# Husqvarna ST227P issues



## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

Hi everyone. So I just purchased my very first snow blower a few days ago, and I'm having some issues. I'm hoping I can get some clarification here as to what's normal. The machine is brand new, and it hasn't seen any snow yet. The first day I had it I started right up, but there was a knocking coming from the belt cover. When I removed it you could see where the small drive belt tensioner pulley was hitting and wearing away at the plastic cover. It's only at idle that it makes contact. I took it to the dealer, where I bought it, and they said everything looks fine, but they will order me a new belt cover. Now today I noticed that the Auger shaft has a lot of movement in it when running. It will move about a centimeter up and down. looks quite wobbly. So I guess I'm wondering if I just bought myself a lemon? It's all very new to me so I'm not sure what to expect.

Thanks for any help.


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## Kenny kustom (Nov 25, 2014)

The issues you state, relate to the reason my tech friend who works at husky, told me to buy a Yamaha/Honda. 

He states the quality and fit/finish isn't what it used to be. 

Take it back and make them fix it.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

hello ae101, welcome to *SBF *
seeing that its new don't do anything other than take it back where you got it from and let them fix it


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## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

Thanks for the welcome. I'm really wondering if a made a big mistake buying a new model with no testing. Just to clarify, what would be a normal amount of movement for the auger/impeller shaft differential?


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## maxmag (Nov 30, 2014)

mine is nice and snug. don't be bummed, take it back to your dealer and have him fix it. I know my dealer would be all over it if I had a problem.


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## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

Just wanted to update for those who might be curious. I was in communication with my dealer and they basically told me nothing is wrong with this machine. I couldn't accept that, and asked for an exchange or refund. They seemed uninterested in keeping me as a customer and quickly gave me a refund. So that still leaves me without a snow blower in mid December.... The hunt continues.


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## liftoff1967 (Jan 15, 2014)

Sounds like a dealer that would not stand behind his product. Better to cut bait now then in the middle of a big snowfall when bigger issues come up. 

Keep hunting for a good dealer, they are out there. Try to avoid a big box store purchase, but I do understand you may have a sour taste for dealers bases on this situation.

If you wanna stick with Huskey, maybe it would be worth while to make a run up the food chain to the corporate level and see what they have to say. Just a thought.

Good luck!


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 6, 2013)

It's really a shame what some companies put their name on just to be in a certain market. Husqvarna makes a heck of a chainsaw, but the blowers they put their name on are not made by them and are not the same quality as their chainsaws. They are just painted orange and slapped with a Husqvarna decal. I used to own a "Husqvarna" 16530E for a couple years before I sold it.


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## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

It's true about the sour taste, I'm turned right off. It's not a big town either, so choice is limited.

Who is making these Huskies? My father just bought a Yamaha YT624EJ so I'm probably going to take his old Husqvarna 10527sb-lsb off his hands. 

JRHAWK9, What were your issues with the 16530E?


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## Kenny kustom (Nov 25, 2014)

Your father has great taste. Why not get a yammy too?


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## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

Kenny kustom said:


> Your father has great taste. Why not get a yammy too?



It was the last one they had and he wanted it more than I did. So I'm buying the old one off him since he doesn't need it, and would be selling it anyways to help with the cost. 

Honestly though, if he didn't get it I was ready to jump. It's quite the machine.


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 6, 2013)

AE101 said:


> JRHAWK9, What were your issues with the 16530E?


I didn't have any major issues. A couple little things like the trigger wheel unlock mechanism's would always freeze making them useless. The chute deflect cable would freeze. The two main reasons I sold it were; one, I never did like how cheaply built the auger and gearbox seemed. The gearbox was not serviceable either. Two, even though the thing threw snow a crazy distance (actually had faster impeller tip speed than my current Ariens Pro 32), it just did not move the volume of snow I was looking for in a blower. I don't like to baby-step behind a blower while it ingests the snow, I prefer to walk behind it with as close to a normal walk as possible and with the small 12" impeller it could not discharge the larger snow events fast enough.

Husky's blowers used to be made by AYP (American yard Products), but not sure if they still are or not. The auger system on my $1,400 Husky was identical to the ones found on the $400 Poulan's at Home Depot.


