Enough is ENOUGH !!!!!!

[N.E.Cycle Rider]

Dear fellow owners / lovers of Yamaha snowblowers
   We have all read about the growing number of problems we all have suffered with our aging machines, lack of parts, manuals, etc., etc.. Maybe it's me, but I find it VERY hard to believe that SOMEONE doesn't know SOMEONE, that we can contact to convince " the powers that be ", that there is a very viable market for these machines here in the USA !!!  What baffles me, is, WHY DID THEY STOP SELLING THEM HERE TO BEGIN WITH ???!!!  I mean, are we in agreement, that with the possible exception of Hondas' machines, the rest of what's out there and available, IS PURE, UNADULTERATED JUNK !!!!
   I personally made the HUGE mistake of buying a Cub Cadet 930 WSE back in Sept. '07 to replace my aging 19 year old YS-828T.. Besides Honda, if this is an example of " the best there is ", GOD, am I glad I still have my 828 !! So, I guess what I'm saying is, instead of whining about, " I need this, OR  I need that ", lets find out what it's going to take to get new machines back in the States..
    Or am I the ONLY one that feels this way ???? Hey, if it takes sending a repetitive e-mail to the head of Yamaha in Japan for the next 6 months to convince them..............................

[zackex]

 I don't know how much longer I can keep my Yamaha running. It has allready exceeded my wildest expectations. I bought it new 20 years ago and it still runs great. Maybe that is what put them out of the business of snowblowers. I pledge that if they make a new one I will run not walk to the nearest dealer and buy it.

                                                   Thank You Yamaha
                                                    Sal from Boston

[N.E.Cycle Rider]

Zackex--- Yeah, you're probably right, these things ARE built " Too Good ", which, if you're into most things made in Japan, seems to be the rule, rather than the exception.. I think it's called PRIDE, which unfortunately seems to be second or third priority in SOME U.S. made products.. Believe me, I know, 'cause after working for a national manufacturing company for 35 1/2 years, I saw our products go from " This is not acceptable - FIX IT !! "  TO  " Just get it out the DOOR !! "  Sad, really, really sad ! The Cub Cadet 930 SWE I bought recently is a prime example .. Rugged, heavy, tough, powerful and for the most part well made...BUT....the " little - stuff ", primarily ALL the hand controls and their attachment hardware is PATHETIC !!!  Under-engineered, cheap, breakage prone and un-repairable !! Compared to the controls on our 15 - 20 year old Yamahas, which are well built, rugged, adjustable and made to function and last, the stuff on this Cub Cadet is laughable !!
   Oh sure, back in September, when I bought this thing, and there was NO SNOW to try it out in, it seemed great !!  Fifteen minutes into using it for the first time, I was kicking myself in the @$$, BIG-TIME !! To make matters worse, the dealer hates seeing me.........I'm a " Whiner " !!  NO !!!  I just want what I paid for, and I want it to work the way its' supposed to ! I'd practically give the damn thing away at this point and eat the loss ..
   So like most of us, I'm faced with the reality that my faithful, much loved Yamaha is going to have to be " put - out - to - pasture " sometime soon.. Time and vibration have taken their toll.. I'm lead to believe that de-carbonizing the engine can sometimes work miracles, but at this point it would seem to be like giving a 90 year old patient a heart transplant, if you know what I mean !
   Call me a traitor, a non-believer, the " ANTI-YAMAHA ".........I'm thinking of looking at a Honda .. Pray for me !! LOL !!! :-))

[Benny771 ()]

Yamaha, Honda,

I bet them leaving the Country has something to do with a secret Handshake.

You sell in this country and ill sell in this one.

Has anyone noticed that most parts are identical to hondas eg, auger, auger housing, fuel tank, Tracks,
Track wheels (and assemblies) Most linkage,?

Where is Scully and Mulder when you need them!








                                     

[N.E.Cycle Rider]

Benny 771,
   You're right, with minor differences, the basic frames, augers, impellers,etc., etc. are identical, so it's obvious someone in Japan came up with a well designed snowblower quite a few years ago and has been marketting it to Japans major manufacturers of small engines..  To date, I'm only aware of Yamaha and Honda using this basic machine frame, there may very well be others we're unaware of since Kawasaki makes small commercial use engines, as well as Subaru ( Robin )..
   It really shouldn't be surprising because our U.S. manufacturers do exactly the same thing, I mean, a blind man can see the basic similarities in our U.S. built snowblowers which seem to be built by two main manufacturers.. Beyond that, it boils down to what name, color, engine type and horsepower you want..Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my old YS-828T, its' been one hell of a machine and I have no doubt it would / will out last 6 U.S. machines without breaking a sweat........BUT.........as I said, and we all know, babied or not, they don't last forever..
   Since finding out that Hondas' machines are virtually identical, and knowing I've gotten 19 unbelieveable years of service out of this Yamaha, plus having several power products with Honda GX engines that are stone reliable, what choice does a " Yamy Lover " have ??? I've already " paid " for my U.S. mistake, AND LEARNED THE HARD WAY, I won't do it again, believe me !! I've already contacted my local Honda dealer and didn't even get the full name " Cub Cadet " out of my mouth before he interrupted with " NO, NO-WAY, NO THANK YOU !!", when I asked about trades !!  That pretty much says it all !!  With luck, MAYBE I'll get $500 out of this $1500 fiasco which will put my total investment in a new Honda at $3000+..
   Don't know what any of you guys paid for your Yamahas, way back when, but I'd bet if they were still available, they'd be priced up there in " Honda Territory ", AND WORTH EVERY PENNY !!  HEY !!! Would 'yall still let me stay in " The Club " if I painted my new Honda.............BLUE...............?????!!! LOL !!! Later, N.E.C.R..

