# Auger housing rollers



## Toon (May 11, 2021)

I made up and installed a set of poly rollers today for the front of the HSS928 Honda today. The bucket already has a set of metal skids at the back of the auger housing but by the time a raised lip gets to the metal skids the auger has already made contact with the driveway. I used shoulder bolts to install them for a better hub bearing surface and placed some Lithium grease in there for added lubrication. One upside to this arrangement is that I can raise the back of the blower up lifting the tracks off of the ground and the blower pivots nicely on the rollers in the garage. I made the diameter of the roller correct for the bucket as is, so there would be no movement in a slot. If they wear quickly I may have to look into an adjustable set.








Existing skids.








New front rollers.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

Toon said:


> I made the diameter of the roller correct for the bucket as is, so there would be no movement in a slot.


What diameter did you decide on (in mm)? If my Arnold roller skids ever wear out, I was thinking of trying a pair of 48-52mm skate wheels.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

the bigger the better.......well you know what I mean.


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

tabora said:


> What diameter did you decide on (in mm)? If my Arnold roller skids ever wear out, I was thinking of trying a pair of 48-52mm skate wheels.


46 mm. would be pretty close with a 8mm. diameter bolt.

Mine was 1.840" O.D. and a 0.375" shoulder bolt in the middle. I should also let you know that although it looks pretty good for height on the garage floor it is as yet untried. I will let you know how it works after the first snowfall.
I cut mine out of a scrap piece of 1/2" thick high density polypropylene with a 2" hole saw. That left the correct size for the OD of the roller.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I would think that if your only using one wheel in a fixed position, a roller blade skate wheel with bearing would work better .....


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

Oneacer said:


> I would think that if your only using one wheel in a fixed position, a roller blade skate wheel with bearing would work better .....


I agree that a bearing in the center would be a good idea. I will give this a try as is, and if I like the performance I will go ahead with the bearing upgrade. I made this up with the materials I had on hand so it didn't cost me anything but my time to try this idea out.


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## ST1300 (Feb 17, 2017)

Good idea-- umm here is some pictures of the same wheel idea installed about 3 years ago. (no I don't use them in the gravel, they are for smooth concrete and pavement) They are showing a little ragged wear but still keep the bucket clearance fine. Also here is the same idea in a roller setup replacing the rear skid shoes. The brackets were from the scrap (originally from a snowmobile ski shock mount, I think) and just needed slots cut in them for adjustment up and down.
View attachment 183302
View attachment 183303
View attachment 183302
View attachment 183303


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

ST1300 said:


> Good idea-- umm here is some pictures of the same wheel idea installed about 3 years ago. (no I don't use them in the gravel, they are for smooth concrete and pavement) They are showing a little ragged wear but still keep the bucket clearance fine. Also here is the same idea in a roller setup replacing the rear skid shoes. The brackets were from the scrap (originally from a snowmobile ski shock mount, I think) and just needed slots cut in them for adjustment up and down.
> View attachment 183302
> View attachment 183303


Nice looking job. The back roller looks like a sandwich of 4 of the front rollers. This system should eliminate any rust marks on a concrete or paved laneway while protecting the auger and housing from wear and damage. Well done.


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## ST1300 (Feb 17, 2017)

Toon, You are right, the back rollers are a 2" wide sandwich plus a washer to fit the space in the bracket, though brackets could be home shop fabricated from somewhat lighter steel. Just use the skids for measurements and modify to fit whatever wheels/rollers you want to use. These have probably 20+ hours use time on them. I think the back ones will last a very long time and the front may need replacing in another 3 years use. Cutting them with a 2" hole saw makes them easy to replace. Mostly I was surprised that no one else (2 out of the total viewers on this site) has come up with this idea for the Honda blowers. (Do I daresay " Great minds think alike")


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

ST1300 said:


> Mostly I was surprised that no one else (2 out of the total viewers on this site) has come up with this idea for the Honda blowers.


Three... Since March 2017.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

Plus a couple of the Yamaha guys:

@Coby7 









@cpchriste


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## RC20 (Dec 4, 2019)

Does the Arnold fit the HSS 724A Honda (or is it fairly easy to modify it a bit to do so?) 

