# the new Yamaha YT1070 vs Honda 970 TS



## bubbenboy_90 (Jul 27, 2014)

first, sorry for bad English im from Sweden 

I have a Honda 760w now. And i am looking for a new snowblower. I have noticed that Yamaha have started to made snowblowers again. And i know that Honda is the "king" of snowblowers but back in the old days Yamaha and Honda were wery eaven.

witch one is the better of the Yamaha (Yt1070) or Honda (970ts)? Have anyone on this forum seen or tried both snowblowers? What i have seen on Youtube and compared i think the Yamaha both throw the snow further and prosses more snow per hour.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

Welcome, and don't worry about your english, ours is no better and we speak it daily....

Insofar as the machine question, you will have to wait for a Canadian to respond. The Yamaha's are no longer available in the US.


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## bubbenboy_90 (Jul 27, 2014)

aha okey. Do they have snow in Canada this time?


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

bubbenboy_90 said:


> aha okey. Do they have snow in Canada this time?


they don't call Canada the great white north for nothing


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

bubbenboy_90 where are you from?
Eastern Canada here...

Yeah it is a bit white here this morning but not enough to try out my new YT624 which would be named the YT660 in your parts of the woods.



Before purchasing my YT660 I compared it with the Honda which is Yamahas closest competitor. They are both well made and rugged eventhough the Yamaha has a more refined look. The yamaha had more options for less money. $1100 cdn difference.

It was the same for the YT1070 and 970HS, although the Yamaha looks bigger it is mostly because of the shroudding and is no heavier than the Honda. I went with the smaller one because my back isn't as good as it used to be and the YT660 ( called the YT624 here eventhough we are a metric country ). Maybe they are aiming for the US market soon or because Honda had their north american snowblowers tagged in the english system.

Here is the one I purchased.

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/yamaha-snowblowers/26681-new-yamaha-yt624.html


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## EarthWindandFire (Nov 11, 2014)

I have never seen or used a Yamaha. However, based on years of reading reviews and researching, the Yamaha is clearly the better snowblower. The Honda is very good, but the Yamaha is superior. Just ask the people living on Japan's northern most island of Hokkaido.


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## bubbenboy_90 (Jul 27, 2014)

Coby7 said:


> bubbenboy_90 where are you from?
> Eastern Canada here...
> 
> Yeah it is a bit white here this morning but not enough to try out my new YT624 which would be named the YT660 in your parts of the woods.
> ...



Im from sweden  So a little bit snow here, just like you! 
I love the YT660 (or YT624 as you would say 

One thing i noticed... (I'm quite a big guy 189 cm tall and about 90 kg).
How long is the distance from the ground to the handlebars? on the pictures it looks like the distance from the ground to the handlebars is less then it is on my honda HS 760 and i think that on my honda it could be more space between the gap so you would bend down so much. Do you have any experience with this?


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## bubbenboy_90 (Jul 27, 2014)

Found something on the yamaha snowblowers forum 

Link : Yamaha Snowblower Fan Club - YS1028J vs Honda 928


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

bubbenboy_90 said:


> Im from sweden  So a little bit snow here, just like you!
> I love the YT660 (or YT624 as you would say
> 
> One thing i noticed... (I'm quite a big guy 189 cm tall and about 90 kg).
> How long is the distance from the ground to the handlebars? on the pictures it looks like the distance from the ground to the handlebars is less then it is on my honda HS 760 and i think that on my honda it could be more space between the gap so you would bend down so much. Do you have any experience with this?


I'm 165cm and they are just a tad high for me and are a bit higher up than my old 524. The top at 94cm is close to 1m.


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## grburgess (Nov 19, 2014)

The Yamaha snowblower is about 100 lbs heavier than the Honda, probably because of the housing over the engine. That housing is good and bad. The bad part is that you have to remove it to service it. The other shortcoming to the Yamaha is that they refused to sell it here for about a decade, whereas Honda has always been here, so probably Honda is more reliable to supply parts in the future. Other than those few points, I'd say that the 2 snowblowers are close to equal.

Amazingly, here in Winnipeg, we have no snow, whilst most of the USA is blanketed in snow.


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

grburgess said:


> The Yamaha snowblower is about 100 lbs heavier than the Honda, probably because of the housing over the engine. That housing is good and bad. The bad part is that you have to remove it to service it. The other shortcoming to the Yamaha is that they refused to sell it here for about a decade, whereas Honda has always been here, so probably Honda is more reliable to supply parts in the future. Other than those few points, I'd say that the 2 snowblowers are close to equal.


Where did you get your facts? Comparing apples to apples YT624 to HSS724TCD there's 15Kgs (33lbs) difference in weight. The engine covers are all thick gauge plastic and easily removed. All 3 are held in place by truss head philips screws. The extra weight is because Yamaha uses a heavier gauge for all the stamped metal like auger housing and the chassis the engine sits on and that houses the transmission. Only the chutes use same gauge metal.

Even _*if*_ the Honda was better there is no way I would pay $1000 more just for the name.

Honda Canada
Yamaha Motor Canada :: Products :: Snowblowers :: Snowblowers :: YT624EJ


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## m1234 (Nov 6, 2013)

If it were a better machine, wouldn't you be getting more machine for your money, and not just the name? In all cases I hear that term used, there are reasons for a higher price beyond just a name. It is an individual's choice whether the differences are enough, but rarely are you only paying for the name.


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

The reason for the higher price is because Honda spends more money in commercials trying to convince you that their machine is better therefore they have to charge more. Yamaha depends on their reputation and you never see a Yamaha commercial. Word of mouth is far more powerfull than hearsay and commercials.


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

It's like comparing a Yamaha Boulevard with a Honda CBR. Same CCs but Yamaha outranks the Honda in every race, drivability, endurance, reliability yet Honda sells a lesser bike for more money and sells more of them. WHY? Because people believe everything they see on TV.


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## m1234 (Nov 6, 2013)

I'm not familiar with bikes, so I can't comment on your comparison. However, even things like whether a product or brand has commercials adds value for some people. If that was the only difference, then one could say that you are only paying for the name, but I've never experienced any case where a substantial difference in price was due to just a 'name'. In the case of a $1000 difference in price on a $2500 product, Honda would have to be marketing geniuses to turn a few advertisements into a 40% increase in selling price. Obviously reputation, parts availability, dealer network etc must have something to do with Yamaha not being able to sell for the same price as the Honda. I suspect that the lower price for the Yamaha might be just a sort of 'introductory' price until the overall value of their offering recovers. 

BTW, the Yamaha machine does seem very nice! It offers a few nice improvements over the Honda like the articulating chute and the LED light. I'm eager to find out if that serrated scraper bar helps cleaning down to the pavement.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

I would also throw out there, that there are distinct levels to what Honda offers in Canada. And the upper levels, do offer some comparable features.

They are both fine machines, with what I can only assume is equal support. And they are certainly superior to most of the other machines on the market. 

That all said, the lined chute of the Yammie, is a nice touch. But the shrouding of their machines are a double edged sword. While it does keep the noise down, it also makes visually inspecting the machine a tad difficult. And I would add that it is one more thing to remove to do any work to the machine. 

As you can see in my signature, I'm not brand loyal. I can say that without a doubt, that my Yammie is THE most complex machine I have ever seen. This may also explain why they no longer offer it, in any country. For example, there are 118 parts to the transmission, that requires 3 pages to diagram. 

All Years YS240TB Yamaha Power Equipment Parts

Only 59 to the Honda.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Honda/Snow%20Blower/0/HS622%20TA-B/parts.html


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