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

I bought this machine because I needed a rugged machine that would last me. I would rather purchase a "Tim Taylor" machine rather than fuss with an inferior one. This beast has 13hp, 36" wide, locking diff, heated hand grips, light, elec start, ect.... I have a 100 foot paved driveway. It has snowed 4 times since I purchased it, and it has broke down on me 3 times.  everything from a factory recall that i wasnt notified of, so it burned belts (4)!!, to nuts & bolts falling out, chute breaking, auger stops turning, wheels stop driving, etc.... The dealer has a special place for it in his shop that they dont fill when it is at my place. I believe this machine would last forever,  if i dont use it. The dealer stood behind me 100% when I told them enough is enough I wanted something done, money back, or a replacement. Now it has snowed today, 20", I have a bad back and have to shovel while the ariens company sits on my $3000.00. Anybody else have this problem?

My Ariens kept clogging and dumping "logs" of wet snow instead of throwing the snow - I was unhappy - especially after reading this thread and the complaints of others.  I decided to call Ariens before taking a sledge hammer to the machine.

They said, "check the impellor drive belt - it has probably stretched and is slipping, preventing the impellor from throwing properly.  Take the belt cover off, hold down the auger handle and see if belt is tight."  I tried that  - the belt was so loose I am surprised it could throw any snow.   Only took two 1/2" wrenches to loosen idler pulley and move it to tighten belt when engaged.  I took the snowblower out again in today's 8" of heavy, wet snow and it threw it further than it had ever thrown!!!

So, if blower is not throwing well, check impellor belt tension before getting ticked off.  I didn't do this until forcing the machine through the job - would have taken a third of the time if I had checked and adjusted the belt before I started, or when I saw it wasn't throwing well.

Had a Honda 928 with tracks. Biggest piece of crap ever. Sold to some guy who thought Hondas were the best thing going. Bought an Ariens 9526DLE two years ago. Best snowblower I have ever had, no trouble at all, throws far better than the Honda ever did, without all the Honda issues.

terrier wrote:

You sold your Honda 928 to a guy that thought that Hondas were the best thing going.  And you bought Ariens 9526DLE, the best snowblower you ever had.  Awesome! That's great!!!  Both the Honda guy and the Ariens guy got what they wanted.  Its a win-win situation. 

The Honda 928 with tracks is known as Honda HS928TA.  Of course being the previous owner of this snowblower, you already knew that.  And if you had spent reasonable amount of seat time getting to know and setting up your equipment as well as adjusting your technique of snowblowing, you may have come to a reasonable conclusion that this piece of equipment has some capabilities and some quirks of its own.  Your current snowblower, the Ariens 9526DLE, has been well praised for having the right balance of power and maneuverability, and the cutting width is suitable to most homeowners.  Its price is neither inexpensive or exorbitant. 

Can you elaborate on your disappointment with examples on how the Honda is a "biggest piece of crap"?  Absolutes such as "best, ever, and all" are inaccurate and rarely exempt from exception to the rule.  Provide examples of throwing distances of the two products you mentioned and "all the Honda issues" would be a good start.  No one wants to be an uninformed buyer spending $2500 on an snowblower and not be happy with it.

terrier wrote:

Sorry, I call Bull Sh*t.  There's no Ariens that comes close to a Honda.  No way. I've owned both and have had the pleasure (and displeasure) of testing both machines side by side on the same driveway with the same snow.   If you don't like tracks, I can understand.  Hard(er) to turn, more money, harder to turn, more money, harder to turn.  Great having a differential in a world where you only have snow and no ice.  That $3,000 Ariens could not handle a 5% grade.  Easy turning = Bad traction.  Good for the showroom but bad for the driveway.

Ok, if you don't need tracks then don't get tracks.  But if you need tracks they're better than anything.  I can scrape a hockey pond with my Honda AFTER a 200'  trip into the woods.  I can also dig through packed snow.  The Ariens was great with 6" of powder, but even on the lowest speed the impeller can't throw a whole bucket of snow REGARDLESS of any clearance kit or whatever. 

