# New Honda HS720 owner: first impressions



## miwo76 (Dec 12, 2014)

I live just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and my neck of the woods received about 20 cm of snow (not overly wet as the ambient temperature was about -5 degrees Celsius).

I had previously owned a Toro PowerClear 180 Single Stage snowblower with an electric start for 6 years and finally sold it after having to bring it back to the shop for repairs almost every year for gas leaking. Yes, this model was under the Toro recall back in 2010 and I did everything I could to prevent leaks from using premium ethanol free gas, a little splash of fuel injector cleaner to keep the carb clean and running the snowblower gas tank empty at the end of year. Despite the frequent carb needle replacements, Toro fuel line and carb kit replacements, this little guy kept leaking fuel at the beginning of the year and I finally got sick of it. The Home Hardware guys indicated to me that this one model was problematic and otherwise Toro snowblowers were generally reliable.

Kudos to Perkins Home Hardware in Markham for providing excellent service for this snowblower. It was my very first snowblower and despite the fuel leak, I quite enjoyed using this little guy for clearing the driveway of our first home.

On to my recent purchase (and reasons why I bought the Honda HS720C) and my first experience with it:

Background:

1. I have a 5-6 car driveway with asphalt surface.
2. My city has plow service so I have to deal with end of driveway (EOD) muck for both the street and sidewalk that intersects my driveway.
3. I got sick of leaking gas and bringing my snowblower in at the beginning of every season for hardware service.
4. Learned that unless you have a physical impairment that makes it difficult to pull a recoil cable, it's not work paying for an electric start because of the hassle to take out and put away the extension cord to the blower.
5. Psychologically, the poor experience I had with the Toro PowerClear 180 turned me off of buying Toro outdoor power products. I get it was probably a problem with this one model, Toro handled it well, but sometimes emotion overcomes logic for decision making.

Despite #5, I did look at the Toro 721QZR and Honda HS720C as they were in roughly the same price bracket in Canada.

Pros for the 721QZR:

1. Moderately cheaper as the price is WYSIWYG - no PDI or freight chargers
2. The chute control when displayed on the floor is very light to the touch
3. Slightly bigger engine than the Honda HS720 (212cc vs 190cc)

Cons for the 721QZR:

1. Remote chute control for left to right rotation, only manual control for up and down (means you must walk around the snowblower to adjust) - the up down control was exactly the same as the PowerClear 180; easy to use mechanism to move and lock the chute head into position.
2. Requires manual priming of fuel with a fuel bulb. Must take off gloves to do this.
3. Manual knobs for handle folding is pro or con depending on your needs. If you have small storage spaces and need to fold down the handles frequently, this would be a pro. It was a con for me as I found these manual knobs loosened quite easily and I have to tighten them up every time I used the Toro. Not a dealbreaker.
4. Harder to access sparkplug and oil drain.

Pros for the HS720C

1. Chute director controls gives you full control for direction of snow throwing. Left/right and up/down.
2. Fuel line supply is controlled by a simple on/off switch.
3. Easy access to oil drain and spark plug.

Cons for the HS720C

1. Slightly heavier than the 721QZR
2. Chute controls seem tighter on the display floor and not as light to the touch as the Toro 721QZR. But not as difficult as described in some internet posts. I don't know what all the fuss is about; it's not like I have to take two hands and lean on the control to move the thing. The Toro 721QZR is definitely easier to rotate left and right, but some may feel that it's too easy - you can definitely overshoot which direction you point the Toro's chute vs the Honda's pull, slide and lock mechanism.

I bought the HS720C based on the fact that I was looking for reliability and seen enough posts and reviews to give the Honda snowblower a try and the pros that worked for my situation: 1. Fuel line switch (psychological decision). 2. Full chute control (going up and down a driveway results in lots of chute direction changes as you change directions at each end)

My initial impressions on first use:

1. I had lubed the rubber cuff around the chute with white lithium grease as described in other posts. Made a moderate, noticeable improvement while in the garage, in use, the chute was very easy to move left and right, up and down.
2. I had tightened the handle to remove play, than 1/4 turn to tighten as described in other posts. No excess vibration noted by me. I used for 30 minutes with mitts on, no complaints.
3. I could see the benefits of the bigger motor compared to my 87cc Powerclear 180. When tilted, the HS720 easily got rid of the compressed snow from car tires on my driveway, I could never do that with the little PowerClear 180.
4. Easy to start, I started the Honda with one pull. My PowerClear 180 needed 3 or 4 pulls to get going.
5. No EOD muck to test how much power the Honda could generate. Will have to wait and see. My PowerClear 180 stalled quite a bit on the EOD stuff meaning I had to tackle in smaller "chunks" to avoid stalling.
6. Heavier than my PowerClear 180, but still easy to maneuveur.

