# First Use HSS724AT



## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

Not so thrill!

1. Started, smoke came out on choke position; no smoke after moving throttle position from choke.

2. Choking and stuttering on 4-5-inch of snow, WTH?

3. Choked, stuttered, stalled on any speed at the EOD, about 16-20-inch high. It went through coughing blood at the end, but it's embarrassing this $2500 machine stalled.

4. Slushy snow performance is worst than a single-stage 520AS. 

5. Ran over a 6-by-4 rock, broke shear pin. :icon_whistling:


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

1. Normal. Sounds like any engine.
2. Doesn't sound right.
3. Over working the machine? Going too fast?
4. Somewhat normal.
5. Normal for high end machines. Low end machines would have blown the gear box.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

#2 & #3 are causes of concern. #2, though, was only occurring the first 5-10 minutes. As for #3, I was not overworking the machine as I was going slow since it was my first time using a 2nd-stager.


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## mobiledynamics (Nov 21, 2014)

Bullet 3 ) How big of a bite were you taking. Granted, you have no option but to take a full bite on the 1st pass, but subsequent bites ?


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## charley95 (Feb 10, 2014)

I have last years 724 and thought I'd like to sell or trade it on the HSS. After your experience I think I'll hold off. I'm sure your ver y frustrated. Get that thing to the dealer ASAP! I've been lucky and never have broken a sheer pin since my first 2 stage I bought in 88.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

mobiledynamics said:


> Bullet 3 ) How big of a bite were you taking. Granted, you have no option but to take a full bite on the 1st pass, but subsequent bites ?


I'll take it back. It wasn't really an EOD per say. It was a crosswalk where the sidewalk sloping downward to level with the asphalt. It was the initial full pass. The second pass [half bite] was still struggling...coughing here and there and manageable, but I was expecting smooth engine sound. Maybe the engine is too new. 

#5, was a user mistake. I knew there was a rock there. I thought I avoided it but guess not! LOL.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

charley95 said:


> I have last years 724 and thought I'd like to sell or trade it on the HSS. After your experience I think I'll hold off. I'm sure your ver y frustrated. Get that thing to the dealer ASAP! I've been lucky and never have broken a sheer pin since my first 2 stage I bought in 88.


Frustrated was an understatement. It was :icon-embarrassed: to see it stalled and had to restarted it. I'll wait until the 2nd time using to fully evaluate the machine. Worst case, I'll save some money and retrofit it with a 270/340 engine if it is a direct fit. The broken shear pin was my fault.

The new HSS features is worth the upgrade if you don't mind losing $$$.


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## charley95 (Feb 10, 2014)

Have you posted a pic. of your new 724? Would love to see it, I don't think anyone here has posted a pic. of their new HSS724.


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## charley95 (Feb 10, 2014)

What's the status of your 724?


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

I have a brand new hss928atd. I have a similar desire for more power but the hydrostatic transmission is so capable of matching the speed of whatever crazy heavy stuff I'm throwing. If you are really keeping your speed in check you might want to look into checking the engine speed, and that the governor is maintaining the 3600rpms it should be. 

I also broke a shear pin on a rock I though was 2 feet to the left. The wild thing with me is that I broke the pin right next to the gear box on the auger, and not the bolt that's supposed to shear. I think the tech at the factory over tightened the bolt and the cohesion of squeezing the components together made the much beefier pin the weakest link. Checking the torque on my shear bolts is on my to do list.


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## E350 (Apr 21, 2015)

Ok, this is a little off-topic but it is offered for comparison. I have the older model (but nearly new) HS1132TA. I get close to stalling the engine at EOD with a full auger housing, so I slow down and bite less (and I plan to upgrade the engine to the 13 HP Honda).

The only auger sheer pins on the HS1132TA are in the middle next to the gear box. One "pin" per auger. I break no fewer than four sheer pins per outing. I have been buying 8.8 grade Metric hex bolts and nuts for use as sheer pins. I have no idea what torque is required or if there is a manufacturer's stated torque requirement. I do have a 1/4" torque wrench which I could use to "calibrate" my hand tightening torque if I knew what Newton Meters to set the wrench at.

