# 1987 HS55 questions/ new to me. Does not throw snow well - New Belts



## Zack1978 (Nov 6, 2014)

Hi everyone,
Over the summer I purchased a tracked HS55 from my neighbor who purchased in brand new in January of 1987. The neighbor was not great about taking care of his things, so I am assuming everything is original including the belts. 
In order to prepare the machine for the winter, I changed the oil, spark plug, and carburetor(Chinese carb from Amazon). With the original gummed up carb it would only run with choke on. The first issue that I have encountered is that the auger is seized to the shaft on one side. I ran it without a shear pin on that side in hopes that it would break free, but it didn't. Any ideas to break the auger free? I have used copious amounts of penetrating oil to no avail.
The next issue relates to snow throwing ability, it does not throw snow very far at all (My Honda 928 throws it a huge distance in comparison). It also seems to bog down going threw slightly larger snow piles, with the speed selector in speed 1. Could the lack of throwing distance and power in general be related to worn belts? 
And the final issue relates to the engine running. It seems to have slight power surges when running at idle with throttle set at full. When blowing snow it seems to power threw without surging, however see above about throwing distance and bogging? I guess power issues could be a cause? What if anything can I adjust on the new carb? I didn't make any adjustments, I just bolted it on.

And the most important question is what exact Honda belts should I buy? In some other posts people seem to have issues buying the correct belt for their HS55 and they have issues and the end up reinstalling the old belt and the problems go away. The belts on my machine are thirty one years old....time for a change!!

The serial number of my machine is 1101558. Was my production date in 1986?


Thank you,
Zack


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## Snowbelt_subie (Dec 20, 2016)

I had an hs55 not long ago. As far as the auger froze good luck those can be a bear to get unfrozen I wouldn't worry about it.

The surging seems weird since you put a new carb on it does it have any adjustment if not your out of luck the carb idle circuit isn't dirty so there is nothing to clean to make the surge stop.

As far as throwing distance you can try an impeller paddle kit. Remember the hs55 is only 5hp compared to almost double of your other blower. It is going to bog a little in big snow just the nature of 5hp blowers.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

The throwing distance can not be compared between a tracked HS55 and an HS928 as the 928 has a lot more power to width ratio, the impeller is only 10" on the HS55 vs 12" on the 928 the chute is taller on the 928, the impeller tip speed is higher on the 928 (here I'm guessing).
I'd clean the old carburetor and see how the engine runs, check for vacuum leaks and make sure to properly adjust the speed to 3600prm.


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## ZOMGVTEK (Sep 25, 2014)

What condition is the impeller and housing in? The clearance between the impeller and the housing are critical for good throwing. If its dented up from rocks, its going to massively impair its performance. It's unlikely its the belt slipping, that tends to be an issue mainly when its heavily loaded, and then it just falls on its face. If the impeller housing isnt beat up too bad, or rotted out, you can slam an impeller kit on and it should help out here.

The stock carb has larger jetting to compensate for the higher density of cold air. Aftermarket carbs are most likely going to perform slightly worse to start with, and it presumably is jetted for a warm weather engine. The engine is likely running lean, which is why its surging, and it can contribute to a loss in power. Personally id run it a number or two fatter than stock, but it depends on your climate. 

The impeller is very likely more or less welded in place from 30 years of never being lubricated. Unless the thing was periodically removed and greased, or shear pins were broken frequently, its typically VERY difficult to get it free. It will surely take as much heat as you can get into it. Generally a single propane torch wont be enough, one or two high output MAP torches, or oxy acetylene is whats probably required. And then you risk breaking the auger gearbox, or melting the seals from the heat. Its most likely not worth the effort or risk, especially as its been fine for this long.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

just as mentioned above, what is the condition of the impeller? i recently had a 55 with one of the 4 impeller paddles or whatever you call them twisted to the side. so basically i had lost 25% of throwing power.

i changed the impeller and the difference was remarkable. i had also changed the impeller bearing and auger belt.

you can get the belts from boats.net.


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