# Husqvarna ST 224 Gear Shift Defect



## Ziggy65

There appears to be a common problem with drive cable breaking due to poorly engineered plastic parts and lack of lubrication on friction wheel hex shaft.


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## Husqvarna_10530SBE

That's why it makes more sense to keep older machines that use metal and are a simpler design. Unfortunately it is getting harder to find parts for older machines. No secret behind that trend.


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## Toro-8-2-4

I never liked the spring loaded/cable shifter controls on the cheaper machines.. I know it is a cost savings but really how much do you think it saves? Good video but not short.


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## JLawrence08648

I've read about other problems with Husqvarna snowblowers on here, I would never buy one and only would use a used one as a flip. Who builds them?

In the 1980s I had Husqvarna chain saws, absolutely terrific. I have a Husqvarna push lawn mower, terrific because it's only the frame with a Honda engine and roller or ball bearing wheels, it has a heavy frame but feels so light to push because of the bearings in the wheels.


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## Toro-8-2-4

JLawrence08648 said:


> I've read about other problems with Husqvarna snowblowers on here, I would never buy one and only would use a used one as a flip. Who builds them?
> QUOTE]
> They are their own company based in Sweden. They were owned by Electrolux at one time and through that relationship had absorbed American Yard Products (AYP). The time line in the Wiki does not mention AYP as they were owned by Electrolux when they acquired Husqvarna. IMHO They make some good stuff and some not so good stuff. They also own Poulan Pro who makes snow blowers. Chain saws was one of their cornerstone OPE products for years and they are pretty good at it. As discussed on the forum before they do not like to keep replacement parts available as long as most OEMs we are familiar with and like. At least for the Lawn mowing and snow removal equipment. I can not speak for their other lines. They made a lot of OPE for Sears over the years as did AYP.
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> Husqvarna Group - Wikipedia
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> en.wikipedia.org


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## SnowCat in Bend

Having owned a new 2017 Husqvarna ST324P wheeled hydrostatic drive for the last 4 winters, it has performed without any problems. It was more expensive than the entry model ST224 but so far I am completely satisfied with it. I do change the oil after every season, only use ethanol free gas and run the carburetor dry after most uses and at end of season. Always begin the new season with a good lubrication and wax the chute, it never fails to start on the first pull and still has the original spark plug in it. I do have a Husqvarna dealer in town that I bought it from (also bought my first Husqvarna chainsaw from him over 25 years ago) so I would like to think that when the time comes that I need parts they might be available.


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## Husqvarna_10530SBE

Like most brands these days, they all have low end stuff, high end stuff and stuff in between. The low end stuff tends to be made cheaply. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

I like my 2006 Husqvarna snow thrower. Built strong and simple design. It has a couple of weak points, but nothing that can't be fixed. 

I don't like how most if not all of the newer machines use many cables to control everything. Cables always seem to eventually break and can be a real pain to replace. They may be fine for warm weather equipment, but not so good for winter equipment.


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## 140278

they separated from Electrolux 16 years ago Husqvarna President: "Business As Usual" in Wake of Separation from Electrolux


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## Toro-8-2-4

Husqvarna_10530SBE said:


> Like most brands these days, they all have low end stuff, high end stuff and stuff in between. The low end stuff tends to be made cheaply. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.
> 
> I like my 2006 Husqvarna snow thrower. Built strong and simple design. It has a couple of weak points, but nothing that can't be fixed.
> 
> I don't like how most if not all of the newer machines use many cables to control everything. Cables always seem to eventually break and can be a real pain to replace. They may be fine for warm weather equipment, but not so good for winter equipment.


Yes, I totally agree. Winter is hard enough on equipment. The spring loaded cable controlled friction disks are trouble waiting to happen. I get the simplicity and cost savings but there is a trade off that will bite you. On most cable controls you can tell when the cable is going as it gets harder to move. However, with the spring loaded friction disk it is always hard to move when you are going against the spring. They then make the supporting brackets etc out of plastic which will fatique much faster due to the high spring resistance and that video posted by Ziggy is what you get.

I always thought of the low end Husqvarna machines as Poulan and Weedeater. From what I am hearing/reading some of the cheap design features are moving into some of the Husqvarna lines now. At least on Snow blowers and Lawn mowers. I have worked on other (but older) Husqvarna or Red Max stuff like leaf blower, trimmers and chain saws and thought they have been well designed and good value.