[zackex]

 I think I paid $1200.00 for my Yamaha wich was at the time huge money. I should have bought two of them. Honda does have dealerships in place. Wich I think is the reason they still deal in snowblowers. When I bought my Yamaha it was from a motorcycle Dealer. The only problem I am having is a surging governor it has to be the carb. When I have time I will completely clean all jets and circuits and see what happens. Problem is time maybe we will look at the Honda and sell the Yamaha.

[N.E.Cycle Rider]

Surging governor ? Have you tried " tweaking " the carb mounting bolts, maybe 1/2 a flat or less, might be a minor air leak at the base ? Mine has a terminal case of " jittery choke lever " that's slowly, but surely wearing out the bushing the choke plate shaft pivots in at the top of the carb.. May end up resorting to the same " fix " I've had to use on the throttle lever........using a piece of baling wire to hold it where it's supposed to be, although I recently came across some small 6 - 8 inch bungee straps at a local auto parts store that might work better.. The biggest problem I've got with mine is VIBRATION !!! If the engine didn't run so good or had a knock in it or something, I'd think I had a bad lower connecting rod bearing, or crank bearing.....but, it runs like a charm with no abnormal noises, has all kinds of power and doesn't miss a beat ! It just buzzes like hell, which I'm lead to believe is a sign of carbon build-up on the piston crown and valve train........throws everything out of balance, or so I'm told..
   I've already re-welded and reinforced 3 of the 4 motor mounts in past years, stop drilled numerous cracks in the muffler heat shield, and had to totally revamp the throttle lever mount due to vibration.. Went out several years ago and bought a new head gasket, exhaust manifold gasket and a few other odds & ends with the intention of taking the head off and de-carbonizing the top end of the engine, ( I have a factory shop manual ).. Long story short, didn't / hasn't happened mainly due to the complexity of tearing the engine down and the number of specialized tools required to do it !
   Then there's the part about checking valve stem lash & clearances.........whoa ! whoa ! whoa !  I'm a confessed " motor-head ", but that's beyond my area of expertise and ability !! Would be nice if some engineering genius came up with a gizmo you could insert into the spark plug hole that would remove the carbon off the piston crown without damaging anything else..........but, not yet, I guess..
   Will be calling around to the various Honda dealers today to see who has what, then will take it from there.. Have one local dealer and 2 others within 50 miles so we'll see what they have to say.. N.E.C.R.

[ziggy55]

Someone should contact some of those JDM engine importers in your local area and see if they could start bringing in Yama snow throwers (used and new) along with an array of parts. If there is a market im sure they would do it. Those damn places in my area have a freakin container a day coming in from Japan full of auto parts, engines etc.. What would it take to bring in some snow throwers and parts.. Just a thought.

[YamaBlowerLover]

Okay Guys.  I'm going to come clean here.  Please don't tar and feather me.

Having never owned a Honda snowblower, but having paid lots of attention over the last 14 years (since I bought my first Honda Accord with 200,000 miles on it!) to the plethora of reviews out there for Honda autos, motorcycles, power equipment, go-karts, and whatever else, my personal opinion is that the Honda snowblowers will kick the ever-loving-crap out of every single other snowblower you can buy in America today by leaps and bounds (I mean WAY bad).

Chances are, the brand new current model Yamaha snowblowers (that you can only buy in stupid-Japan) are nearly as good as the Hondas, and probably for nearly the same price.  But since you CAN'T buy a new Yamaha, who are you transgressing against if you buy a new Honda?  NO ONE!  The Yamahas are AWESOME!!!!!!  But, in truth, they are history.  We all love them, but we are all loving them past their prime in this country.  So lets fess up.  Lets call a spade a spade....

The ONLY reason I'm not piloting the best snowblower out there (in my opinion, probably the Honda) is that I CAN'T AFFORD IT!!  Simple as that.  3 years ago when I was utterly disgusted with the old piece of crap Gibson blower I had bought for $100 at a garage sale (LITERALLY every time I used it I had to fix it afterwards) I decided I was going to stretch myself as thin as possible and spend up to $400 for a really good snowblower.  I got really lucky finding a Yamaha YS828 in the local newspaper classifieds and bought it from a very responsible guy for $425.  Not the deal of the century, but a hell of a lot better investment than it would have been putting that $425 into ANY American P.O.S.  I had no idea how robust the Yamaha blowers were when I bought it, it just felt right, and I did it, and I was lucky enough to have gotten myself a damn good machine and then to have found you guys just this winter.  (BTW, thanks all!)

