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.

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.