# More HSS Clogging Research



## jeffNB (Nov 5, 2015)

This is a follow-up to my thread http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/honda-snowblowers/100538-hss928-clogging-%5Bsolved-%5D.html

We have had mostly dry snow this month, so there have been no clogs since I completely removed the chute collar – until Tuesday. I was tackling a 5’ snowdrift and everything was fine until I hit a wet spot at the bottom of the drift when it clogged. I kept feeding the machine in hopes of it self-extracting, but it was so clogged, the engine stalled. 

I used the “drop bar” to attempt extraction of the clog. There was super-packed snow lodged in the chute, completely solid from the ring gear, up to about a foot. The clogged snow was about the same dimension as the “bricks” seen in as seen in SB83’s video:






I stabbed the drop bar in the center of the brick and attempted to lift the clog straight up. It wasn’t budging. I had to chip away at it, piece-by-piece. When I had it loosened, I still couldn’t extract it straight up. That’s when I realized the chute itself is tapered. Could this be part two of our clogging problems? 

I grabbed my spare, R&D chute to do some measurements. Here are the outer dimensions: 

At the base of the collar: 6.25”
Top of the collar: 5.4”
Area at the chute deflector cable mounting boss: 5”
Top of chute: 4.8”

So there is a definite taper in the chute. Would the machine be less susceptible to clogging if the chute was not tapered? 

I cannot blame the problem on lack of power or snow velocity as the “brick” was compacted, big time. A serious amount of energy was required to make it that dense. 

When it is not clogged, it is an awesome machine. We are having a major snow event at the moment and my EOD was over 5’ high. It was no problem for the machine and the hydrostatic transmission is a definite benefit in a situation like that. It can deal with EOD situations better than any other blower on the street. 

The hydrostatic transmission is why I have owned a Honda blower for 20 years. Those friction disc machines are a pain. When I was a kid in the 70’s using my father’s friction disc machine, I said at the time, “there’s got to be a better solution”. There is: hydrostatic. 

The absence of the chute collar does not appear to make any difference. There may be a little extra snow spray, but no worse than my on old HS828. I have a kitchen corn broom in the garage that I use to brush off the snow after each use. It has the same accumulation with or without the collar. 

Jeff


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

* In the new effort to put snow in to the neighboring city. the design had to change. in dry fluffy stuff the design works great. but when it comes to the slopfest stuff we get more and more of here in the paradise city. that design has major flaws. I have a TORO POWERSHIFT and when we get that dry fluffy stuff here it is greatest machine you could ever dream of. it has a smaller throat big long chute and the impeller spins like all get out.and will chuck it just as far as any Honda out there. but when the slopfest comes to town it does what yours is doing now. crapping big long bricks. now we move on to the old school TORO'S they have a larger throat opening along with a 14 inch impeller. and the engineers that designed that machine took into account every type of snow.from dry fluffy stuff to heavy wet stuff and everything inbetween. back in November of last year we got snow that was around 75-80 percent water. and "SR" was out there chucking the crap 25-30 ft. and was having a blast making a water fountain out of the stuff. people were actually stopping and watching the show. I probley really should get a go pro camera for that stuff. so when the opening gets narrower and the matter is thicker and heavier there will be less area to disperse the said stuff. but if you have a larger opening the less of a chance for clogging. I know these pics are not real close up of the subject at hand. but you should get the jist of it. this is the simplist way I know how to get the idea out. I am no engineer.*


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## CrazedGT (Oct 13, 2012)

I don't think its all of them that clog, mine didn't clog at all this season, went from wet snow, slush and yesterday through 1 feet of fresh snow.


