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

I bought an Ariens 520 snowblower from Home Depot this year and have nothing but problems, mostly related to Home Depot's bad service. Originally, they gave me last year's model and the tire went flat when it was just sitting in the shed. Then I found out  you have to take the whole metal unit off to take it to a repair place to have the tubeless tire put back on. The bolt was easy to remove, but then a gold cap is supposed to be popped off, so you can pull the arm (leg?) off. But you can't because it fits snugly; nothing can be inserted to pry it out. When I complained, I was told to take the last year's model back and get this year's model. Stupid me. I just assumed the newer one would not go flat so easily, and if it did, it would not require this. Then today, only the second time I used it, the tire went flat while I was using the machine. Has anyone else had this problem? How do you get the cap off? Home Depot was useless today. I'm supposed to take the whole thing to a repair place, and I don't have a truck. I can't be putting a lot more energy into this; I had cancer last year, and I still tire easily. I like this unit when it runs. Nice and small, but does the job. Please, anyone, HELP!

Go to NAPA, Canadian Tire or other outlet that sells a product called E-Z Seal (CTC) or Slime.  It's a tire sealant.  Get a bottle of it and pour four or five oz. of into your wheel.  You will have to remove the Schraeder valve from the valve stem and use the small feeder tube to inject the sealant.   Once you have it in there, spin the wheel for a few minutes to make sure you're getting it into the bead/rim area.  You might have to spin the wheel slowly at first to allow the sealant to drip down from the top of the wheel down to the rim/bead.   Inflate the tire and spin the tire some more to force the sealant into the leaks.  It should take care of your problem forever. If the first application doesn't work, just keep adding and spinning until it does.  It will work.  I've used it on wheel barrow wheels, lawn tractor wheels and snow thrower wheels.   

Gabi wrote:

Gabi,

Call Ariens and have them send you a new wheel/tire assembly. They are familiar with this problem. Bad tire supplier (the supplier has since been given the boot). I'm not sure what you mean about the cap. The only thing that holds the wheel on is a cross bolt and nut (inside the tire on a 939003, outside on the 939001). The wheel should have anti-seize between it and the axle. Should slide off easily. There may be a plastic cap on the end of the wheel, but that doesn't need to come off.

PK