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

Hi all,
     Went upstate this past weekend to Cortland County (near Syracuse) to visit my mother. While I was there I swung by an old Ariens dealer to see if he had any of those snow cabs for my Ariens 8526LE. When i walked in I was greated with lots of nice machines....Simplicitys all over and a bunch of Toros. But no Ariens...so I just wondered around and was really digging Toro's new quick aim snow shoot! Pretty cool! But lots of plastic.... The Simplicitys look rugged and well built. Then the salesman/owner came out to ask if he could help. He didn't have any of the cabs but they were due in a week or so....then I asked him "where are the Ariens machines?" His reply.... "Ariens really cheapend their product to get it into Home Depo" Is there any truth to this? He went on to say that warranty work was killing him...his shop was full of repairs...and mainly all with the same problems. He said that the tranys were a major problem....plastic bushings causing problems and some other things that I can't remember. He said that after the last 2 years, he gave up.

Clarks garden power supply
They carry Simplicity, Ferris, Echo, and Toro...and no longer Ariens:(

Thru this group, I found an great Ariens dealer in Buffalo. We still have 4-5 dealers on the eastside of Cleveland, who matched the HD $999 price for the model 926.

I suspect HD made an offer to Ariens which was difficult to ignore. HD did not have Ariens change the model numbers,
which some big box stores can get mfg. to do, if they are different machines.

So far on this discussion board those who have purchased Ariens snow throwers from HD have not complained of their quality; therefore, Clarks Garden Power Supply may have another issue as to why they no longer carry the Ariens line.

I look forward to hearing from those who have bought from HD.

Gary

Cheapened the machine? NO..

Cut the profit margine for small OPE dealers?  YES.....

Only difference between Identical stock number machine purchased from Agent Orange or a small OPE dealer is the quality of setup and experiance. Once Home Depot sells a machine, thats it. The OPE dealer will set the machine up properly and service after the sale.

"His reply.... "Ariens really cheapened their product to get it into Home Depot"

I also wonder if the allegation is true. But if you're HD, what do you do? You want to offer a quality snowblower to your customers. Maybe you're tired of having to deal with customer dissatisfaction over the MTD/Yard Machine/Poulan/AYP-type product. So you go looking for a manufacturer to supply you. There's really only three viable choices (Ariens-Toro-Simplicity). I didn't count Honda because of their likely price point. Of the three, only Ariens has the high marquee name recognition as a maker of snowblowers. Toro and Simplicity are good products, but those names are more associated with lawn equipment. So you court Ariens. I probably wouldn't buy a snowblower from HD but many people do, and if Ariens can get more of their machines into customers hands than the competition by selling through HD that's probably okay with Ariens...as long as some of the dealers stick around to service them.

AZ

FYI - HD DOES sell the small, single stage Honda HS520A snowthrower, but thats the only Honda model they offer...

Marty

cleanmaxx_brian wrote: If you look at the upgrades to the Ariens line for this season, they have added steel in some critical areas that increased the thickness of the drive unit. Where are the plastic bushings located?

I don't suppose the dealer mentioned that all the warranty work that's "killing" him will become service work once the warranty is up?

 Don't know if they are cheapened because my 1128LE is the first and LAST ARIENS I will own.

I bought from HD. They do not know how to set up anything. Had to re-work drive right away & still has one reverse speed only.

Machine is in repair shop now. Went in Nov. 16th & is now Dec. 14th. Auger worm gear stripped on first storm 14"

A month to fix? Might be an OK machine until it breaks, then good luck with repair & warranty. Ariens doesn't care, HD doesn't care, nobody cares. Now my driveway is so screwed up I'm sure 1128LE will break again trying to regain my now full snow storage. Hand shoveling 11' of snow in the last month has taken It's toll on me. When it breaks I will fix it myself which will cause "cancellation of warranty" But, what good is it? I not only have a worthless snowblower but a worthless warranty as well.

If I had to do it again I would buy 2 machines @ half the price so at least I would have a machine if one breaks down.

I am surviving using one of those little Toro electric power shovels. It is a joke but has hung in there better than ARIENS. Heck, go buy 10 power shovels & save yourself the trouble.