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## realzed (Dec 28, 2014)

AE101.. So I guess I'm wondering if I just bought myself a lemon?
Thanks for any help.[/QUOTE said:


> I too just bought a new ST227P just prior to Christmas and have yet to use it as we haven't had any sufficient amount of snow to warrant it..
> I did however start it up in the garage to check out the operation and to try to make sure everything was ready for the first big storm which we are bound to have soon.
> First - after running it between 5 and 10 minutes at full power I noticed the hand warmers, if they heat up at all, deliver such a poor amount of heat that you would never notice the difference with gloves on!
> Second - at idle (like you) I heard this awful clattering under the belt cover and when I took it off, discovered it was close to half way worn through from an idler pulley rubbing against it. I did manage to bend the idle pulley bracket sufficiently that it appears to have resolved the noise - but one would think that this would be part of the PDI prep they charge for - or am I expecting too much?
> ...


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## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

JRHAWK9 said:


> I didn't have any major issues. A couple little things like the trigger wheel unlock mechanism's would always freeze making them useless. The chute deflect cable would freeze. The two main reasons I sold it were; one, I never did like how cheaply built the auger and gearbox seemed. The gearbox was not serviceable either. Two, even though the thing threw snow a crazy distance (actually had faster impeller tip speed than my current Ariens Pro 32), it just did not move the volume of snow I was looking for in a blower. I don't like to baby-step behind a blower while it ingests the snow, I prefer to walk behind it with as close to a normal walk as possible and with the small 12" impeller it could not discharge the larger snow events fast enough.
> 
> Husky's blowers used to be made by AYP (American yard Products), but not sure if they still are or not. The auger system on my $1,400 Husky was identical to the ones found on the $400 Poulan's at Home Depot.



Thanks for the info. I agree, I'm a little disappointed with the auger design. I don't understand why it's not a ribbon type. We'll see how it goes this winter, if I decide to keep it or not.


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## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

realzed said:


> ............ Thanks - for the opportunity to vent!
> Randy



Man... this sounds like my exact experience. I had considered informing the powers that be, at Husqvarna Canada, but in the end I didn't bother. 

Good luck, and let us know what you hear back from them.


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## realzed (Dec 28, 2014)

Scary that we have had such similar problems - wonder how many others have bought Husqvarna blowers and do also without us hearing about it?
But since you asked - I spent an hour on the phone with Husqvarna Customer Service yesterday (wish the Husky would read blogs such as this to monitor their product success to be able to respond accordingly) and it turned out to be a complete waste of time..
First - I ended up with 2 women, (hopefully not sounding sexist here, as that isn't my intention) one in South Carolina??? what the **** do they know about snow and snowblowers in S. Carolina?? verses Canada and why does Canada Customer Service have to default into the US?
Anyway, the first girl I spoke to took down all of my story and sounded promisingly sympathetic and understanding ("if it has a problem why didn't they offer to look at it?" and "sounds to me like you have a very reasonable case to have it returned or at least fully repaired"..) which if nothing else gave me some hope..
Second girl, who I was then passed off to (and dashed all of that hope) had an obvious enough accent (Ya'll) to beg me to eventually ask where she was located, thus why I know SC...
This girl, who I was told by the first one in my quest for some restitution or answers, would be the one who could help me resolve the problem(s) - had very little to offer except that she could call my dealer and ask to speak to someone there to ask if they would take a look at my machine if I returned it..
When I asked if she could force them to do repairs or at least exchange it for another machine or ideally get me my money back - she said NO.
I asked her, as politely as I could, that if customer service didn't have the power to force a dealer to do repair work for a machine currently under warranty, or didn't in fact had any power to urge a dealer in their own network to make restitution at all - either for work, replacement, or compensation - then what good was Customer Service and why are they there?.. which bought me a whole lot of silence while she I think, searched for a response to the question.
When I further asked if they ever even got snow in SC or if she actually had ever had seen a snowblower, she admitted they did have some snow from time to time and Yes she knew what the new models looked like from pictures..
So - there you have it..
Buy Canadian or at least purchase a unit that is either based in Canada or has service related assistance based upon people who hopefully know the product and how it works, close to where you live.
I am still left wondering what the **** good is a Customer Service line, if it can't provide exactly what it's name implies!
Long story hopefully shortened, for anyone who reads this (wishfully Husqvarna would) is.. the new Husqvarna snowblowers from my experience appear to be just total crap - nice looking and their ad brochures are pretty - but in actuality, only slightly worse than their Customer Service which as misnamed as it is, will apparently be of no real assistance if you need actually need.. 'Service'.
Guess all I have now at this point is my Visa Card assistance (YES as I mentioned previously purchased it with my credit card when I bought it) to try and get my money back. 
Visa told me if I didn't get a satisfactory response after trying all channels of assistance, they could and would possibly revoke payment and return my purchase amount to me if they were satisfied I exhausted all attempts to get this resolved in a most opportune and professional way. 
Guess that's what it will come down to now - as I plain just don't want to have anything more to do with Huqvarna, the dealer, or snowblowers in general at this point now!
It snowed a fair amount overnight - now I think I will go out and shovel some!