So far, so good. I'm sure the Toro 721QZR is a fine machine.

For me, the HS720 is a clear and welcome upgrade over my little Toro PowerClear 180 in the first real snow of the year.

*** edits: added photos of the 3 snow blowers discussed in these impression notes ***


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## Hanky (Nov 14, 2014)

Well written I enjoyed the read, need a picture or two.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Thank you for the very well written review. I am sure it will help many people make an educated purchase decision in the future.

Sorry - Hello and welcome to the forum.


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## Coby7 (Nov 6, 2014)

Pretty "toro" review "honda" other hand pictures of the machines being compared would have been nice.


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## JSB33 (Jan 11, 2013)

Well done, thanks and welcome to the forum.
Please keep us updated on how it handles the heavier and wetter snows you may see this year.


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## miwo76 (Dec 12, 2014)

Thanks for your feedback everyone! 

Just added photos of the 3 machines discussed in my impressions notes - thanks for the suggestion!


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Thank you for your review. It sounds like you really did your homework before deciding to buy the HS720.

We'll look forward to hearing more of your impressions as the winter snows continue.


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## MANU01 (Oct 3, 2016)

Nice review, I may also buy the HS720C up here in Canada in a few weeks.


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## SnowG (Dec 5, 2014)

Picked up a new-to-me HS720ASA this weekend. After last weeks 2” of sloppy slush I decided to find a 1-stage machine for the smaller snow falls, as a second. I never had a single stage machine before. 

Unfortunately it hasn’t seen much love but it runs OK. Changed the oil when I got it home, and checked all the control linkages. Impeller and scraper are worn but seem to have some useful life in them. I haven’t opened the cowl. 

Can anyone offer me some further tips on what to check, beyond what the owners manual recommends?


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## JnC (Feb 21, 2014)

I just serviced my buddy's HS720, its his workhorse that he uses to clean 20 or so small driveways. He actually wanted me to check as to why the belt was binding and the impeller was having issue spinning. 

Upon inspection it turns out that he had some nylon rope stuck on the impeller, the rope was melted on due to friction, the friction also damaged the bearing. The side of the blower was also bent in, the machine got new bearings, I also installed new OEM peddles ($52), new scrapper bar ($12) and new belt ($13). While I was at it I also made some side skid/protection plates. The plates reinforce the sides and also have 1/4" strips on the bottom of the edge to protect that area from wear. 

If your machine is used then I'd advise on spending the time removing all the bolts that dont have a locking nut on the other end and applying some loctite and reinstalling them as these machines do have an issue of having the bolts come loose/undone due to vibration. Another issue is the rotation control being too stiff, for that you'd have to take the cover off and apply liberal amount of grease on the chute rotation gears. 


Lastly the chute deflector cable gets stiff over time, I'd remove the cable, lube it using the cable lube tool and apply cable lube to free it up. 

I love my HS621 machines but I do love the fact that most of the parts on the HS720 can be bought for cheap individually, for instance the auger comes apart and you can buy the center pieces separate unlike the HS621 where you'd need to buy the whole impeller if you damage it, same goes for the auger housing, the main metal piece that holds the scrapper plate can be bought separate as it wears over time, the side belt cover can be bought as well if yours have wear, for cheap. 

I added the metal plates/skids as his machine is used commercially but honestly I was amazed as to how well every thing has held up and amount of wear on scrapper bar and peddles being that the machine gets at least 10 times more use every year compared to if it was used for residential use only.


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## Golfergordy (Oct 29, 2014)

JnC,
I love the metal skid plates you added.


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