Check the prices on a used snowblower, and that's a good indication on the quality/customer satisfaction of a machine.  Honda's hold their value better than Ariens.  Much, much, much better.

No friggin' way.  A Honda would eat an Ariens. 

Go easy on the guy, or gal.  Give him/her a chance to explain.

Thanks for defending my right to my opinion. Some people just seem to get fixated on a particular brand or model of snowblower, lawnmower or whatever. I don't like or dislike Honda products in particular. Same for Ariens. I have a lawnmower with a Honda engine. Great lawnmower, great engine. Having said that, I don't like Ariens lawnmowers. My Honda 928 just didn't work for me. Either rode up over snowdrifts or if I put front right down, the tracks just spun and nothing happened. Admittedly, I only have one lot to clear, not several so I don't have the same experience as some of you. NHMatt probably takes his Honda snowblower into the house with him at night so he can be close to it. Final word, I hit a tomato cage with my 928. Shear pin didn't shear, the auger essentially buckled. I had to have it heated and straightened. Fellow that repaired it commented that he wan't surprised that the auger buckled after hitting a flimsy tomato cage. He said that the auger just didn't seem to be very strongly built and that you probably wouldn't want to hit any ice with it. Outraged comments aren't necessary. It's good that NHMatt is extremely happy with his Honda snowblower. For me, the 9526DLE is a far better machine. I don't feel that there is any reason to compare the two machines point by point. People buy and own what they want, for their own reasons. This forum is great, by the way.

I have to agree with NHmatt on his call.  Nothing you said has indicated that the Honda is a piece of crap, or that the Ariens is a better machine.  The Ariens may suit your needs, expectation, patience, or use better, but thats about it.  You may feel you don't have to compare how a snowblower perform point by point, but without fair basis of comparison and real data, how did you ever arrive any conclusion?

I'm not convinced that the Ariens you mentioned will throw snow far better than the Honda.  Maybe the Ariens throws better in some situations, and the Honda better in others.  But far better is an exaggeration.   I'm also not convinced that the Honda rode up over snowdrifts any easier than the Ariens.   What position did you have the bucket in?  The condition you described is more likely with a wheeled snowblower instead of a tracked one.  Any snowblower will ride up if the forward speed is so high that the auger does not have time to move the hard packed snow in front of it. 

You hit a tomato cage, while flimsy, have wrapped itself around the auger and the force was not enough to snap the shear pin but bent or buckled the auger instead.  A tomato cage may look flimsy, but it has extremely strong tensile strength for its weight.   I'm not sure if any other snowblower exposed to the same situation would have fared worse or better than your expectation of just a broken shear pin instead of an expensive auger repair.  Was the correct shear pin used instead of any 4mm bolt?

I don't understand your comment about Ariens lawnmower.  "great lawnmower, great engine".  How can you say something is great and not liking it?  Too heavy, awkward to steer, costs too much money, flimsy? Would you like the lawnmower if it wore a Snapper brand and painted in red?   Sorry to digress.  Also, I'm not aware of any Ariens walk behind mower with a Honda engine, except of the new ones I saw at Sears.  These were budget mowers which are designed to specific market and pricepoints and may not represent an "Ariens lawnmower."

aa335:  Reasonable deductions and conclusions.  I agree with much of what you've said. 

Tomato cages at least the ones that I use, are far from flimsy.  One has to question how a tomato cage gets into a snow thrower in the first place?    If my snow thrower ate a tomato cage, I'd consider myself as getting off very lightly with bent augers versus a broken gear box or bent shafts.   

Bottom line and this is just my personal opinion, Ariens had their day as a premium snow thrower.  That day has gone.  At best, they are capable, middle of the road machines.  They do not rank with a Honda in any comparison measurement other than possibly throwing distance/volume (when new).   The Honda will run stronger, longer and more efficiently than late model Ariens machines.  Ariens have taken the "easy way to the money" route by compromising build quality to meet box store purchasing prices.   