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## dr bob

As much sympathy as I have for folks who have problems with their snow-clearing equipment, I'm not quite ready to trash a whole brand over a broken control cable. Might there be a better design or a better quality cable? Umm, $ure. Lots of folks seem to get along with that cable design, in a whole lot of machines of various flavors and colors. Sometimes some judicious PM lubrication of wear points is a Good Idea too. Mine has been pretty good so far, now in its fifth-sixth year of service.


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## Toro-8-2-4

dr bob said:


> As much sympathy as I have for folks who have problems with their snow-clearing equipment, I'm not quite ready to trash a whole brand over a broken control cable. Might there be a better design or a better quality cable? Umm, $ure. Lots of folks seem to get along with that cable design, in a whole lot of machines of various flavors and colors. Sometimes some judicious PM lubrication of wear points is a Good Idea too. Mine has been pretty good so far, now in its fifth-sixth year of service.


 I think your are misinterpreting some of what folks are saying. I don't think anyone is trashing an entire brand. It is a particular friction disk control design that is being harshly critiqued. Every brand has cheapened their products to some extent over recent years. Obviously I am not a fan of that particular friction drive design but my main complaint with that brand is that I have run into a handful of cases were they have not supported parts on machines that are not considered too old. Like under 12 years old. MTD gets trashed alot here but they do a good job of supporting spare parts so you can keep it going.

There are a lot of factors to how long something will hold up. Keep doing your maintenance and l hope your machine lasts many, many years. Peace.


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## Ziggy65

An updated video on the issue of the plastic control panel breakage on the ST 224 machines.


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## Husqvarna_10530SBE

Luckily my older Husqvarna doesn't use cables or plastic for critical mounting points.

I usually only use first and second gears, so it wouldn't be a big deal for me. Can't go fast with wet heavy snow.


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## Jblackstead

The new ST224 has a metal housing, just saw on in the shop. Will the new housing for the ST244 work on a four year old ST244P i wonder? Thinking about ordering the whole handle assembly and giving it a go, unless someone has already tried. My plastic housing broke last night, i have it zip tied and wired into a static state so its making it, but its a ticking time bomb!


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## captainkopter1420

JLawrence08648 said:


> I've read about other problems with Husqvarna snowblowers on here, I would never buy one and only would use a used one as a flip. Who builds them?
> 
> In the 1980s I had Husqvarna chain saws, absolutely terrific. I have a Husqvarna push lawn mower, terrific because it's only the frame with a Honda engine and roller or ball bearing wheels, it has a heavy frame but feels so light to push because of the bearings in the wheels.


You know I do see the flaws but that engine purrs even in -25 here in the North.


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## distrbd

I recently bought the newer version of ST224 with all metal console, newer LED light, I had watched the two videos linked here so when I brought mine home, I lubricated all the cable connections with white Lithium grease and sprayed some Blaster PB-50 inside the cable sheaths , sprayed the painted parts with ACF-50 like a mad man on a mission. the two times I used this machine I was very happy with it although it was way too early to rate the overall performance but I'm thinking if I keep lubricating the cable connections and take care of schedule maintenance, there's no reason this blower would fail prematurely.so far I'm loving it.


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## BullFrog

My ST224 was built in 2015, bought it new. As per the video I've always lubed the pivot points and use low temp grease on the hex shaft and it still operates like new despite operating it in some very cold temperatures when plastic is most brittle. If conditions are such that I can use the higher 'gears' it would be more convenient to just grab a shovel. As my dad would say if you want to abuse it be prepared to lose it.


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## Darryl G

I can confirm the design flaw of the plastic cable retainer for the gear selector. Thanks @Ziggy65 for bringing it to my attention on another thread before mine failed completely. It's an occasional use machine for me. I'm a snow removal contractor (plow guy) and it's not usually worth it for me to load and unload a 2 stage machine for the detail work. I've owned it since the fall of 2018 and have used it to the tune of a couple of tanks of gas for a total of 3 storms, one last year and 2 this year. I didn't use it at all during my first two years of ownership. 

In my case lubrication of the hex shaft wasn't an issue, the factory lube is still in place and is being effective. The spring just puts an awful lot of pressure on thin plastic. It's a terrible design that's destined to fail eventually. When I was at my dealer yesterday the head mechanic says that he orders two dashboard panels for every one that he replaces. He said he's replaced about 5 of them. It's a small shop and most people don't even realize that they sell power equipment because their primary business is equipment and party rentals. 