BUT, if money were not so tight around here (single income, wife, 5 kids, mortgage, and going to school evenings for my bachelor's in mech. engineering...) I would ABSOLUTELY be teaching those snowdrifts a lesson with my Honda track-drive beast-of-a-machine.

So, what d'y'all think of that?  I'm guess many of you are in the same boat I am...  Money doesn't grow on trees, and today the very best, most frugal use of that money towards a snowthrower is for a good, used Yamaha.  On the other hand, if at your house it's not horribly painful to come up with the scratch for a new (or slightly used?) Honda snowthrower....HAVE AT 'ER MAN!!!  No shame.  No looking back.  WE LOVE YOU MAN...   WE'LL MISS YOU!!!    ;-\    (sob...sob...sniffle...sob...)

No, seriously...let 'er rip.  It's Honda-Time Baby.

P.S. If anyone thinks me a traiter for speaking the truth, say so now or forever hold your peace!!    :D

[Benny771]

Deisel Fuel.
Pour it in the plug hole (watch it doesent all pee out the muffler or carb)if it does, pull it a quarter turn.
Let it soak.....i did mine a couple of days..filling severial times.
Changed the oil when done, pull it a dozen times, plug back in.....

Start.....May be hard to the first time.

Eats the carbon off it.

Its an old remedy but repair shops still talk of it.
Yes, i did it!
Did make a difference

[N.E.Cycle Rider]

Benny,  Cripe  !!! NOW YOU TELL ME !!!!  Sorry bud, my Yamy's gone............long live the 828.... Gave it to a young couple with three young kids that are having severe financial problems... Both are extremely dedicated, hard-working people that just need a bit of a "break" from the system (don't we all !) You'd have thought I gave them a million dollars, they were so grateful.... I'm sure the 828 has several more useful years left in it and I will definitely get together with these people and try your " vibration cure "....Certainly sounds like it's worth a shot, and at this point we have nothing to loose and everything to gain ! Sure beats tearing it apart and taking the chance of screwing up a part that's going to be next to impossible to replace...
   Machine has been on a " diet " of synthetic oil since nearly new, so I'm confident the bottom-end is still sound.......this will just help that much more... B.T.W., it's the fuel pump that has to be re-primed that causes the hard re-start... I usually keep a spray bottle full of gas & stabilizer mix handy....... give the carb a couple shots, close the choke, and away she goes !!
   No, I'm sorry guys, call me a traitor, but I took the only real solution there seems to be for us " dying Yamaha lovers ", I just bit the bullet and bought a Honda 928 track-drive... Got a GOOD DEALER (most important !), an UNBELIEVEABLE mid-season deal, and, so far, a hell of a good machine ! It's not without its' faults (what machine isn't ?) and it's NOT a Yamaha........but it's pretty darn close ! Thinking of painting it BLUE though !!!! LOL !!!! :-)))  Thanks all.......N.E.C.R.

[goonboy]

I can't figure out how to creat a NEW post, so I'll step into THIS fray:

I know a guy selling a used YS828 for about $400. What do I look for, or watch out for?

I talked to a nice guy at an implement dealer in PA, and he said he buys every decent Yamaha blower he runs across so he can re-sell it to people who KNOW it's value; he really talked the YS828 up. BUT, as with anything, it's how it was used/maintained.

Any tips?

[Underdog]

Put it to work and see if it will really blow snow. It should blow a long long ways and really impress you. Start there. Then ask about maintenance.  

a) Does the governor lever rattle and shake on the carburetor?  
b) Did the plastic gas tank ever spring a leak?
c) Does the engine shake and shiver at idle?
d) Have you ever replaced the bearing on the impeller shaft?  
e) Did the scraper shoes ever bend the sheet metal where they attach to the snow bucket housing?
f) Did the carb ever leak gas?
g) Any rust in the bucket?
h) Rotted rubber on the tires?  
i) Cracks on your tracks?  
j) Carbon buildup on the cylinder head?
k) Have any parts gone missing (keys) or fallen off never to be seen again?  
l) Does the electric start freeze up on you after damp weather?
m) Has the spark plug been replaced?
n) No broken transmission gears?
o) Do you pull start or electric start?  
p) Do you use a fuel stabilizer or some other miracle additive?
q) Do you spray the unit down with a rust preventative at the end of the season?

[Watching it snow]

If your into snowblowers check out Fujii snowblowers, they are from japan I talked with there headquaters and they are intestead in looking for an Importer/ dealer to possible work with in the USA. As for Yamaha im sure they are a good machine, most blowers that come out of Japan, are thats why I hope to soon be able to go down to my local power product supplieer and purchase a new Fujii sometime in the near future.

[Underdog]

These fujii snowblowers do look nice:

http://www.e-fujii.co.jp/eng/personal/snowblower/index.html