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## SAVAGE420 (Apr 21, 2015)

POWERSHIFT93 said:


> * In the new effort to put snow in to the neighboring city. the design had to change. in dry fluffy stuff the design works great. but when it comes to the slopfest stuff we get more and more of here in the paradise city. that design has major flaws. I have a TORO POWERSHIFT and when we get that dry fluffy stuff here it is greatest machine you could ever dream of. it has a smaller throat big long chute and the impeller spins like all get out.and will chuck it just as far as any Honda out there. but when the slopfest comes to town it does what yours is doing now. crapping big long bricks. now we move on to the old school TORO'S they have a larger throat opening along with a 14 inch impeller. and the engineers that designed that machine took into account every type of snow.from dry fluffy stuff to heavy wet stuff and everything inbetween. back in November of last year we got snow that was around 75-80 percent water. and "SR" was out there chucking the crap 25-30 ft. and was having a blast making a water fountain out of the stuff. people were actually stopping and watching the show. I probley really should get a go pro camera for that stuff. so when the opening gets narrower and the matter is thicker and heavier there will be less area to disperse the said stuff. but if you have a larger opening the less of a chance for clogging. I know these pics are not real close up of the subject at hand. but you should get the jist of it. this is the simplist way I know how to get the idea out. I am no engineer.*


You betcyha. This old girl had been worked hard since 1980.
The 11/32s are beasts. It's now one of my back up. But seeing how great my new machine works, it probably will just sit.


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## Prime (Jan 11, 2014)

SnowCat in Bend said:


> I have a brand new HSS928AATD that I have put 5 hours on it. It seemed to throw our normal light & dry snow fine. However when I tried to move some wet, chunky snow the chute clogged solid. I cleared the chute and again it clogged solid again. Really would like a solution to this.


My dealer tried to sell me a new hss. I decided to buy a used HS and rebuild it. By the sounds of the complaints I am glad I went that direction. I would be a very unhappy camper. Clogging is pretty much a non event with the HS 928 with impeller kit. Only time I'm digging out snow is to replace a broken shear bolt. Slush here in the Northeast is far more common than dry snow.


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## dhazelton (Dec 8, 2014)

My 624 with tires and tracked 724 both clog if the temp starts to rise quickly above 32 degrees. It's either get it before that happens or shovel.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

No snowblower is immune to clogging just less susceptible then others. JeffNBs clog that led him to make this thread could have likely clogged other snowblowers. In this case it does seem like the shape of the chute did keep the Packed snow lodged into place. 

I'd say The design collects and consolidates the snow for a smooth flow with less turbulence and further distances with less spraying. This is a design that's fantastic 99% of the time. That was the type of scenario where a plastic liner would certainly help.

Two sundays ago, I was in the heart of the slush belt of a storm. One neighbors murray clogged a few times. Another neighbors new ariens clogged cleaning the plowed pile of mess on the road in front of his mailbox.

My HSS928 efficiently handled the 3 inches of sticky, soggy, wet stuff without a clog. At its worst cleaning in front of my mailbox the machine only through the slop 5 feet. Better then no feet....

I still feel that the stock HSS chute collar increases its susceptibility to clogging.

Much of the country is in a winter hiatus, but more likely then not more snow will come. March snow is extra soggy and i'm looking forward to it.


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## CalgaryPT (Dec 7, 2016)

jeffNB said:


> This is a follow-up to my thread http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/honda-snowblowers/100538-hss928-clogging-%5Bsolved-%5D.html
> 
> Would the machine be less susceptible to clogging if the chute was not tapered?
> 
> ...


Jeff I think you could be correct. I wondered in another post if there were discrepancies in the positioning of the top of the chute when welded, and that perhaps a template was not used in production for those top two tacks. This would account for some differences across similar models. Just for fun I set a caliper on mine when on my way to my local dealer for some parts. While the parts guy was busy I placed the caliper in the chute of another HSS724 they had there. There was over 3/4 inch difference between the top of collar in the model they had at the store and my unit at home I'd bought a few months earlier.

While I'm leaning towards the taper as the culprit, there are many factors and conditions here at play, so I sympathize with Robert from Honda as I am sure Honda must weigh the number of complaints across all dealers before deciding whether it is a pattern. I wish I could contribute more data in the way of field performance, but I am in Calgary and we just don't get the wet stuff very often or in quantities that would ofter useful feedback (touch wood). So far my machine has been flawless.

The good news is that if the top discharge taper is proven to be at fault, it is a simple fix for some of us at least when it comes to the discharge chute. If I do go down that path, I too will buy a second chute to experiment with, so as to dodge warranty issues as best I can. 