But Metric is more expensive than SAE, *so what do you guys think of going to grade 5 SAE as sheer pins? They are sacrificial anyway. And isn't SAE grade 5 the same as Metric grade 8.8? And wouldn't a 3/16" or maybe even a 1/4" be about the same diameter?*


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

E350, I can't remember, but do you have side skids in place? I was eating shear pins like pez candy until I installed the Honda commercial skids and raised the bucket up a little higher than normal. We both have some gravel to deal with and this has worked for me so far.

I also only use oem bolts, but buy low quality hardware store nuts to save money and I tighten them up pretty snug. No torque, but I spent a few years building semi front ends in Detroit some years back and I can hand tighten to 20 or 30 pounds pretty accurately. Whenever I kept the pins a little on the loose side, I'd bust one pretty darn quick.

You never know...that could help.

Oh, and when you do upgrade to the 13 HP, you're gonna love it.


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## E350 (Apr 21, 2015)

*jrom*: The auger housing on my HS1132TA has holes with welded nuts on the inside of the auger housing for the Honda Commercial skids, but I decided to go with Bob Sayre's Armor skids (snowblowerskids.com) to _supplement _the Honda rear skids for the following reason: I like the rear skids in reverse because they cut through the frozen slush (West Coast "ice") like *Blue Hill's* furrow plow and I figured that the narrow edge of the Armor skids facing the rear might do the same. (I was even thinking of welding on a little vertical skeg on the bottom of the rear portion of the side skids to increase the furrowing effect in reverse...)

I haven't installed Bob's Armor skids yet because Bob just sent me a different pair of Armor skids with the 2 3/8" on-center hole spacing for this particular auger housing.

In contrast, the "extra" new HS1132 auger housing that I bought in Carson, NV for $150 must be an older production date because it has no holes for side skids whatsoever. 

Thanks for the side skid/sheer pin suggestion. I will install the Armor skids this weekend before the 7" of new snow predicted and get back to you on my sheer pin experience. In the meantime, I carry an extra sheer pin or two in my pocket, a 10mm open/box end wrench and a small flat blade screw driver and all is good. But that new Honda sheer pin protector feature on the HSS models which I assume the *nZone* has, seems pretty cool...


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

charley95 said:


> What's the status of your 724?


There is no new snow to re-evaluate it. I haven't got the chance to replace the shear bolt yet - will do this weekend.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

drmerdp said:


> I have a brand new hss928atd. I have a similar desire for more power but the hydrostatic transmission is so capable of matching the speed of whatever crazy heavy stuff I'm throwing. If you are really keeping your speed in check you might want to look into checking the engine speed, and that the governor is maintaining the 3600rpms it should be.
> 
> I also broke a shear pin on a rock I though was 2 feet to the left. The wild thing with me is that I broke the pin right next to the gear box on the auger, and not the bolt that's supposed to shear. I think the tech at the factory over tightened the bolt and the cohesion of squeezing the components together made the much beefier pin the weakest link. Checking the torque on my shear bolts is on my to do list.


I will need to buy the device to monitor the engine speed. I don't want "just enough". I like the 24" wide swath, but it would be a tank with GX390 engine. This would double the power. Strangely, Honda engine seems to cost ($700-850) similarly for GX270/340/390. It would be difficult to retrofit new engine for the HSS724 since the GX200 engine is 3/4" PTO Shaft while GX270/340/390 are 1" PTO Shaft.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

E350 said:


> But that new Honda sheer pin protector feature on the HSS models which I assume the *nZone* has, seems pretty cool...


My HSS724 does not have the Auger Shear Bolt Guard. This feature is available for HS1332ATD model only.


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## jrom (Jan 10, 2014)

E350 said:


> ...But that new Honda sheer pin protector feature on the HSS models ...seems pretty cool...