From Colorado, Summit County, which by the way has record/great skiing I hear. I am too busy hand shoveling to find ski time. Thank you ARIENS.

sounds like your problems is Home Depot, not Ariens.  just reinforces that the best place to buy is your local OPE store, not a big box.  around here, there was no price savings, and the local guy would deliver an assembled, fueled unit ready to go, and give you a quick lesson in the driveway.

jcco wrote:
Just curious - since HD has a 30 day return policy why didn't you just bring it back?

You say Ariens doesn't care, did you call Customer Service, or?

I bought 2 Ariens machines the last 2 years from my local OPE dealer. One is a 1128DLE the other a 8526LE. I COULD have saved a bunch on the 8526LE with a 10% HD coupon...but....when something breaks that I bought from HD, I know this OPE shop will fix it but ........I will be at the back of the line.

In previous years I did notice that some of the Ariens blowers were slopped together. Well, just look at their help...these folks just come and go out the revolving door. You had better be handy if you purchase one from HD IMO.

That auger should not have broke so soon even if it was a 2004 as it is an improved version over the 2003 model. Maybe just bad luck.

I agree. I don't know how many times I have called and spoken to someone mentally retarded(It is good they are giving them jobs, but it is annoying when you are trying to find something) or someone who speaks virtually no english. Also I find people are too lazy to check stuff for me. I have been at HD and Best Buy and heard the phone ring and the guy just hits the mute button, or says forget it and walks away, its very annoying when you are the one on the other side of the line.

I also hate going in and asking for something and I show it to them and they just don't get it. Or they say they don't have it(I check anyway) and they do, or vice versa.

My blower had a few loose nuts and bolts but besides that it is working fine.

Hi Folks

Today 12/20/05 & still no Ariens fixed. Had to finally borrow neighbor's Yard Machine 8/26 [Wal Mart].

Ariens service is quite casual about my concerns. They don't care.

I had asked to upgrade shipping to Fedex overnight and I would pay the difference. They did not do it. UPS ground.

My machine is in a small town shop. Not my town. I bought @ HD 2003. We have been in drought last 2 years and 1128le sat virtually unused. So much for 30 day return.

I will simply fix it myself from now on. Forget their warranty, it does nothing.

BTW, the WalMart 8/26 actually did a darn good job, plenty of power & easy to handle. Half the price -- Hmmm.

All you skiers - We are drowning in Colorado Mtn. snow. Central & North.

Good luck wAriens 

Oh, I forgot my HD comment.

I used to be a HD stockholder. Sold it because the service in stores is horrific & I generally need to believe in the product to own the stock.

I don't go to HD with much expectation. You have to know exactly what you want or trust the "name brand" attached to product.

I have no local dealer any where close for Ariens. I had to trust the brand & go with it.

No one want's the 1128le to be  good more than me. So far, Ariens customer service is that of only lips. They are real nice, but nice isn't removing my snow.

In the shop Nov. 16. Now Dec. 20 still not fixed because Ariens is committed to providing service center with prompt parts.

It's the worm gear [stripped] in the auger gear case.

JC

Whoops,

Last thread should have read Ariens NOT committed.

& how can you edit a post?

JC

I bought my Ariens 11528 a month ago and it works great. One morning I went out to start it started hard and wouldn't run right.  I called my OPE dealer and a service guy was at my door in 1 hour . It turns out it was my fault , water got in my gas jug !

Toolpig,

You can buy a filter / water seperator, called Mr Funnel.

West Marine also sells them under there own label.

www.:// mrfunnel.com

                                                       Fred

I'll check that out Fred,  thanks!

It's no secret. You ALMOST always get better service whit small dedicated business than the big surfaces stores when it comes to maintenance and repair.

In fact in Canada except for the Ariens (regular models, not the Pro models) at HD, the "good" more expensives brands are always find in the smaller stores while you can find the more "unexpensive" more affordable ones at the big surfaces stores.

I have an old ariens 24" 5hp that I was tired of working on. I was all set to buy an Ariens 11hp, went to the Home Depot the day after a storm, and they were sold out.  My daughter and I looked around the store and finally, out in the garden department we saw 12 of the 11hp models.  Evry single one of them (two still in the original boxes) were marked defective for return.