I like the Combo as I run both asphalt and lawns (blowing paths)


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## Michigan_Snow (Nov 19, 2021)

I wonder what the ABEC Scale/Rating is on those?



tabora said:


> Plus a couple of the Yamaha guys:
> 
> @Coby7
> 
> ...





tabora said:


> Plus a couple of the Yamaha guys:
> 
> @Coby7
> 
> ...


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I always blow paths on the grass from my shop and around my house in case of emergency.

I never have an issue, and sometimes keep a slight pressure down on the handles.


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## RC20 (Dec 4, 2019)

_"I wonder what the ABEC Scale/Rating is on those? "_

I would call it irrelevant for our purposes.


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## Michigan_Snow (Nov 19, 2021)

RC20 said:


> _"I wonder what the ABEC Scale/Rating is on those? "_
> 
> I would call it irrelevant for our purposes.


I guess it may level of expectations, but I would want a higher quality product and would “roll” easier. Looks like in the Yamaha Section some members are rolling with ceramic bearings - top notch for sure.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

RC20 said:


> Does the Arnold fit the HSS 724A Honda (or is it fairly easy to modify it a bit to do so?)


If you don't have the now-discontinued Raftery offset adapter kit, you have to drill one additional hole on each side. Not a big deal... I had to drill lots of holes for my Gripo extension.


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

tabora said:


> If you don't have the now-discontinued Raftery offset adapter kit, you have to drill one additional hole on each side. Not a big deal... I had to drill lots of holes for my Gripo extension.
> View attachment 183346


Tabora it looks in this picture like your auger housing extension is blocking most of your headlight. Would one of the older Honda HS828 light mounts help?


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

Toon said:


> Tabora it looks in this picture like your auger housing extension is blocking most of your headlight. Would one of the older Honda HS828 light mounts help?


Actually, this works pretty well...


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

That looks really nice. LED lighting is great. I love it.


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## ST1300 (Feb 17, 2017)

tabora said:


> Three... Since March 2017
> Tabora ---Rollers and roller skids I'm sure have probably been around since before most of us were born. What I was talking about is the use of the exact same material (cutting board plastic), same diameter, cut the same way (with a 2" hole saw) and made to fit on the existing factory bolt hole on the HS -HSS Honda (to raise the cutter bar just enough to not catch raised edges. How often does anyone have the exact, mirror same idea as someone else with out prior communications.


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## RC20 (Dec 4, 2019)

_Actually, this works pretty well... _

Just turn it on and melt the snow!


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

I went through a couple of the poly rollers sets this winter so I decided to try out a set of cheap 6204 bearings. The Outside diameter is 47mm so I should be able to bolt them into the existing holes in the auger housing. Bought a lot of 10 pcs so I have enough to do 5 snow blowers for about $30. They are plain steel but the small contact surface should not leave any rust as the larger rear skid surface does not mark the laneway either. My laneway is a smooth concrete surface and the poly rollers worked quite well.









Polly roller.








Ground clearance with the poly roller.








Bushing in the center of the bearing.








Pre-assembled bearing pack with zinc plated and stainless steel hardware on the sides.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Toon said:


> That looks really nice. LED lighting is great. I love it.


some people on other groups have complained that LED lights get covered with snow because they don't melt the snow like the old lights do.

In last 2-3 seasons of using LED's I have not had this problem. They are so superior that i have installed them on every Honda I build. I guess in a blizzard snow could cover light . I have a brush just in case in garage but yet to need it.


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## JJG723 (Mar 7, 2015)

orangputeh said:


> some people on other groups have complained that LED lights get covered with snow because they don't melt the snow like the old lights do.
> 
> In last 2-3 seasons of using LED's I have not had this problem. They are so superior that i have installed them on every Honda I build. I guess in a blizzard snow could cover light . I have a brush just in case in garage but yet to need it.


Agreed, LEDs are far superior.

I've uploaded a few videos of the Kraken to YouTube. I had a guy leave a comment on one of the videos saying that all the LED lighting on the machine is nothing more than a gimmick and that's the reason why Honda doesn't offer LED lighting on their machines, 🤦. He then went on to say the lights will freeze over and once that happens I'll be "DONEZO!" l guess in his mind you can't blow snow in the dark. And for the record I didn't have any freezing over of the lights this winter.