Honda, as with most Japanese manufacturers will not sacrifice fifty years of building a reputation for quality to make a fast buck.   Unfortunately, the manufacturing sector in North America  do not share the same principles.   That and the financial sector's lack of scruples are  a couple of good reasons we're in the sh!t can we're in today.  

Look at the auto sector.  If the domestic manufacturers had read the writing on the wall thirty years ago and built Asian quality cars back then, do you think they'd be in trouble today?    Even if they had equaled Asian car quality just ten years ago, they'd still be viable because we'd be buying their cars.  Nope.  Hubris and arrogance  kept their heads up their a$$es until they ground the industry into the dirt.   I don't see Ariens deviating from the auto sectors way of doing things.   Keep building them cheaper each year to make the profit margins until the public no longer believes in the name.  Sooner or later, compromising build quality will destroy the faith of the customer and complete failure of the industry will be certain.    There's a lot to be learned from these hard times. 

aa335 and borat:
I respect both your opinions. You both seem very knowledgeable about snowblowers. I am not as knowledgeable about them as you are because I'm not as interested in them as you seem to be. I use and appreciate well designed and built machinery but I am not passionate about them.
The tomato cage my Honda ingested was buried under a snowbank. I should have known it was there but I didn't until too late. Honda had factory original shear pins etc. Possibly Ariens would also have bent auger, who knows? I hope never to find out. I repeat that the experienced welder who repaired the auger agreed with me that it was NOT a strong part. I have owned a number of snowblowers over the years. Have never had any real problems with any of them. I maintain machinery properly and use snowblowers in an appropriate manner. Please accept that I intensely disliked the Honda 928 and do not consider it to be the marvel you seem to think it is. I simply find the Ariens better to use. In other words, I think it is BETTER suited to my particular situation.
I seem to have confused aa335 with my lawnmower comment. My current lawnmower is a LawnBoy with a Honda engine. I like the Honda engine. It seems to be quieter and more vibration free than the L head tecumseh engine on my last Toro. I don't like Ariens lawnmowers because they are rather heavy and clumsy to use. And yes, I have owned an Ariens lawnmower some years ago. Borat is not very accurate in his appraisal of Japanese vs. North American cars. Any number of sources, including JDPower adknowledge that North American cars are equal to, and in some cases are superior to Asian vehicles. Go on the internet. Any number of sources will validate this. Some years ago, japanese cars simply dissolved and rusted away in a year or two in my part of the world. I owned a 1978 Honda Accord. Unreliable, expensive parts and flimsy. I did enjoy driving it before it dissolved. Anyway, I'm not going to post any more on this matter. I enjoy reading the forum and have for a few years now. These discussions are good reading but nobody's mind ever gets changed. People buy on emotion and then attempt to rationalize their decision. Consumers like or dislike machinery (and everything else) based on their own particular view of the world.

Terrier said:

 

1/  throws far better than the Honda ever did

 

   That’s just not possible unless the Honda was broken.  The Honda easily beats an Ariens of similar horsepower or higher easily.  That comes from using newer Ariens machines in the same conditions against a 15 or so year old Honda 8hp track. 

 

2/ My Honda 928 just didn't work for me. Either rode up over snowdrifts or if I put front right down, the tracks just spun and nothing happened.

 

  Either you did not use it properly or it was broken/out of some alignment.   All you say may be your experience but it’s not typical of what a Honda can do.  Their motor cranks are on roller bearings and spin faster than a Tecumseh.  The augers and impellers rotate faster and throw much better than an Ariens.  Honda’s generally will easily out toss a similar hp Ariens or any other US machine. 

   I have two Yamaha track 6hp 24 inch machines which are very similar to Honda tracks.  They easily stay up with 8’s and 9’s and match 10’s.  In all around capability the 624 is much easier to use. 

   The Honda track was used to clear and 8^th mile of very steep hill which it did easily and did not slip. 

   The tracks are a bear to move when not running which I often hear but who would be dump enough to do that?  Their wicked easy to start and move unless a U turn in a tight spot. 

    Your experience with your Honda is unfortunate but it seems you had a broken machine.

David