After seeing this I decided, thanks to a great post on this site, to buy a new engine for my old war horse.  I ordered the 7.5hp Intek from smallenginewarehouse.com for $222 (free shipping). They sent me an 8hp for some reason but after drilling 4 new holes in the deck to mount the engine, putting some gas in and pulling the cord it started right up. Now all I need to do is move the chute control linkage and I have a really great snow blower :)

From what I've read, if your worried about quality, the Hondas seem to be very well built and well liked, although they are pricey.

jcco wrote:

Just curious - did you pull something into the augers by accident? If not, I wonder if a keyway fell out. It seems like a stripped worm gear is an oddity for a brand new machine. Have you actually seen this stripped worm gear? Paul from Ariens (Snowman?) does monitor this site from time to time - I wonder if he might be worth a PM...

Marty

Paul's Forum name is SnowmanN - thats two "N"s. I goofed above...

Marty

2muchtime wrote:

I think you may have missed something... The problem is not with ARIENS but with the place that they are purchased from. You see, at Home Depot, they sell the machines built for a mere $15 more, so most if not ALL people have Home Depot set their machines up. Now the customer takes it home and something goes wrong from the assembly. Home Depot has such a great return policy...so they just take it back and give the customer a new one. These "bad" machines are now sent back to the vender....and it is those machines that you saw at the back of the store.

I wonder if you could get a serious discount by offering to take a "defective" machine off their hands?

nibbler wrote:
Nope! I worked for Home Depot as a district manager and there are NO deals for employees or customers for the most part. The only time they will discount (and spray with orange paint!!!) is with a return that the customers says is in good working order.

2muchtime wrote:

I dont believe they were Defective, mearly misued or mis assembled by HD employees. HD doesnt troubleshoot the proble,. Just ships them back.

Ive see the same setup in the summer with John Deere tractors.  All in the steel shipper crates set for return. Customer brings it back and HD returns to Deere. A true servicing dealer would re-adjust or find the problem and fix the unit, or avoid the problem with proper setup.

Defects in large products are less then 1 in several hundred. So why do HD and other box stores have dozen and dozens of defective returns from the same product line? They dont.... Defective employees and customers.

This is really getting carried away. 12 defective units, some still in boxes. Use you head. Too much speculation and guessing going on IMHO.  Here's what I found and BELIEVE to be fairly accurate when looking for snowblower. Recall on Several snowthrowers with Tecumseh engine concerning the gas line and a 10 cent part. What exactly, don't know, but received this same story from several vendors and on many makes and models. All units were pulled from the floor to be corrected. Now, I won't state this as fact, but I'm sure some of you guys are aware of what the problem was. Again, this was at a few different stores and included several manufacturers.

What to do. Get your snowblower home and check it over. There's not much assembly done at the store and is well described in the manul.  On the bright side, one is forced to become familiar with their machine to make sure all is well before the snow hits.

Exactly charlie. Possible gas leak on the nipple coming out of the gas tank. A 2 minute fix, if that much. But since HD cant do any service work, or trust timy to fix it, they will either have to call a mechanic in to cheak them, or ship them back. A fellow forum member here stated it was a 2 minute fix, but most units didnt even need fixing.

I bought a brand new snowblower from HD 3 years ago because I heard Ariens was the best. It ran great the first year and then the second year it would run and die after 5-10 mins. I used an old snowblower that was given to me as a second and it started up and ran well, even with old gas in it. On the new one I took the carborator apart, cleaned it, and cleaned out the gas tank and it still does the same thing.  I spent 1300 on this 11 HP piece of junk and found out other people had the same problem.  Some say it's the float that is bad in the carborator so I'm going to try that next. I bought this machine so that I wouldn't have to work so hard shoveling snow and yesterday I worked on it for 3 hours it started and died again. Then, after trying to start it so many times the cord broke. I pushed it aside and used the old snowblower instead.

I don't think I would even buy a Honda from large chain outlet, a quality $1000+ snowblower is not a mass-market product like a walk-behind mower, it requires to be assembled and serviced by people who know what they're doing and if they're doing it right.

russman wrote:

OLD TOPIC. BUt, Its not an Ariens problem, its a Tecumseh problem, they make the engine. They alos built a huge majority of the engines. BTW, Gas issues are the #1 reason for failure.  I think it needs a pro to go through the carb.

My 2004 9 HP from HD has run flawlessly.  Purchased as a serviced unit on sale and with a coupon, but that was a joke of sorts.  The machine appeared to never have been started, and the fuel line was kinked and blocked just under the tank and before fed into the engine.  Straightened that out, it started right up and has run fine.  I only regret not getting the DLX with a differential, but that's my problem.