If part two is in the bottom half of chute (square), the issue is less easy to fix at home. Thanks for your measurements and vid.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

SnowCat in Bend said:


> Yesterday we had about 2 to 3 inches of wet snow fall. So I tested the snowblower to see if it would clog and it did. I have had this machine for less than 30 days and only 2 other snow days that were about 5 inches each. I was going to try and attached a photo to shown this clog from yesterday, but I guess I don't have enough posts to allow attachments as I am new to this group.


If you host the photo on a website like google photos or photobucket then link it, post count doesn't apply. 

I think just uploading photos require a minimum post count.


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## Nikos (Jan 27, 2016)

Upgraded(?) from a Toro 928 LXE to a Honda HSS1332 and was skeptical of its performance after reading all the probs here. I got to use it in 2 snow storms. 1st was dry fluffy stuff which the HSS had no problem spewing out. 2nd storm was about 6-8" mix... fluffy up top and wet below. Luckily, the HSS performed well. I thought it was going to clog at the curb/street area which had more sleet, but as soon as I saw the chute wasn't ejecting snow, I increased the ground speed to feed more snow into the machine and it burped everything out. 

I've had the Toro for about 12 years and it NEVER clogged. **** thing didn't even come with a stick or shear pins and for all those years... I never needed either. Only reason I upgraded to the Honda was I have much more property to clean out and I need the extra clearing width and power.

Not sure if there's a certain wet/dry mix of snow that is needed to clog my HSS1332 but I haven't encountered any more storms. I'm still holding on to the Toro as in case I need to fire it up.


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## SAVAGE420 (Apr 21, 2015)

SnowCat in Bend said:


> As far as I can see, that link did work! Here is another photo of the chute clogging after clearing the first clog. I only used the snowblower on this 2 - 3 inches of wet snow to test it to see if it would clog, and it did.
> 
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/32282797333/in/dateposted-public/


Looks like it's $hittn bricks. Take that ridiculous shoot collar off though. 
Not sure why Honda would do such a ridiculous thing and reduce flow in the final stage. Maybe looked good on paper or during some testing, but doesn't seem to work in the real world. 

Man I would be sick to my stomach, irate, disappointed and straight up pissed off if that was the situation with my snowblowers. 
Nice looking unit though. 
Good luck fellas!!


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

Yup, Stupid collar.


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## DriverRider (Nov 20, 2016)

drmerdp said:


> Yup, Stupid collar.


???
The OP of this thread has removed the collar and clogging persists. From the many threads it would appear clogging issues are design inherit and would be of substantial effort to rectify.


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

It looks like it makes a very good igloo maker... :signlol:


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

Kielbasa said:


> It looks like it makes a very good igloo maker... :signlol:


Better yet - You may want to consider buying one to use for stuffing Kielbasa ! Yummers ! I am 100% Polish, and I used to help my Grandmother make Kielbasa. That, and Kishka.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

DriverRider said:


> ???
> The OP of this thread has removed the collar and clogging persists. From the many threads it would appear clogging issues are design inherit and would be of substantial effort to rectify.


Yes he did have a clog with the collar removed. This does not prove that the absence of the collar hasn't drastically reduced the likely hood of clogging. 

The last snow I had here in northern new jersey was a sloppy mess. The same consistency of snow that clogged my stock chute before did not this time. 

I'm not saying problem solved, just saying its a step in the right direction. 

As with nearly ALL snow blowers An impeller kit would likely resolve clogging entirely, but in my opinion only after the collar has been removed or modified. The **** thing protrudes 1-3/6" into the snow path. How that could have ever been consider a feature or acceptable is beyond me.


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## Marlow (Dec 17, 2016)

Personally I would leave the collar be, just go straight to installing an impeller kit and be done with it.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

Marlow said:


> Personally I would leave the collar be, just go straight to installing an impeller kit and be done with it.


I'm not so sure that the Impeller kit would completely negate the collar. But it would certainly be effective.


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

If I spent the kind of money that Honda snowblower's command, I would be camping out on my dealer's front door asking for my money back. NFW is it acceptable.


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

"Who Stoled The Kishka"... I know that Jasui found it... 



