Forums Archive Index > Outdoor Power Equipment > Husqvarna - Yamaha snowblowers from years back.

Author: MissSnowshoveler

Date: 18 Nov 2005 2:06 pm

Snowshoveler asked me to post these rather bad pictures on the site. They are what the Husqvarna snowblowers looked like in the late '90's when they were made in the Yamaha factory after Husqvarna bought them.



Sherri

Author: bontai Joe

Date: 18 Nov 2005 4:16 pm

Did Husqvarna buy out the entire Yamaha line of blowers, mowers and tractors? or just the snowblowers? I've often wondered what happened to the Yamaha stuff as I still see a couple of Yamaha tractors cutting grass in my neck of the woods.

Author: snowshoveler

Date: 18 Nov 2005 6:04 pm

the story we were told is that (and this could all be wrong but the info fits)
yamaha had contracted a small company in ontario to build snowblowers.
of course they used yamaha engines .
they produced them for a few years and were moderatley successfull.
the blowers were available with either tracks or wheels.
as far as i know they didnt have a hydro...it is posible they did but im not aware of them.
in the late 90s EHP (thats husqvarnas parent company) aquired the company that was contracted to build the blowers.
now we must understand that this was only a small outfit and they never really built a large number of blowers.
husky of course couldnt keep the yamaha engines on them ,to bad its a sweet engine...very mitsubishi like.
so they put on the tecumseh snowking.
even with the less engine they were an awesome machine.
you can shift on the fly.the shift control is the clutch and selector all in one .i havent seen this feature on any other product and its to bad cause it worked great. not as good as a hydro but the next best thing.
the gear box was aluminum but has bearings and was well built.
had a 5/8 impeller belt and would throw snow better than most comparable machines of today.
they never really cought on and you can see why... they were expensive.
if they had been a proven product then maybe they would have sold better.
dealers were encouraged to stock 1 or possibly 2 and few if any had 3 or more.
just for comparison we have sold 25 plus this season and it hasnt even snowed yet...but thats because they are a lot less money.
in my opinion the older husky was a better blower but i havent used a new one yet in the snow so my opinion could change.
this new husky is built in the same factory that builds the tractors and mowers.
the old snowblower factory is history as far as i know ,probably making somthing else by now.
chris

Author: Garandman

Date: 24 Nov 2005 9:00 pm

There's a Yamaha 828 for sale on ebay, with a video showing it operatin (no snow) 7726383777

Author: Chris S

Date: 25 Nov 2005 7:33 am

Nice looking machine. Interesting where they put the skid shoes.
C

Author: snowshoveler

Date: 25 Nov 2005 6:26 pm

yea they put the skids behind the bucket.helps make the machine a bit more narrow i guess
chris

Author: Chris S

Date: 25 Nov 2005 8:38 pm

Ahh, hey, that's very clever.
C

Author: dave___in___ct

Date: 26 Nov 2005 8:23 am

Hi...

Skid shoes...

I had a vintage Snowbird blower like the one pictured here...

Notice the "skid shoe" is a round metal disk... height adjustable... did not have the skid shoe shown at the rear of the bucket as this one has... at least I do not remember it...

It was one tough machine ! The discharge chute is rounded... and rotates as it is moved from side-to-side...


[img][/img]


Dave...

Author: ramit

Date: 26 Nov 2005 12:47 pm

Nice old beast.
I love the round disk skids. I don't under stand why the manufactures don't use them.
My dad's old Atlas Thor had them... they were great.

Author: inquiring mind

Date: 11 Dec 2005 2:30 pm

There's a Snowbird Snow blower just like that on Craiglist now if someone wants it...

http://boston.craigslist.org/for/117384934.html