I bought it to replace a 1970 7 HP because the growing number of times it wouldn't start I really had a problem.  Kept it as a "backup" but prefer using it to the newer one and put a NOS engine on it.  Use the new one to throw distance and do the initial "dig", and the nimble and easy to turn older one, which is still incapable of a long snow throw, to cleanup with.

The local dealer really has his "nose in the air".  I only once bought a belt there in desperation.  He made it seem  like I was buying a bag of gold, and charged accordingly.

I see nothing wrong with buying one from HD.  Seems everyone here is inclined enough to assemble one from the box, and shouldn't be set back if "Timmy" doesn't set it up to perfection.

snowman wrote:
The problem is not so much fixing Timmy's assembly goofs -although this will be an issue for many people- as getting the unit seriously serviced under warranty should it require it. They won't always give you a new one and more than likely won't lend you one while yours is being serviced (elsewhere) like my dealer does for his customers who don't have a backup.   

Quoted in whole from another post on this board:

Re: Help on Ariens model 932101 Reply #6   Today 10:19 pm

Quote

I've been making that point for a while now.  Maybe it's my eye for detail but when I started looking over the Ariens and Toros at HD, I was immediately turned off.  I know mechanical stuff.  I have tons of it.  I'm a hands on person and can readily see problematic design and deficient build quality.  After looking at their line up, I was out of HD in less than two minutes and very much disappointed with the quality of the "vaunted" Ariens and Toros they were offering.  Don't ask me to go into specifics.  I didn't take notes and I certainly did not buy either of these two brands.  And did I mention the prices?  It's not like they're knocking off hundreds of dollars from these machines.  Not in Canada.  The machines are cheaper (build wise) but not less expensive.  To me, that's the rub.  They're capturing  reputable brand names, having them manufactured at much lower standards and still demanding big bucks.  One must wonder how many unfortunate customers have fallen for this ruse?   When I bought my equivalent Simplicity, I paid three hundred less than the asking price of the Ariens and close to five hundred less than the Toro.  And the Toro had the old Tecumseh L head engine and aluminum auger drive gear case????   Maybe there are wiser people out there who can help me understand how an equivalent Toro of obviously lesser build quality can demand $500.00 more than a Simplicity that has far better all the way around construction and components?   Five hundred buck is a lot of money to pay for a name and it's sad to see those names being sullied by affixing them to inferior machines.   

Unfortunately most people look at a line of blowers from a series of manufacturers and see the same thing painted differently. They have a list of "features" which for the most part are sales features as opposed to use features, they then compare cost.

The problem is that the devil is in the details. Plastic parts can be good in a lot of places on a blower, they just have to be made well of the proper material and not as a manufacturing cost savings item. The same can be said for all metal construction, it could be tin foil, it could be 1/4" plate, its still "all metal". The point is that most people don't want to hunt up the information and find out what is important and which manufacturers do a good job. Add in that there could be variation from year to year with any given manufacturer and it really becomes a trick. It sort reminds of wine enthusiasts ... "As yes an Ariens 1020DLE from 2004, a somewhat presumptuous blower  with a traction system that just won't quit, the ones manufactured in the south plant in July are the best" .

I don't want to get into dealer support and parts availability since that can also affect "good".

nibbler wrote:

I understand what you're saying.  I would like to add that "Nothing blinds more completely than brand loyalty."   It's a fault that many seem to acquire after hemorrhaging huge amounts of money to pay for a name then spend the rest of their lives defending the action.  Go figure???   I, on the other hand consider myself to be a "value loyalist".   I'll recommend/defend a product providing it has the right stuff and also has the right price.  I will not recommend a product simply because it has/had a good reputation.  Not good enough.  Each item will be measured on it's own merit.  If it  passes muster, I'll endorse it otherwise I won't.  That's why I own such a wide array of OPE brands.  I have Husqvarna, Jonsereds, Echo, Stihl, Kubota and even a Honda powered Craftsman lawn tractor.  I don't care what the name is, as long as it's built with quality components and assembled correctly. 

Ahhhh yessss.....Muyyy Simpliciteeee comes from the Port Washington Plant in Wisconsin......a robust machine with aspirations of grandeur albeit with a dash of humility.....