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

Guys

I have an Ariens 7524 that I bought new last Nov. It seems that ever since I have had it when it's really cold (and to some extent when it's not that cold) when I go to move the blower out of the shed, the wheels are frozen, and I have to move it back and forth with some force in order to unstick them. Is this common? Is there potential damage to the axles with this forcing them to move?

I sprayed some silicone into the axle area as best I could but I think that the freezing is happening in the inner part and it may not have much of an effect. Any ideas? Probably regrease would be an idea but for such a new unit, why is this happening? Thanks.

Thanks Allan

I talked to my dealer and he said the stuck wheels problem was due to frost getting into the the friction plate area and causing it to freeze to some other part in there--not sure, some rubber part. Said that with the design of the friction drive itself there is a risk of this. Said it wasn't the axle at all so the silicone spraying down there was a waste of time. He also said that the discharge out of the ends of the wheels was grease and water and some rust running out from the grease that is used between the wheel and the axle and that using a lithium grease on the end of season servicing in this area would alleviate the dripping. Said that the inevitable water that gets in that area mixing with the grease as you're blowing causes it to drip. Next time you look at your blower see if there isn't some grayish deposit on the rims of the wheels. I'd be curious to hear. Maybe you have a different grease type that doesn't run. Oh yeah, that pancake thing behind the impeller-I get that a lot, especially if it's heavier wet snow. When I first got the machine it really built up and I got a screaming belt one time when I engaged the impeller. I now religiously run the auger after clearing for a minimum of three minutes and I haven't had the screaming/stuck impeller problem since. The factors that affect this machine the worst for me are a heavy wet clearing followed by a sharp cold snap--everything freezes hard and there is more chance to run into the stuck wheels or frozen impeller.

I think if I had known all this stuff before I would have gotten a larger Ariens or Toro. This is a basically good machine and it has surprised me with the strength of the blow, especially with a heavy snowfall, but it does have running-up-over problems, especially EOD if it's really bad. That's a weight thing though and weighing a hundred pounds less than its bigger siblings is the reason. It works well mostly but I don't have a real warm fuzzy feeling about it. I basically got the machine I could afford and store, plus-wifeability as far as handling it but you do get what you pay for. Regarding the cold-related problems if you have a semi-heated or heated garage I think a lot of these cold issues wouldn't come into play.

The climbing may not be a weight problem.

1. If the augers are getting more snow than the impeller can handle then the excess recirculates and  you will quickly get the frontend climbing up the snow pile. The solution is to either use a lower forward speed setting or to let out the clutch on the traction system every second or so and let the impeller catch up.

2. If the snow is icy and the augers are having trouble breaking it up before feeding it to the impeller. The only solution there is to break up the snow into smaller chunks that the augers can grind through. Serated auger rakes are supposed to help this, I don't know since my rakes are smooth edged and I've never been able to compare. I wonder if anyone has done drag races with identical blowers and serated and non-serated auger rakes.