If you're looking at older track drive models, you might make sure you get good pics of the drive sprockets. If they're plastic, as they appear to be above, you'll want to make sure replacements are available.

Don't get too excited about that light. It's not that bright and quickly becomes covered in snow. While the machines are fundamentally great, it is a bit small (24"). I have a 1332 now and the light has the same problem the 724 had. It may be less of an issue if the ambient temp can be overcome by the heat of the light. That doesn't happen when the ambient is 0F or less. On the plus side, both machines spark up with relatively little pulling effort (but mine sleep in a heated garage so that claim is a bit jaded).

Going to see and probably buy this HS828 on Sunday.

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I ended up getting a virtually new HS724 2 months ago. Used it a month ago to clear 8" and declared it had paid for itself just that one time.

We got about 20" on Saturday and as I had said earlier, the plow truck pushes a lot of snow into my corner of the building. Clearing this much snow with only a tiny path would have take hours and I would have been exhausted vs. the 30 minutes of fun I had with this thing. Can't recommend a Honda track blower enough. What a fantastic machine.

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My trusty Craftsman II circa 1986 got put to good use this WE.

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Now ya need a "cab" for it! Why the snow left behind after a pass? Did going through snow that deep cause it to lift while you were moving forward? Mine typically leaves clean concrete after a pass but I've never gone into snow that deep with mine either.

previous owner has the auger housing raised up with skid plates Nick. i will take them off or lower the housing (he said they're adjustable) next warmish weekend.

That makes sense. I have mine adjusted pretty tight. But if I get off of concrete and onto stones it's like a damn machine gun. I'm slinging stones everywhere!

Mine is intentionally adjusted to leave about 1/4" of snow in place. It makes the job much faster and much less of a WWE experience (HS1332TA) when some bit of barely uneven paved surface gives all the bite to one side of the auger housing scraping edge.

Nice, I've been casually looking for a bit larger machine but my bought used Ariens has served me well for the last 9 winters. I've added an external fuel filter to it and tire chains. If you have wheels vs. tracks, chains make a big difference.

^^^
Dammit! That reminds me, I need to add a fuel shutoff to mine. I added a fuel filter several years ago. Does anyone have a snow blower that doesn't have an air filter of is TroyBilt the only one that doesn't care if the engine sucks dirty air? I told a customer service person at MTD once that MTD means Made To Die. They didn't think that was funny.

Virtually all walk-behind snowblowers do not require and air filter, due to the near-zero levels of dust found in snowy operating environments.

Aren't they snowthrowers?

My 'snowblower' was plugged...so I used some water from my 'hot water heater' to thaw it.

Shaun,

Just a snowblower/thrower PSA: if the chute becomes clogged, don't try to unclog it with your own hand. Even if the thing's turned off, sometimes there's a bit of kinetic energy stored up in the mechanism, and when your hand clears out the obstruction, the blades will spin another few revolutions. I saw that a lot during my year at the Baptist/NEMC.

i bought the biggest toro i could find. 28 inch.

never failed me. going on 8 winters.

That is excellent advice, thanks Al, because I am definitely the kind of person who puts his hands in things.

Here’s another tip:
Keep some “Pam” cooking spray handy. Coat the chute (of your 2-stage) blower with that before getting started. Kind of like ski wax - will help prevent snow from sticking.
Some temperature / moisture levels can give you issues. Really wet stuff wont clog.

Prior to moving out of the Midwest, we had a really nice “mid level” width simplicity. Awesome machine. Better quality (my opinion) than toro or ariens. I bought a Cub Cadet this year (2 stage, 28” wide, I think) because my single stage toro wont cut it when the plow fills my driveway in. Would’ve bought another Simplicity - but I had some “points” to use on my credit card - and I could pay for most of it with a Home Depot gift card. It was between a Toro and a Cub. The Cub looked a bit heavier-duty. Seems “OK” so far, but would trade it off for the previous Simplicity in a minute.

It’s actually best to have a single stage for most of the light snowfalls, along with a big beast to cover the heavy, deep stuff.
I tried to get away with a Toro Power Clear single stage, but after 5 winters back in WI - we just get too many situations where it snows a lot, things drift over because of the wind - or the guy that drives the plow thinks that the entire cul-de-sac’s snow needs to go in my driveway.

That sure looks like fun, except for it being cold and all, Shaun.

The baton mounted to the auger housing just forward of the chute is your friend.

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