Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

... when you bend down to operate the axle-mounted lock pin at the left wheel, on the '05 and older models. This has really bothered me, and the new models no longer have this problem due to the new axle design and remote control system.

My fix was to fabricate a small deflector from a 3" x 3" piece of thin stainless steel. I carefully bent it into an "S" shape in my bench vise and pop-rivited it to 2 existing holes in the muffler face - the two holes are the outer ones closest to the rear of the thrower. I drilled the holes oversized and installed the deflector with 3/16 inch stainless pop rivets. These are very hard to find, but a bolt or boat supply company (like West Marine) will have them at about US$1 each.  Plain steel or aluminum rivets will not hold up in this environment - the heat and vibration will loosen and corrode them severely in a couple of winters. The steel should be available in the scrap bin of any metal fabrication shop.

I made sure the deflector did not stick out to the left beyond 1 inch, so that the black muffler heat shield would still fit correctly.

The mod works GREAT! No hot carbon monoxide blasted into the eyes and lungs. The exhaust stream is broken up rather than a concentrated stream, and most of it exits straight forward and up, with a little bit going down. I have not thrown snow yet, but I don't see how the mod can have any measureable impact on engine performance.

I highly recommend this mod if you own an older DLE.

John Davies

JohnEDavies wrote:
Sir, to reiterate, your deflector does not "solve" the problem. It redirects the exhaust stream in a way that may cause you to be breathing carbon monoxide while the machine is running and moving forward, if I understand the picture.  The exhaust isn't just an incovenience: it's deadly. No one else should attempt this modification without serious consideration about the dangers of an unengineered approach.

The change in back pressure of the exhaust may not impact the performance of the engine. But you have not even used it to blow snow yet, have you? And you've heard from the Ariens engineering staff about the other considerations.

The new machines have completely resolved the problem . If it is so important to you, why not sell the machine and get one of the new models? It probably wouldn't cost you more than a few hundred dollars.

There is plenty of discourtesy and contempt in this thread already, on several fronts.  You have made your point: reiterating it again and again is not helpful or interesting.

This is all very interesting and I had no idea my posts would stir up such a hotbed of emotion. It was NEVER my intent, which is one reason I resented being publicly called an idiot, for which that poster has not yet apologized....

Everyone is certainly welcome to voice their varied opinions. Mine is quite simply that the redirected CO isn't a factor in the outdoors. I did a similar mod on a Troybilt Horse rototiller and it worked fine and I never passed out or even noticed any additional fumes while in the garden, over a period of over 12  years. We will see with this one..

I will fully test my mod when I get a chance and make another post after the first snowstorm, regarding the exhaust.

Thanks for all the feedback.

John Davies

The Ariens rep has stayed in the loop. While not condoning my mod in any way, he gave me this information which may be of help to owners of late model 926DLEs at least - I don't know about fitment on other models.

QUOTE:

I have been informed by the engine manufacturer, Tecumseh, that they
have a deflector available as a Service Part.  The Tecumseh part 
numbers
are as follows:

(1) 35428 Deflector

(4) 650760 Screws

Dave Miller 
Ariens Technical / Warranty Service 

UNQUOTE

John Davies

Hi,

If anyone buys that deflector for their Ariens 926, would you please post a Pic.

I have a 9HP  OHV Tec engine on a husky and want to see if the deflector would work on my blower or other blowers.

                                                Thanks

                                                                    Fred