a bad cylinder wall. Obviously if you have a compression tester this would tell you a lot.

To be honest assuming it has the GX160 or GX 180 motor even a brand new Honda motor is less than $500. Compare that to what you can get for $500 for a new snowblower these days.

Grouse

I just ordered this one for my cabin to be different. Reviews and reports were good.

Troy-Bilt 30in. Arctic Storm XP 2-Stage Electric Start Snow Blower — 357cc Engine

Just did my and two neighbors driveways with the new Husqvarna and I have to say that thing is a beast. Had to be a little careful or I would end up blowing the snow from one driveway in to the next one I was needing to do. It was only 5 or so inches of fairly dry snow so not a real big test. It did seem to do real well on the road plow pile at the ends so that was a good sign. This is my first 2 stage snow thrower and it is going to take a little practice to get the hang of it. The only negative I see so far is it only has 1 reverse speed and that one is rather slow. I found it much easier to just manually pull it backwards. I was hoping that since I spent the money on a new one we would not get any show to use it on – No luck. That’s 2 times its been used so far ( The wife got stuck using it the first time – I was out of town hunting ) I guess time will tell if it holds up well over time

I rarely use reverse on my 7hp blower. Its quicker/easier to just pull it.

Airens – when this current blast of the white stuff ends later today, you can stop by and give my Airens a try. Week ago had 24″, a couple of days ago another 20″ and it looks like the current blast is over 10″ and windy. My blower is able to handle all this plus the multiple plow-in’s from the highway department.

With out even a question I would go Ariens!! I have 2 and talked 3-4 other into them with zero complaints! Good luck..

I would have bought Ariens if not for their auto power steering.

Snow tire are on and ready for this latest round. no need to plow the driveway.

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