# Yamaha: old vs new models



## Maxi5566

I do not know a lot on Yamaha snowblower, so here is my question:
Are the old models (‘90 828 / 624) better than today’s Yamaha (recent 1028)? I know John Deere garden tractor from the ‘90 (300/400 serie) are better than what they offer today. Is it true with Yamaha snowblower?

I know this is not a Honda subforum, but is the HS1132 better than newer model HS1332?

Thanks


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## octane

I think many brands have moved their production to China , and the quality has gone down.
I have even been told Honda has moved production to China , and the older machines was better than new ones.
However , with Yamaha , I believe they still make the new ones in Japan, so I guess the new ones are better.
I have an "ur" 624 , with 3 fwd gears and metal tank ... still runs strong... no rust.


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## Dag Johnsen

*the best of the best*



Maxi5566 said:


> I do not know a lot on Yamaha snowblower, so here is my question:
> Are the old models (‘90 828 / 624) better than today’s Yamaha (recent 1028)? I know John Deere garden tractor from the ‘90 (300/400 serie) are better than what they offer today. Is it true with Yamaha snowblower?
> 
> I know this is not a Honda subforum, but is the HS1132 better than newer model HS1332?
> 
> Thanks


In Norway Yamaha snowblowers are considered the best of the best, clearly ranked over Honda. The American Ariens / Toro etc. do not have the same status. Of course except the one I have, a 2013 Simplicity Pro with USA made Briggs engine:wink2:


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## octane

hey dont talk bad about Ariens  my ST824 have served me well for the past 30 years .. no rust ... original auger belt broke last year, and it needed a carb clean this year...other than that , just an oil change now and then ... and it just runs 
However, i cheated on it , and brought a track YS624 home... hope they get along


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## Dag Johnsen

*Love old Ariens!!*



octane said:


> hey dont talk bad about Ariens  my ST824 have served me well for the past 30 years .. no rust ... original auger belt broke last year, and it needed a carb clean this year...other than that , just an oil change now and then ... and it just runs
> However, i cheated on it , and brought a track YS624 home... hope they get along



Nothing bad about Ariens!:wink2: I was at a dealer today that are high end. He had nothing good to say about the new ones. Maybe the old ones were better. He sells Honda, Husqvarna, Yamaha and Ariens.
He recommends Yamaha but most people buy Honda anyway. One customer who bought two machines, a Honda 928 and later a Yamaha 1028, came back and said the Yamaha was much better.
Some people buy Ariens even if that dealer does not recommend them. We are talking new EFI Rapidtrack Hydro. Dealer said most of them are really disappointed afterwords. Also the new Rapidtrack belts are bad, as the old ones were according to this dealer.

Just what I heard today, Nothing personal:nerd:


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## Coby7

My new Yamaha is better built than the older ones, the plate where the engine mounts is way thicker than previous years, all the auger metal is one gauge thicker. It has all kinds of improvements like better shielding and smoother drive with the hydrostatic transmission and mine being a 624 was made in China. The other 2 models are still made in Japan. China already made the engine block for these. If I were to pick at it I would say the paint on this one is not as good as the older ones, there doesn't seem to be any treatment applied or very little before paint application so it tends to rust at the welds prematurely. Oh yes these are really not ready for all the salt they put on our roads that end up in our EOD, the poorly sealed 6203's in the auger housing don't take too long to get noisy and fail. A lot of Countries don't use salt so these problems don't pop up as quickly there. I already installed new double sealed and higher precision bearing, they are the most expensive and still only $5 a piece. If you have one of these, changing the bearings is a good preventative maintenance. Very simple job if they haven't gone bad yet but a bit harder if they have already seized up on you and spun on the shaft. I caught mine just in time.


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## jondrover709

I inherited a YS624T and it's now 29-years-old. It has seen some hard winters here in Newfoundland. We're currently in a State of Emergency because of 100cm of snow has fallen in the past three days. I had it going for 6 hours straight yesterday. Aside from regular maintenance, it hasn't given any trouble. Not sure how it measures up to the new ones but if they're half as good as the old ones you'll be fine.