RIT333 said:


> Better yet - You may want to consider buying one to use for stuffing Kielbasa ! Yummers ! I am 100% Polish, and I used to help my Grandmother make Kielbasa. That, and Kishka.


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

It certainly can't hurt, but I have to wonder how much difference an impeller kit would make on this machine. The clearance on mine between the impeller blades and the bucket wall just as it enters the chute ranges from 1/16" to 1/8" (one blade is a bit shorter).


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## Marlow (Dec 17, 2016)

drmerdp said:


> I'm not so sure that the Impeller kit would completely negate the collar. But it would certainly be effective.


I think it will. And it couldn't hurt to try. We know that removing the collar alone doesn't prevent all clogging. So maybe an impeller kit alone would. I want to do as little modifying of the machine as possible to rectify it. Worst come to worst, if the impeller kit alone doesn't fix it, then go ahead a rip off/modify the collar.


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## DriverRider (Nov 20, 2016)

drmerdp said:


> As with nearly ALL snow blowers An impeller kit would likely resolve clogging entirely, but in my opinion only after the collar has been removed or modified. The **** thing protrudes 1-3/6" into the snow path. How that could have ever been consider a feature or acceptable is beyond me.


Collars aside for the moment, the major design change for the new models would be the large square impeller discharge with near ninety degree corners, correct? Next step would be to document where the clogs start in the discharge stream. Run a machine five feet and check entire distance from O.D. of housing to chute discharge looking for accumulated snow, then repeat every five feet until plugged. Clear clog and remove chute then repeat test.

Other brands may have the large square opening and could be it needed an offset either left-right slightly in relation to the impeller housing itself.


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

To your point DriverRider, I've tried to see what is causing the clogging in much the same way that you described. From what I saw, the chute area is either clean or its clogged. Clogs seem to form almost immediately under the right conditions. And when you clean out a clog, you have to get ALL of the snow out or it will immediately clog again. The trick is to always keep snow flowing by feeding it fast enough with ground speed. 

The frustrating part is that once a clog forms, it won't self clear and only compresses the snow into very densely packed material if you let it try. The reduction from 6" to 5" shouldn't be that much of a problem since the throat is only 4" square, so the length of the tapered sides (front back and sides) as well as an irregular flow pattern may be at fault. The chute direction also impacts the clogging somewhat, which suggests just how sensitive the machine is to subtle changes in the flow characteristics of the chute. I think that's why we've seen several little things helping if not fully solving the problem; impeller kits, modified/removed collars and UHMW chute linings.

Some people haven't had any clogging issues at all, but unfortunately I think it's just a matter of time and the right conditions for those owners to experience the clogging phenomenon too.


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## AriensPro1128 (Nov 9, 2014)

SB83. I don't have a Honda but I do have an Ariens 11HP on a 28" bucket. It is very sensitive to the direction of the chute when blowing slushy snow. It does make bricks sometimes and I can usually get it to clear them by rotating the chute or blowing drier snow. I don't think the issue is limited to Hondas.


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## jeffNB (Nov 5, 2015)

drmerdp said:


> Yes he did have a clog with the collar removed. This does not prove that the absence of the collar hasn't drastically reduced the likely hood of clogging.


Correct. It has only clogged once since removing the collar. One thing about removing the collar is that it makes the clog extraction easier. When the collar was present, I found the factory-supplied drop bar too short. I had better luck using the end of a straight-handled shovel. 

I snail-mailed a letter to Honda Canada regarding my issues with the machine exactly two months ago. I have not had an acknowledgement or even a P.F.O. letter. You would think that when you pay the price for a premium machine, you would receive premium support. 

There have been some posts recently of people considering an HSS, but have decided to get a used previous-generation machine in light of the issues discussed on this board. That would be my advice to those people. 

The best alternative would be to get a Canadian market previous generation machine. It has the hydraulic height adjustment (don't know why the US models never had that) and available 12V electric start and electric chute controls.


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## SB83 (Dec 15, 2015)

DriverRider said:


> Other brands may have the large square opening and could be it needed an offset either left-right slightly in relation to the impeller housing itself.


It does seem odd to me that Honda didn't center the chute base. At least then the expelled snow would be better centered within the chute itself.


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