# Bought a HS21 Today.....



## WrenchIt (Dec 6, 2020)

It's a HS621 A/C range machine, i.e. its serial number falls in the third group down of the recoil start machines. The auger looks fine (questions and pic's below), guy said it has new rubber and indeed, he did put in one orphan type screw, there is only a little wear on the bottom of one of the 'cheeks', and the scraper bar looks usable with no rust/rot down below/behind the scraper bar. It started on the first pull with full choke, and runs fine once the choke is pushed in. All in all, I think it is a good machine. I need something like this because we have two rental houses and do the snow removal ourselves. I rarely use my beast (HS828) and have made do with Toro C-200's and more recently Powerlite C's, but those little ones do not quite cut the mustard for the early and late heavy, wet, cement, snowfalls. BTW, this newest makes #8 in the herd. (Or is it a gaggle?) If the 621 works out like I hope, I'll retire all those little Toro's.

Next step is to buy a shop manual, measure the rubber parts to see if they are indeed new, buy a new scraper bar and compare it to the old one (an extra one of these is not a bad idea, I go thru one or two on my Toro powerlites every year), probably pick up a new belt, check the bearings, change the oil and spark plug (mostly to give me a baseline of when these parts were new), and put some Sea Foam in the gas tank.

I read something about the wheels on these, do I need to upgrade mine? They seem to have a rubber tread and appear solid.

Anything else you guys would check to put this in tip top shape? (see Q's below for auger). @tabora mentioned the recoil flywheel and starter pulley were upgraded starting w/ S.N. 2,746,197. What failures or issues were associated with the early flywheel and pulley. What exactly is the starter pulley? Is this the pulley that drives the auger (the driven one)?










I'm not sure where these old style augers break. After looking at pictures in another thread of a failed paddle, I put some red marks on the pic below to indicate where I should lay down another bead, welding the shaft to the sheet metal and around those two 'couplings/collars'. Is this correct? Note furrin screw on top at right end.










I'd do the same welding on the other side, shown below w/o my markings.


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## Freezn (Mar 1, 2014)

Hey WrenchIt. Congrats! I know you've been looking for an HS621and glad you landed one. Not sure where you are from, but in New England they still show up for sale every now and then. Like others on this forum, my HS621AS has become favorite piece of snow clearing equipment and will probably get willed to my grandchildren some day. Absolutely love it! Your rubber paddles do indeed look relatively new, but I can take dimensions on my new rubber paddle replacement set if you need them. Overall the machine looks pretty good. Not much to these machines. I would check the auger belt and replace if it looks worn. Replace the scrapper bar if it's worn or "chewed-up". Check the oil and spark plug and replace if needed. Also a good idea to pick-up the HS521/HS621 factory service manual if you can find one. I got mine on eBay years ago. Enjoy your new toy!


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

WrenchIt said:


> What exactly is the starter pulley? Is this the pulley that drives the auger (the driven one)?


The Starter Pulley is bolted to the flywheel and is the piece that the recoil starter engages. Follow the appropriate link for the A/C rev I gave you and click on the flywheel diagram, for example. The parts list for that drawing appears below it. Click on the link for the AS/C rev and you'll see the parts for the e-start version. In both those diagrams, you'll also see what the obsolete Starter Pulley looks like.



WrenchIt said:


> buy a new scraper bar


BTW, you should always replace the scraper bar and the auger rubber together.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Let me know what you find out about the auger. If you do any support welding can you post a pic? I need to bring out my 621 and service it.
Would like to know what to look for in the auger area.


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## WrenchIt (Dec 6, 2020)

orangputeh said:


> Let me know what you find out about the auger. If you do any support welding can you post a pic? I need to bring out my 621 and service it.
> Would like to know what to look for in the auger area.


Hey, OP, I regard you as the expert - the one who will give a neophyte like me the answers. But, of course, should anyone PM me, I'll post what I learn here. Otherwise, I expect we will learn together. And I'll post what I weld up here.


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## WrenchIt (Dec 6, 2020)

tabora said:


> The Starter Pulley is bolted to the flywheel and is the piece that the recoil starter engages. Follow the appropriate link for the A/C rev I gave you and click on the flywheel diagram, for example. The parts list for that drawing appears below it. Click on the link for the AS/C rev and you'll see the parts for the e-start version. In both those diagrams, you'll also see what the obsolete Starter Pulley looks like.
> 
> 
> BTW, you should always replace the scraper bar and the auger rubber together.


Thanks for both of those points. BTW, did Honda print differences in the shop manual for the 621 or does one size fit all of them?


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

WrenchIt said:


> Hey, OP, I regard you as the expert - the one who will give a neophyte like me the answers. But, of course, should anyone PM me, I'll post what I learn here. Otherwise, I expect we will learn together. And I'll post what I weld up here.


Not much experience with single stage Hondas other than general service and replacing paddles/scraper.
always wanting to learn more especially on the classic 621


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

WrenchIt said:


> BTW, did Honda print differences in the shop manual for the 621 or does one size fit all of them?


The latest edition covers all HS521/HS621 variants:





Honda Power Products Support Publications | Official Site | Honda Power Products Support Publications







publications.powerequipment.honda.com





HS521 frame serial number SAG-1000001 through 1199999
HS621 frame serial number SZAN-1000001 through 1999999


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## Freezn (Mar 1, 2014)

I had to take Mr. Peabody's Way Back machine for a quick spin, but I dug up a post from 2018 that provided great insight and pictures on how to restore a Honda HS621 and reinforce the auger shaft. Hope this helps!








HS621, Broken Auger?


Hi all, I picked up a Honda HS621 recently and the seller was quick to point out the cracks in the auger as the reason he had posted it for sale. The machine had sat idle for a couple year but started after 4 or 5 pulls with old gas in the tank. It looks to be in good shape, all around pretty...




www.snowblowerforum.com


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