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## ShedLife

Coby7 said:


> My new Yamaha is better built than the older ones, the plate where the engine mounts is way thicker than previous years, all the auger metal is one gauge thicker. It has all kinds of improvements like better shielding and smoother drive with the hydrostatic transmission and mine being a 624 was made in China. The other 2 models are still made in Japan. China already made the engine block for these. If I were to pick at it I would say the paint on this one is not as good as the older ones, there doesn't seem to be any treatment applied or very little before paint application so it tends to rust at the welds prematurely. Oh yes these are really not ready for all the salt they put on our roads that end up in our EOD, the poorly sealed 6203's in the auger housing don't take too long to get noisy and fail. A lot of Countries don't use salt so these problems don't pop up as quickly there. I already installed new double sealed and higher precision bearing, they are the most expensive and still only $5 a piece. If you have one of these, changing the bearings is a good preventative maintenance. Very simple job if they haven't gone bad yet but a bit harder if they have already seized up on you and spun on the shaft. I caught mine just in time.


Some of the 624's are also still made in Japan. I saw a 2019 at my local dealer that was Japanese built. They had another that was Chinese built. 

The one I bought from a different dealer as a leftover was also Chinese made. I agree with you about the paint. Mines chipped off large pieces in the impeller housing already and it's only been used three times so far. Yearly touch ups may be necessary along with a good spray of ACF-50.

Did you do anything with respect to rust spray on the bearings? Which ones did you replace and where did you get the sealed ones?

To the OP, the Yamaha blows like nothing I've ever seen. It's an incredible machine and has even handled water logged slush with ease.

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## Coby7

ShedLife said:


> Did you do anything with respect to rust spray on the bearings? Which ones did you replace and where did you get the sealed ones?


I just went to Canadian bearings and purchased the best 6203-2RS they had and replaced all 3 in the auger. They don't use salt in Japan but they sure do here. It eats everything.


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## ShedLife

Coby7 said:


> I just went to Canadian bearings and purchased the best 6203-2RS they had and replaced all 3 in the auger. They don't use salt in Japan but they sure do here. It eats everything.


Thanks! I know salt all too well living in Halifax, NS! I'm sure I'll need to do the bearings soon enough.

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## Coby7

Mine lasted 3 years before I heard them squeal for lubrication. The axle bearings are more enclosed and seem to last longer but I'm watching them too!


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## ShedLife

Coby7 said:


> Mine lasted 3 years before I heard them squeal for lubrication. The axle bearings are more enclosed and seem to last longer but I'm watching them too!


Cool. Did you replace 46 and 22 in this pic? I see there are other bearings behind the impeller too...









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## Coby7

The two 46s and 3. 22 and 27 are well sealed and bathing in oil.


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## RC20

I think its one of those some and some. Older Yami's are simpler and they were H*LL for reliable , I have had mine for 21 years roughly (99) and hard use. 150 ft of driveway, 300 feet of back yard paths, neighbors help out and originally due to bad roof insulation job (I fixed that 10 yeas ago), I shoveled off the roof and the Yamaha had to blow out that hard packed front and back. Roof is roughly 35 feet x 60 feet. From the picture you can see it still looks very new. We average 90 inches a year, I have seen over 130 inches a couple of times. 

The New ones have some cool features and as long as they work you are good. So, if they quits working you can be unhappy. The old ones just did not have anything to go wrong. If I lived in a place like Nova Scotia we have seen, I would have a spare even with good neighbors. 

Where I think the old ones still have it is the engine. Its a long stroke beast and has more torque than a 10 hp modern engine. I don't think the auger setup is quite as good and the new ones throw a bit further but 40 feet is plenty. What they do not do is stall or bog down. I seldom run it at full throttle (18-36" only). 

But Yamaha is also no slouch to say the least, so the new engine is going to be good. Longevity and time wise its pretty hard to know as the original design goes back to the 80s? It was well done, simple and well proven. New ones since about 2005? 

As for things like speed control, nice but you also pay for it if it goes bad. With the old ones you picked a close gear and adjusted the throttle to suit. Not quite as convenient but not an issue. My neighbor is a really hard worked and shovel her own driveway most of the time before I get to it. I blow the packed snow off the edge. Gear 1 or 2 and higher throttle and it just chews its way through with zero drama. 

I never have replaced the belts (checked em about 5 years ago and I do have spares but they were like new).
Given a choice I probably would go with the new (we are not in Canada so it would be tough, Whitehorse is 650 miles away) but if here was a used one available and it ha been taken care of, I would take that in a heart beat. 

My only issue is 65+ and a ruptured disk so the new trigger controls have some appeal. I just push it around with my body straight into the handle bars vs twisting with my torso and do fine so its manageable. 

I don't think you can go wrong wither way. I do think they are the best blowers ever made, new ones sound very solid as were the old ones. 

Old 624 T weighed 208 lbs and the 828 was 233 (non electric start)


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## Coby7

I bought my first Yamaha in 1984, it was a 524. When I traded it in in 2014 it was 30 years old and it was beat. Engine still ran like a champ and still started on first pull. Yamaha took on trade because they didn't believe I had a 524 since they had no record of it. Their parts catalog only went back as far as the 624.


















