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

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.