Howdy,
I'm posting here in hopes someone can enlighten me. I purchases a 926LE new this year. I did the set up procedures to ensure all was good and within specs. I consider myself handy enough to do that competently. I live in the Minneapolis area and got a chance to test the new blower today on about 3-4 inches of very light powder with about 6-7 inches EOD. I will preface this post by saying I'm a noob when it comes to snow blowers, my only experience being with a borrowed John Deere TRS 26.
Now I know this isn't the best test of the machine, but hey, it's what we were dealt. Here's what was going on. When I started out, I had 1 wheel unlocked and this thing was almost impossible to keep straight--ok, no problem, lock other wheel. Now, it still wandered around like a half drunk snake--not wide fluctuactions, but like short jerks on a steering wheel in a car. It got better as the machine ran, so maybe it was just something settling in. The really dissappointing part was when I hit the EOD. Like I said, maybe 7-8 inches of piled powder. In low gear, the machine climbed up and over the pile without really blowing anything. Ok, so next pass, I tried a higher gear, same thing. It seems like there is not enough weight on the front end to keep it down. If I tried to lift up a little on the handles, the tires would spin. My neighbor's John Deere had no trouble next door. It took me almost an hour to clear a 40x60 drive that is basically flat. I don't know maybe I had my expectations to high. After looking at the Ariens & John Deere side by side, the Ariens body is about 8-10 inches longer, which moves the CG point back due to the position of the engine. While that does help for moving the machine around the garage, it seems to be a problem in the snow.
The machine also would only throw the snow about 18-20 ft, but, I'm going to chalk that up to power with no mass behind it at this point. One other question---on the scraper height--I put a finishing nail under each edge & adjusted the shoes. It's about 1/8' all across. Does that sound about right?
Anyone have any similar experiences or at least tell me what I experienced today was normal. Thanks in advance
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