I do have the Auger Shear Bolt Guard and it activated on me the other day. 

Picked up a couple of frozen wood chip _bundles*_ that wandered over from one of my frozen wood chip piles and she shut down. Blinked away. Cleared the packed snow and I think a chip or two from the auger housing, started up, engaged the blower and shot out a wad of snow, ice and chips, then back on my way.

I think it saved me from a busted pin. :icon_whistling:

* added the word "bundles" as there were more than a couple.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

We will have 4-8" of wet and heavy snow today in Boston metro, let's see how the HSS724 can handle. I hope my first time using it was an operator error, not the machine.


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## Keeshonden (Oct 27, 2015)

drmerdp said:


> I have a brand new hss928atd. I have a similar desire for more power but the hydrostatic transmission is so capable of matching the speed of whatever crazy heavy stuff I'm throwing. If you are really keeping your speed in check you might want to look into checking the engine speed, and that the governor is maintaining the 3600rpms it should be.
> 
> I also broke a shear pin on a rock I though was 2 feet to the left. The wild thing with me is that I broke the pin right next to the gear box on the auger, and not the bolt that's supposed to shear. I think the tech at the factory over tightened the bolt and the cohesion of squeezing the components together made the much beefier pin the weakest link. Checking the torque on my shear bolts is on my to do list.


My co-worker has the new 7/24 and the same thing happened to his. He contacted his brother (mechanic at the Honda dealership) and he told my co-worker that a call has been placed to Honda Canada about this. So far this season this dealership has had 6 calls about this. For the 7/24 the part number is PIN (7X40) 90757-767-000.

Though about getting a new one but until all the kinks are straightened out with these new models I'll stick with my 9 year old 9/28.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

I got the chance to use HSS724 again last Friday. The snow was about 5-6" wet heavy. The 724 had no trouble throwing the snow 20-30 feet. However, while learning on the job, I noticed the 724 would instantly clog up when going slow. There was no clogging when I used full speed. My guess would be that when going slow, there wasn't enough snow to feed the 724. 

But...the 724 stalled again at the same crosswalk. The snow bank was about the 724's bucket height. It seemed like the auger didn't have the power to bite the snow.


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## AesonVirus (Aug 24, 2015)

nZone said:


> My HSS724 does not have the Auger Shear Bolt Guard. This feature is available for HS1332ATD model only.



Edit: I found clearer information. I thought they all had the shut down feature. Guess not 

The HSS724 & HSS928 have shear bolts.
From Honda's website:
Auger protection system

The HSS928's auger drive shaft and impeller blower are protected by easily replaceable offset shear bolts. Should the auger engage a solid object, the shear bolt will break to prevent auger or impeller shaft damage.

The HSS1332
Advanced Honda technology protects the HS1332ATD from damage, without needing to replace shear bolts The Auger Shear Bolt Guard detects high torque levels and immediately shuts off the auger and the engine, protecting the snow blower.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

AesonVirus said:


> Edit: I found clearer information
> 
> The HSS724 & HSS928 have shear bolts.
> From Honda's website:
> ...


What's on the HSS724/928 is no different than previous models. There's nothing new there. The HSS1332ATD is the only model that gets this new tech.


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## charley95 (Feb 10, 2014)

nZone said:


> I got the chance to use HSS724 again last Friday. The snow was about 5-6" wet heavy. The 724 had no trouble throwing the snow 20-30 feet. However, while learning on the job, I noticed the 724 would instantly clog up when going slow. There was no clogging when I used full speed. My guess would be that when going slow, there wasn't enough snow to feed the 724.
> 
> But...the 724 stalled again at the same crosswalk. The snow bank was about the 724's bucket height. It seemed like the auger didn't have the power to bite the snow.


Sounds like an impeller kit is needed.


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## nZone (Feb 19, 2015)

charley95, I just need a bigger engine.  I need GX340 on my 724.


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