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

I consider this situation to be a serious health and safety risk, and Ariens should fix it with no charge to the customer. I have just now emailed the company with a description of this very simple mod, and a request that they issue a Service Bulletin to modify at no charge ALL '05 and earlier DLEs that come into the dealer's service departments.

However, if for some bizarre reason they don't feel a SB is needed, they should at least make available an inexpensive deflector kit, including the correct SS rivets, through their dealer Parts Departments.

I urge all concerned DLE owners to contact  Ariens concerning this exhaust issue. Mention the words "health" and "safety" in your email - that will get the lawyer's attention ;)

http://www.ariens.com/customer_service/contact_us/

BTW: Has anyone suffered any real effects from getting face-blasted - as in feeling faint or dizzy, receiving burns,  or losing a contact lens?

John Davies

JohnEDavies wrote:
They have used the wheel hub mounted system for at least 20 years and probably a couple hundred thousand units. It certainly is an annoyance and that's a nice, simple solution if you are so inclined.

John,

Sounds like a great idea. Perhaps can we ge get a PIC on your invetion? Best of luck Allan.

I will try to snap and post a pic - meanwhile, Ariens does nothing:

QUOTE:

I am in receipt of your e-mail regarding the deflector you fabricated for your snow blower. While I understand your concern over the exhaust direction, this unit, and all units manufactured by the Ariens Company, has passed all requirements set forth in the ANSI Standards. I have passed your concerns on to our Engineering Department for future consideration, and we appreciate your being an Ariens customer.
Dave Miller

UNQUOTE

I wonder just exactly what the ANSI standards for facial exhaust exposure are....?

John Davies

JohnEDavies wrote:

Lets be real.Do you actualy think they will ever admit to something so below the belt. We just have to do what makes it work and the heck with the Engineering Department

Best of luck and can't wait for the PIC

How about lets be fair?

As mentioned, Ariens has produced hundreds of thousands of these machines with the hub release over at least 30 years.  I have a 1972 dealer manual that shows them so equipped.

If you got one complaint about something over 30 years, just how urgent would you consider the matter?  Especially if it was extremely emotional and derogatory.

Deflecting the exhaust up is a bad idea, because you may be directing carbon monoxide  up towards your face. Carbon Monoxide is lethal in a concentation of about 9% in air.  If you want to do this, that's fine. Ariens would be crazy to do any such thing without study in the extraordinarily wide range of conditions these machines operate under.

Ariens very likely does what any other company does. They record all the customer requests for improvements, or problems. They prioritize them on the basis of safety; performance; and manufacturing cost. Then they pick the ones they think can be staffed for production for the following season and proceed. Some ideas will be implemented years later: others fall off the list. Many top companies consistently deliver 8 of 10 top customer requests year after year. It's not left to chance. The fact that an Ariens engineer monitors this forum should demonstrate their commitment to the end user.

Garandman wrote:
How long has the axle lock been around - is it 30 years? It is simply not an issue with other models becuase you don't have to bend down beside the muffler to operate it..

What percentage of owners have just said "Screw it" and never complained? I would be willing to bet it is well over 90%.

Deflecting the exhaust up is a bad idea, but having a concentrated blast blow _directly_ in your face is not? Come on!!!  Most of it goes forward anyway with my mod.

Does Ariens monitor this forum directly? I was unaware of that. The quote was from a private email to the factory.

I don't think I am excessively derogatory about this issue. If you have ever had this occur I think you would be wanting them to fix it also.

John

" How long has the axle lock been around - is it 30 years? It is simply not an issue with other models becuase you don't have to bend down beside the muffler to operate it.. "

Oh yes you do , or did . all there machines with the lock at the wheel was the same .  I have an 1128dle and the same thing happens to me. But let me say, Putting a deflector is not the best idea without study first.  30 seconds of exaust in your face while changing the position of the lock would be much safer than 1 hour of deflected exaust in the dense cold air puffing in small amounts into your lungs while you are blowing snow . .  If there was something made by Ariens to modify the exaust I would put it on but I would not chance a mod like you did. I am sure you could have an exaust pipe made like the old minibikes had which is a tube with the muffler on the end of it. .

John,

The owners manual states "Stop engine and remove ignition key prior to leaving the operator's position for any reason". This would include locking the axle with the older style locking mechanism as well as the axle pin on pin-lock models. This feature was never intended to be used with the engine running. Leaving the operator's position while the unit is running is never a good idea from a safety standpoint. To offer some kind fix fof this would be to condone leaving the operator position while the engine is running. Certainly, we would never do this.

Is this inconvenient in contemporary context (having to shut the unit off to lock or unlock the diff)? Yes. However, compared to the a large majority of competitive snothros on the market over the last 35 years or so (since the inception of this feature), this was innovative and convenient. Most other snothros had no features at all to turn the unit or lock the axle short of a pin-lock. As power steering and individually clutching wheels have become more common place with modern snothros, this feature has become comparatively inconvenient. That is why the feature was updated for 2005 with a remote lock.

I'm fairly sure there is a stock deflector available to mount to this muffler for those that want to channel the exhaust somewhere other than the stock configuration. Certainly take Garandman's advice and do not channel the exhaust upwards. Forward, or 45 degrees downward and forward would likely be the best orientations. Most deflectors have the availability to orient in 45 degree clock positions. One of our design engineers is checking with Tecumseh to see if the deflector kit exists and what the part number is.

Paul Koltz

Engineering Leader

Snow Products

Ariens Company

Well, I have said my piece and really did not want to get into a shoutingf match with anyone. I apologize if anyone got upset.

I will test out my mod at the next snowfall, and leave instrauctions with my wife to publish a folow up here if I keel over dead.

Here is a link with a picture:

https://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/page5.htm

You guys can decide for yourselves ;)

John Davies