Honestly the large gas tank and the LED lights are a couple of my favorite things about this machine.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

If a machine comes into my possession with a light, I will put in an LED, otherwise, lights are nothing that I go out of my way to install on a snowblower. I am retired, do my snow blowing during the day, and if I am out there at dark, I have good street lighting, as weel as the house lights, as well as the bright snow reflection ... never found that I needed any lights. I do wear reflective safety vest as well as the blinking red LED bike light belt any time working near the road.


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

JJG723 said:


> Agreed, LEDs are far superior.
> 
> I've uploaded a few videos of the Kraken to YouTube. I had a guy leave a comment on one of the videos saying that all the LED lighting on the machine is nothing more than a gimmick and that's the reason why Honda doesn't offer LED lighting on their machines, 🤦. He then went on to say the lights will freeze over and once that happens I'll be "DONEZO!" l guess in his mind you can't blow snow in the dark. And for the record I didn't have any freezing over of the lights this winter.
> 
> ...


Honda does use LED lighting on the tracked and wheeled HSS928 models for sure. I'm guessing the HSS1132 has them as well. I do my blowing in the daylight hours so I don't use them but, I have not had an issue with them being covered with snow.


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## JJG723 (Mar 7, 2015)

Toon said:


> Honda does use LED lighting on the tracked and wheeled HSS928 models for sure. I'm guessing the HSS1132 has them as well. I do my blowing in the daylight hours so I don't use them but, I have not had an issue with them being covered with snow.
> View attachment 192209


Yup, I know about the LEDs on the Hondas. That's why I threw the face palm emoji in there lol


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## Howie A B (12 mo ago)

Toon said:


> I agree that a bearing in the center would be a good idea. I will give this a try as is, and if I like the performance I will go ahead with the bearing upgrade. I made this up with the materials I had on hand so it didn't cost me anything but my time to try this idea out.


Nice work. I was going to do this, already purchased the wheels, but the issue I had was that small rollers like these have plastic sleeves and I was concerned that they would wear quickly especially when turning. Then i did manage to find some roller bearing ones, but unless they are made for outside use, they tend to rust up then you have a bigger issue. So I decided to stick with the skids (on the side of the housing) which I made out of the same poly material 1" thick. Hopefully more durable given the weight they have to support. One other advantage of skids, my version sticks about 1/2" proud of the front, so going over the lip on my driveway will not scrape the auger housing.


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

Howie A B said:


> Nice work. I was going to do this, already purchased the wheels, but the issue I had was that small rollers like these have plastic sleeves and I was concerned that they would wear quickly especially when turning. Then i did manage to find some roller bearing ones, but unless they are made for outside use, they tend to rust up then you have a bigger issue. So I decided to stick with the skids (on the side of the housing) which I made out of the same poly material 1" thick. Hopefully more durable given the weight they have to support. One other advantage of skids, my version sticks about 1/2" proud of the front, so going over the lip on my driveway will not scrape the auger housing.


The issue I had was the center axis of my roller seized when the bolt was tightened which locked it up. The outside diameter of the roller then took damage because it was skidding instead of rolling. The second set of the original design are standing up better because I undercut the sidewall to ensure the roller did not lock up on the shoulder bolt. 
The new 6204 bearing design will address both shortcomings.


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## Howie A B (12 mo ago)

This is what I came up with. Note the angle brackets stop the shoes from riding up in the slot. Front prevents hitting lip of driveway with front of auger housing


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## Toon (May 11, 2021)

The larger surface area of the poly skid will help them last longer, but if your driveway is abrasive they will wear over time. 








My laneway is concrete and has an anti skid finish on it. This is what happened to my first set of poly rollers after a few uses. These rollers are 1/2" wide and the 1/2" shoulder bolt used to mount them caused the rollers to bind instead of roll easily. It would also depend on how much down pressure is on the auger housing. I keep my pressure on to get a nice clean laneway after it is blown.


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## Howie A B (12 mo ago)

Wow that is some serious wear. Yes I figure mine will last a few seasons, I have a large cutting board to make more out of! My driveway is blacktop, rough i would say, but not too long (50 feet or so). Keep us posted on the new wheels and how it works out.


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