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## Hanky (Nov 14, 2014)

I was looking at a Husqvarna but my local deal repair man told me I would be better off with the last Toro they had, far better buit machine. They are now a Husky dealer. But my Toro has been back to the shop a couple of times they are getting to the bottom of my problems, at least they are trying.


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## realzed (Dec 28, 2014)

Today I managed to find a vendor who had a Husqvarna model the same as mine brand new in the service bay area of his business awaiting pickup and I asked if they could fire it up and spin the impeller for me to see how it would compare to the one I bought - and surprisingly they agreed!
Result - it was smooth as silk with no shaking and vibrating around like I see with mine - so I am satisfied that the one I have bought (and have yet to use) is totally defective from the comparison today..
I hope to confront the dealer I got mine from this week and either get it completely fixed (which I'm not sure they have the capability or mentality to do) get it replaced with another, or refund my $$ back!
Stay tuned - but prospective Husqvarna buyers beware..


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## AE101 (Dec 6, 2014)

Maxmag in this thread said his is working fine, and there was a guy in the Husky forum that is happy with his also. I'm wondering if they ran a bad batch?

Long story short, I gave my brother the used Husky 10527SB had, and I bought my fathers Yamaha off him. So I've owned 3 blowers in the past month.


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## realzed (Dec 28, 2014)

Went in today expecting a real battle and they easily agreed to let me choose another unit - even told me I could start and run all of the available ones (they apparently now managed to bring some more in) and I could select the one I was most comfortable with and do a straight exchange .
I reminded them of the chute defector I had installed on the one I have now and the brace on the housing to the gearbox ala a 3 series model (both of which look exactly like the OEM Husqvarna deals anyway) and they said no problem we'll just change chutes with whichever one you choose, but you'll have to make another brace on the one you take home if you again decide to add one to it and we're fine with that .
I didn't mention the fact that the hand warmers don't appear to work well if at all, and won't if they are just exchanging it anyway - but told them I was fine with that arrangement and would bring it in to them in the next couple of days for the exchange..
They did state a couple of times that they were told by Husqvarna that they were to tell buyers if they complained that owners should just run the machines and let the problems sort themselves out - to which I gave them my best OH YEA  look... and left it at that without getting into a pissing match with them - but as I said (and as others have too - problems like this don't fix themselves in time - THEY BREAK!) 
Anyway, I hope this will get done and I'll be able to put away my shovel and finally get some rest from this.. 
Then bring on the snow  !!
Randy


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## liftoff1967 (Jan 15, 2014)

Sounds like some good progress. Nice!


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## realzed (Dec 28, 2014)

As of yesterday afternoon I now have another brand new ST227P unit in my garage. I fired up all of the models they had available in their showroom to check and compare the operation (all had zero movement in the auger, gearbox, and impeller, compared to my 1st one) and I chose the one I felt most comfortable with and away I went after they serviced it a bit more and swapped over the chute I had modified some.
Will spend the next couple of days getting it ready for hopefully some snow now.
I was impressed that the owner responded so well to my call and complaint as everyone in the dealership couldn't have been more helpful in getting this done as quickly as possible. 
I just hope what I had was just one of a very few problematic units and the rest of my history with this brand will be as trouble free as many of the chainsaws and other Husqvarna products that I have purchased and used in the past.
Thanks for the forum and to those on here who contribute so that others
like myself could get some informative responses and info from their experiences and stories to compare notes and share problems with!
Randy


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

Glad they got you squared away Randy. I am loving my Husqvarna 924HVX We just got dumped on here and the 924 tears it up and throws it a mile. I love the trigger steering, and so far I can get twice as much snow moved in half the time. Was very windy so I'm happy I added the deflector extension also.
Alan


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## PA DIYER (11 mo ago)

Kenny kustom said:


> The issues you state, relate to the reason my tech friend who works at husky, told me to buy a Yamaha/Honda.
> 
> He states the quality and fit/finish isn't what it used to be.
> 
> Take it back and make them fix it.


The problem with the sloppy movement with the auger shaft and chewing up auger belts are one in the same, inadequate bearing on the auger shaft. You have to crack the snowblower in half, take the auger shaft pulley off, pull out auger assembly, then the plate that holds the bearing in place. Replace the bearing, (mine had only the inner and outer races left) . Then reverse the process putting it back together. No problems since I replaced it. Found the part at Jack's Small Engine. Part # 532198791


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