# Picked up this hs622 for $100



## Jacuzzibusguy (Feb 11, 2018)

I've never owned a snowblower before. Picked up this Honda hs622 a few days ago. It was in craigslist for $100 with a bad engine. 

I was able to swap in a harbor freight predator motor which cost about $120. 

The biggest hurdle was fitting the gear from the 20mm shaft on the Honda onto the 19mm shaft on the predator. I also swapped out the engine side cover as the Honda version was slightly different. 

It only took a couple hours of my time and she is up and running...just in time for a big storm. 

https://youtu.be/GSVhEqvXt2g


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Welcome to the forum! 

Congratulations, you got a heck of a deal!! 

The Predator will likely be more powerful than the original 163cc engine anyhow, so now that you're past the hassle of mating it up, it should be an upgrade in performance. 

For a first snowblower, starting out with a hydrostatic, tracked Honda, you're lucky enough to get something really nice. Enjoy it!


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## tdipaul (Jul 11, 2015)

nice job

gave your vid a thumbs up too

.
.


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## vmax29 (Oct 19, 2017)

:white^_^arial^_^0^_

Good thing you have that Honda running it looks like you live on a state park. Nice machine, it runs like new! Thanks for the great video. What kind of drone / camera did you use?


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## Freezn (Mar 1, 2014)

Welcome Jacuzzibusguy !!! Outstanding job retrofitting the Harbor Freight Engine to save that HS622. Based on your video (which was also top notch) you have yourself a nice combination of power and compact size. Super impressive machine. Hey, is that an LED light bar attached to the front panel? If so, what brand/model did you use? Can you please light it up and post pictures? Again great job!


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

great job and great video.

can you provide a link from your video to bring people here to the Snowblower Forum?


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Welcome to the forum!

I watched your YouTube link. Your machine? Where the neck do you live? Looks like you were blowing the woods. Do you have another machine? For that distance I'd get a 4x4 with a plow.

Next note, you got a bargain, I'm sure most of us are jealous.


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## Jacuzzibusguy (Feb 11, 2018)

Video was filmed with a mavic pro and also an old GoPro. 

I do live in a park. It's not really a park, but it's 60 acres in the middle of nowhere with my own forest and a pond and a river. Up until now, I've always moved snow with the backhoe, but I recently sold it. I was snow blowing the grass in the video only because I'm like a little kid and had already completed the driveway the night before. And there are too many trees near the driveway for drone flying. At least for flying while operating a snowblower...which is actually pretty difficult. 

As far as the light....I had this laying around and simply zip tied it to the handlebar. It is powered with a 20v dewalt drill battery as this snow blower does not have a battery or electric start. as a side note, it appears equally as brite using a 12 volt Milwaukee drill battery. I'll try and get some photos of the light.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

JLawrence08648 said:


> Next note, you got a bargain, I'm sure most of us are jealous.


Yup!  

Nice solution with the lights. The LEDs themselves probably operate around 5V, so whether you're supplying 12V or 20V, the lights themselves may still be getting the same regulated voltage.


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

Jacuzzibusguy said:


> using a 12 volt Milwaukee drill battery.


What a great idea ! "Everyone" has a Lithium rechargeable drill. Are you saying that a 20V battery can be used to power LEDs without "any" issue ? Would be neat. They I could use those free Harbor Freight LED lights with the magnet base. Whoa, this could be "eye opening".


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Hang on, "not so fast"  You need to consider the input-voltage spec for the lights you're using. 

If you were talking about the blue magnetic Harbor Freight LED lights, those are expecting 3 AAA's (I think), so 4.5V. They have no reason to be designed to take higher voltages. So feed them 12V, and you'll probably blow the light. 

Now, if you're buying lights that show a 6V-25V input range, absolutely, go nuts and give them 12V or 20V. 

Even if your battery is higher voltage than what your light can accept, there are still options, depending on what you want to do. You can get DC->DC voltage reducers (or also versions that can increase the voltage, if that was needed). 

As an example, this will take 4-40V DC input, and will reduce it to 1.25-37V (adjustable). The output must be at least 2V lower than the input voltage. It can output 2A continuous: 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable...542359&hash=item2a5cbb770c:g:RVUAAOSwbdpWWNHv

So with that, you could use a 20V battery, run its output through this, and reduce the voltage to whatever was appropriate for the LEDs you wanted to use. If you wanted to use lights that can only take 5V max, no problem, just set the regulator's output appropriately, before connecting the lights. It is smart enough to adjust even if the input voltage changes, so you could set it for 5V output, and still get that from a 12V battery, or a 20V.


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## Jacuzzibusguy (Feb 11, 2018)

These particular led lights I got off amazon and the input voltage was wide...like 6-25vdc iirc

So I spent Time today fooling with the snowblower. I added paddles to the impeller. That was a 15 minute project that turned into an hour. 

https://youtu.be/6Tx-E5bfKKE

And the results were good: 

https://youtu.be/KarpEjL9iTc


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## Jacuzzibusguy (Feb 11, 2018)

And lastly, here is a short video that demonstrates the brightness of the light.


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## Jacuzzibusguy (Feb 11, 2018)

https://youtu.be/8GpiEUPQ3uM


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Very nice! 

In the first video, when the quad was flying behind you, did it back up into a tree?  

It looks like the machine is doing great. You have an awesome setup for $200!! Congratulations on the great find, and the nice work! And it looks like you've got a really cool location, having the forest, river, and pond right there. That's awesome. 

Oh yeah, how did you adapt the 20mm gear to the new 19mm crankshaft?


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## Jacuzzibusguy (Feb 11, 2018)

First of all, what kind of company builds nearly identical engines with crankshafts 1mm different in size? Some engineer should definately be punched in the face for that one. 

I should have made a video or at least took photos of the operation. I bought a 3/4 to 1" brass bushing from tractor supply. Then I put it on the crank with the engine bolted to a table and used the engine as a lathe to turn the bushing down to the correct diameter. First with files, then when I got close, with sand paper. Then I carefully cut a keyway about 70% the length of the bushing. My method was really silly. 

In the end, I think an aluminum soda can would have been about the perfect thickness.


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## Jacuzzibusguy (Feb 11, 2018)

And yes, I crashed the mavic during the filming. 

The fact that there was a foot of snow kept it from suffering any damage. It was actually difficult to find because the hole it left behind was so small and I was not watching when it disappeared. 

I would not recommend flying a drone while operating machinery but I think there was little to no danger to anyone or anything except the aircraft in this particular set of circumstances.


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

Welcome to our Merry Band, Brother. ccasion14:


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