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

Hello,

I purchased a new Ariens 1027 this past fall, and am having a problem with the wheels locking. While the machine is under a load, the wheel lock disengages on its own. I've taken off the bottom plate and watched the mechanism of the remote wheel lock engage and disengage and looks to function properly. When engage the cogs of the 2 halves of the gear-like thing that puts the machine into 2-wheel drive do go together tightly. The tension of the cable does also look to be correct - the mechanism engages and disengages properly with each squeeze of the trigger.

With the machine resting on the snow intake (attachment), if I rotate the left wheel back and forth (the side with the locking mechanism) with the lock engage I can actually witness the locking mechanism slip. Looks like the stress on the 2 halves of the gear cause it to just open up and slip. This led me to think that there was a problem with the spring that covers the shaft not having enough tension on it to keep the this gear firmly together. As a quick workaround I tensioned the string and wound a good 1/4" of duct tape around the shaft to hold it in place with the increased tension. For a while I did think that this solved the problem, but low and behold the problem has started to act up again.

Any suggestions on how to go about fixing this would be great. I really don't want to have to put my machine in the shop heading into the snowiest month of the year!

Thanks!
Dave

Try doing something, like duct tape, like I suggested to put additional tension on the spring. Another good one to use would be a regular old hose clamp. You'll notice at the base of the spring there's a type of pin through the shaft - put the hose clamp (or even 2 back to back) there against that. I was looking on the insides of mine as well tonight to see how my duct tape is holding up and so far so good. I'd say I got a solid inch in width, and about a 1/4 inch thickness around the shaft itself. While I can't say that this completely solved my problem it's far less frequent now. I've got an email off to Ariens about the problem, and may end up calling yet. Someone on another forum mentioned that there have been issues with the tension on this spring and to get in touch with Ariens regarding it.

 Hey Snowman I need your help.  I have a st824 Ariens.  I bought it in 2004.  The worm gear and shaft stripped, don't ask me how but the shear pins did not break and the brass gear stripped.   I replaced it with part # 53208800.  I replaced the seals in case they were damaged during the disassembly.  I used loctite 518 and l2 ariens lube.  I put the gearcase back together and ran it for ten minutes.  The gearcase was cool and no leaks.  My first use with the rebuilt case went well until I got to the end of the driveway and tried to cut through the plow mess at the end of the driveway.  The gearbox stripped again.  I did not hit anything.  I was just going through snow.  When I reassembled the gearbox I noticed that the gear that attaches to the auger rake shaft was made out of steel not brass.  Could this be part of the problem?  Does ariens guarantee their parts?  I assure you that I assembled it correctly and that it was in good working order when I started to use it.  I also put brand new ariens shear bolts in just in case the old ones where not ariens part numbers.

Thanks,

Ed

Hi Dave,

Got any news from Ariens?
The weather has been much warmer here... the lock stays locked... (used 3 times so far without problem)
I'm wondering if the cold might not have something to do with our problem.

Hi gotsnow,

I got a reply from Ariens a few days ago. They basically said they didn't know of any problems with the springs not providing enough tension, and for me to contact my dealer.
I did speak with the dealer and they basically felt that the remote wheel lock was just in need of adjustments. Perhaps this is the case, but it really doesn't look that way to me when I watched it engage and disengage.

I haven't noticed much in the way of a difference when operating it in different temperatures. Mine has gone through periods where it has worked fine and then gone back to slipping. At the moment I'm in a good phase. ;)

I'm going to wait until the spring when I have my machine in for servicing to have them look at it.

dcmccarthy wrote:

The uncompressed length of those springs should be 4". You'll need to remove a spring/roll pin to measure this. The wire diameter on the spring should be ~.115". What are the serial numbers for these 2 units?

PK

Hey folks,

I'm a long time lurker here (purchased an Ariens 1027 this fall), and have really enjoyed and appreciated all the discussion and advice.  Not being very handy at all, it definitely helps.  I wanted to share my experience with this issue, as I just had it occur tonight.  I could not keep the drive lock engaged, and given the blizzard we got in Newfoundland + the freezing rain, traction wasn't going to happen with one wheel driving it.

My friend and I flipped the machine over and looked at the cog lock mechanism.  Whenever you spun the right wheel fast enough, the lock would slip and disengage.  Tensioning the differential cable was of no help.  What we ended up doing was taking the wheels and shafts off and trying to see what was causing the slip.  We think some of the bits of the rubber that wears off the belt had gotten in and gunked up where the mechanism was trying to lock (nice technical terms!).  We regreased the mechanism and other parts with silicon grease and low and behold, the lock started working again.  I'm not sure if it needed grease, or if the grease removed some of the flecks of rubber from the lock, but all I can report is my remote differential lock works again and I happily cleared two driveways.

Not sure if my rambling will help anyone out (I'm sure those with much more capability with this stuff can probably better describe what we did).  Hope it helps!

Not sure if yours is the same but if the cable is a little too tight when it locks there is a finger in the back that locks the left clicker piece from rotation backwards. This would cause the problem. Before you adjust it is easier to do if you take off the cover and look as it is attached to a spring and hard to tell when the slack is out. It is pretty obvious how it works. Mine was more than adjustment it needed to be cleaned and lubed. Careful not to get cleaning or lube down in. It works like a pen. They call it a clicker. Adjustment can not be too loose or too tight it's kind of fussy. The other thing is that it helps to wiggle the machine back and forth at the top of the throw. Here is a link to view its opperation Hope this helps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh1nFjSaags I also made sure it was in two wheel position as I closed as I never use the one wheel position.