Overall I really like my machine. Lots of features, reasonable performance and the price was right at a dealer 3 miles away with one of the mechanics being a friend who lives a mile away (now retired). I'm only clearing a few garage fronts, sidewalks and paths with it after occasional big storms. Most of my customers take care of that themselves. I don't need or want a big heavy high-end machine. I got by with a single stage Honda HS520 and shovels for such purposes for 16 years, along with a little help from my sons when they still lived at home. I just needed something for big storms that render the self-propel feature of single stage units useless and give me more of a workout than I want. 

My dealer's head mechanic suggested storing the machine in R to reduce strain on the cable. It might be a good idea to loosen or remove the cable for off-season storage. The mechanic is going to repair my existing dash by reinforcing it with some sheet metal. 

As far as the new units having a metal control panel housing as another poster mentioned, from the photos it looks like that may be the case with just the cover being plastic, but I can't confirm that. 

Here's the thread I started about it. Another Husqvarna Plastic Dashboard Failure - Repair...


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## Toro-8-2-4

Last week I worked on a Poulan Pro with the same basic design. I thought the same things this guy in the video is saying. With all of the thin plastic, things are going to start braking at some point in the next year or two. No abuse required, just under normal use. I lubed the shifter lever/ link as it was creeking. And use Lube All in the cable to reduce the force needed to shift. Stay away.......Sorry to all of you who own them. My old MTD's with plenty of steel are so superior.


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## dr bob

These threads prompted my to look hard at the bottom of the console panel for the same issues. Thankfully none are showing up yet. But I did get some ideas about how best to add some steel reinforcing there where the levers pivot to try and distribute the load a lot better. Thinking some U-strips that might fit between some of the existing gussets/bracing, either glued in or maybe with NutSerts and screws. As handy as Pop-Rivets are, they are in my opinion anyway a poor choice with the expanding part into plastic as some of the repairs seem to do. Film at 11 when I get some pieces made.


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## Darryl G

dr bob said:


> These threads prompted my to look hard at the bottom of the console panel for the same issues. Thankfully none are showing up yet. But I did get some ideas about how best to add some steel reinforcing there where the levers pivot to try and distribute the load a lot better. Thinking some U-strips that might fit between some of the existing gussets/bracing, either glued in or maybe with NutSerts and screws. As handy as Pop-Rivets are, they are in my opinion anyway a poor choice with the expanding part into plastic as some of the repairs seem to do. Film at 11 when I get some pieces made.


This is what my Husqvarna dealer mechanic did to my gear selector and chute elevation cable retainers. He did use pop rivets. It's a bit of a tight spot to work in.
















The chute one was stressed out of shape but not broken. I think this is the gear selector side.


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## dr bob

My engineer background hints that using pop rivets that way risks breaking the plastic more. The rivet works by drawing the larger end of a pin into the rivet barrel, expanding and shortening the barrel in the plastic. Rather than trying to make the hole in the plastic bigger with that rivet, better to use the rivet from the plastic side if possible, let the button end clamp the plastic, and let the rivet expand and pull on the metal. The big "if possible" is often limited by other pieces that are, um, in the way. 

Again, I need to spend more time figgerin' out how I might add some similar reinforcing. I have some surplus galvanized steel disguised as Simpson Strong Ties for lumber framing that might be sacrificed for the greater good here. With luck, I'll come up with a pre-emptive solution. Your pics seem to show that several original plastic sections have already separated, so my challenges are a bit different now than what you faced.

I really appreciate the time and effort that folks here put in to identify problems and share their fixes. For me it's a free education. Thanks!


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## Darryl G

dr bob said:


> My engineer background hints that using pop rivets that way risks breaking the plastic more. The rivet works by drawing the larger end of a pin into the rivet barrel, expanding and shortening the barrel in the plastic. Rather than trying to make the hole in the plastic bigger with that rivet, better to use the rivet from the plastic side if possible, let the button end clamp the plastic, and let the rivet expand and pull on the metal. The big "if possible" is often limited by other pieces that are, um, in the way.
> 
> Again, I need to spend more time figgerin' out how I might add some similar reinforcing. I have some surplus galvanized steel disguised as Simpson Strong Ties for lumber framing that might be sacrificed for the greater good here. With luck, I'll come up with a pre-emptive solution. Your pics seem to show that several original plastic sections have already separated, so my challenges are a bit different now than what you faced.
> 
> I really appreciate the time and effort that folks here put in to identify problems and share their fixes. For me it's a free education. Thanks!


I'm happy with what he did. I did get charged for an hour of labor at $85/hr for it but that's fine. Better than the $50 for a new dashboard with the same design. 

Yeah please do share your solution here when the time comes


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