Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Honda HS724TA Problem

Hi,

The morning my Honda HS724TA hit a large stone in the alley, there was a loud "bang" and now the "reels" (don't know the correct name for these) are not turning under load.

This is not a broken sheer pin, both reels are still attached to the drive shaft, and if you prop up the front of the thrower so there is no load on the the reels they will slowly (5-10 seconds) spin up to speed, but under load they do not turn at all - the problem appears to be in somewhere the reels' clutch / gear box / drive train assembly (the drive train for the tracks is working normally, BTW).

It a BIG hassle to get this to a service center, and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for anything else I can check / repair without too much disassembly before I turn it over to the dealer.

Are You sure it's not shear bolts???? If it takesa few seconds to spin the "reels" up try to turn them by hand with the engine OFF> If they yurn,ssear bolts.. Also check the belts with the engine OFF & the augers engaged. If they are tight & the Reels can't be turned by hand, thanyou may be into a gearbox issue. Does the fan behind the "Reels" turn as normal, or also slow to speed up??? Roger

I'd say the shear bolts are almost definitely broken. you have to look close on these augers as there's a large pin thats mistaken for a shear bolt frequently. the shear pins are a 6mm bolt approx 25mm long with a lock nut that goes in parallel to the shaft, not vertically through it. theres a drive block adjacent to the auger that attaches with the shear pin, the fan or secondary auger has a different pin that goes thru the shaft but it rarely breaks. refer to your owners manual and look in your tool kit Honda always supplies some of each shear pin with a new blower. If you don't know how to change them I'd bet they're still in there assuming you have the tool kit. if not a trip to a dealer or somewhere you can get metric hardware will do the trick. grade 3 is the best choice. hope this helps
McMuck

Thanks for the suggestions, alas it's not something as simple as the shear pin or bolts, either at the augers or at the drive shaft to the auger gear box, all three of which I'm aware of and have had to replace from time to time.

http://paragoninspects.com/images/temp/honda.jpg

I've not checked the belts however, I guess that's next...