What I miss the most is the oil level see through glass pressed into the side of the block.


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## cpchriste

Dag Johnsen said:


> I was at a dealer today that are high end. He sells Honda, Husqvarna, Yamaha and Ariens.



What is the perception of Husqvarna blower quality in Norway? I hear mixed messages in USA.:devil:


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## ShedLife

RC20 said:


> I think its one of those some and some. Older Yami's are simpler and they were H*LL for reliable , I have had mine for 21 years roughly (99) and hard use. 150 ft of driveway, 300 feet of back yard paths, neighbors help out and originally due to bad roof insulation job (I fixed that 10 yeas ago), I shoveled off the roof and the Yamaha had to blow out that hard packed front and back. Roof is roughly 35 feet x 60 feet. From the picture you can see it still looks very new. We average 90 inches a year, I have seen over 130 inches a couple of times.
> 
> The New ones have some cool features and as long as they work you are good. So, if they quits working you can be unhappy. The old ones just did not have anything to go wrong. If I lived in a place like Nova Scotia we have seen, I would have a spare even with good neighbors.
> 
> Where I think the old ones still have it is the engine. Its a long stroke beast and has more torque than a 10 hp modern engine. I don't think the auger setup is quite as good and the new ones throw a bit further but 40 feet is plenty. What they do not do is stall or bog down. I seldom run it at full throttle (18-36" only).
> 
> But Yamaha is also no slouch to say the least, so the new engine is going to be good. Longevity and time wise its pretty hard to know as the original design goes back to the 80s? It was well done, simple and well proven. New ones since about 2005?
> 
> As for things like speed control, nice but you also pay for it if it goes bad. With the old ones you picked a close gear and adjusted the throttle to suit. Not quite as convenient but not an issue. My neighbor is a really hard worked and shovel her own driveway most of the time before I get to it. I blow the packed snow off the edge. Gear 1 or 2 and higher throttle and it just chews its way through with zero drama.
> 
> I never have replaced the belts (checked em about 5 years ago and I do have spares but they were like new).
> Given a choice I probably would go with the new (we are not in Canada so it would be tough, Whitehorse is 650 miles away) but if here was a used one available and it ha been taken care of, I would take that in a heart beat.
> 
> My only issue is 65+ and a ruptured disk so the new trigger controls have some appeal. I just push it around with my body straight into the handle bars vs twisting with my torso and do fine so its manageable.
> 
> I don't think you can go wrong wither way. I do think they are the best blowers ever made, new ones sound very solid as were the old ones.
> 
> Old 624 T weighed 208 lbs and the 828 was 233 (non electric start)


I agree with your point on the simplicity being better. I look at my new 624 and the electronic shoot control. Immediately I think about the day I am out there blowing and it stops functioning. With the old school hand crank there are very few issues to troubleshoot if it's not working. With the electronic control it could be a serious troubleshooting debacle.

More tech = more trouble in my mind.

That said, I believe this Yamaha is the best small blower currently in production as far as quality and features for the price. It's an expensive machine but you get what you pay for, and resale for good money would be a breeze. 

I was at a big box store yesterday and happened across their snow blower section. The poor quality of the machines was astounding. Hard rubber wheels, super thin metal, lots of cheap plastic. 

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## RC20

In my case I am fortunate to have snow blowing retired fools (I quit work) for neighbors. They will help me out worst case and mine breaks down.
So I could get a new whiz bang fancy. My problem is the Yami just keeps on going and the only failure was the fuel sediment bowl after 15 years. 

I just can't justify a new blower and happy to use that money to get the driveway repaved as its cracked, breaking up in some areas and things are growing in it to the point it looks like I need a Combine Harvester run over it. 

There was a comment about the new ones having a heavier plate, never had an issue with the old one and its on rubber isolator feet so the vibration does not get into the frame. I though initially it might cause belt alignment issues but the original belts are still on it (I do have to look again but no indicators of slippage, been about 5 years I think) .
The only reason I would consider new is due to age and the maneuver aspects being easier. Even then its more the rupture disk than age. Just amazing machines the old ones, the news ones sound updated good as well. Old one in good condition I don't think you can go wrong. Just situational what might be the better way to go.


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## Dag Johnsen

*not sure*



cpchriste said:


> What is the perception of Husqvarna blower quality in Norway? I hear mixed messages in USA.:devil:



I do not know about the latest New models, but last generation I heard was not so good.


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