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

Hello All.

Here are my few complaints about my Ariens 1130DLE snow thrower. Over the last few weeks I have been getting my snowthrower ready for the years to come. After realizing how much it rusted in just one year, I figured it was best to start sooner then later.  I am super glad I started this now as some things haven't been easy. Like the removal of one rusted wheel to the axle. Anyway, won't rehash that here as its in the other post about it.

Here are my complaints. I really don't see why they should even be a issue with such a well built machine.  My first complaint is lack on anti seeze on integral components that should be easy to remove for maintenance.  Today I spent some time taking off the attachment pulleys (two bolted together for dual belts). I did this after reading how hard it could be to remove after a few years of operation. Things like gear pulleys, heat and hammering to remove it, seem to be common.  So why not anti seeze it?  Maybe they do, but after getting mine off today, certainly no indication it was done on mine. Granted mine wasn't that rusted and came off without much trouble, but it was rusting. Few more years and I am sure I would be in the same boat as the rest when it comes to tough removal.  So why not the few extra dollars to anti seeze these components?

My second complaint.  All the rakes that hold the bushings are screwed in with self tapping bolts. When you purchase the rake there is no thread in it, so you screw in the bolts which grab into the rake. I cannot understand why the rakes would not have threads? Why not a bolt with a nut on the end? Why is this a issue for me? Well I cannot seem to back out a bolt without snapping off the head. Then, I am stuck either purchasing another rake or trying to removing the broken bolts, which isn't easy.  I cannot understand why these rakes are not made so that they can come off easier with better bolt system. If somebody here has a trick on removing these self tapping bolts, please let me know. PB blaster does not seem to help at all. Just as a note, the rake is $9.95 and the bolts are $1.45 at my dealer. So with three bolts in each, it doesn't take much to need $15 in parts for just one rake.  With two on the auger, it will run me over $30 to get it out if I want to anit seeze it.  At least when I put it back together I can use bolts/nut. But would be nice if there was a thread in the rake.

That is it. These seem to be minor issues that ariens could easily rectify to make these machines easy to maintain. 

Cheers
Goofie Newfie

pvrp wrote:

By reading the very frequent complaints about Ariens machines, I have to say "best of the best" is a considerable over statement.   In my opinion, they're in the top five of the best snow throwers.  However, I'd rate them in around fourth after Honda, Simplicity/Snapper/JD, Toro.   They're not the machines they used to be.

borat wrote:
I was expecting someone to bring Honda up, but not the others.  I haven't gotten
up close with all of them but from pictures and specs I don't see what would lower
Ariens with respect to the others, but then I'm only referring to their Pro models and
how they compare with the top models of the other companies.   It looks to me that
solidity-wise the Ariens is at least the equal of the others, if not more so, but the big
thing that puts Ariens way ahead of the others is the differential.

As for Honda...  I have to admit that to me the idea of Honda making a snowblower
in the first place is kind of a strange idea and their implementation of it reflects this. 
It's like using a GoldWing to plow a field.  In my mind a snowblower should be more
like an old tractor, few parts (inexpensive to replace) and everything built so that it
could be left for a few years at the end of a field but then be put back in service with
little effort.  Big lumbering heavy parts, the very opposite of spiffy Japanese mechanics.
Something you can work on yourself without needing thousands of dollars of special
tools.  Honda's front end has never impressed me either, too light and somehow
doesn't look quite right (and they only recently fixed their weird skid shoes, or lack
thereof).

Cars are a different matter, I drive Japanese, but for snowblowing I'd rather have a
Harley :-)  I get a kick out of starting my 10hp Tecumseh flathead.  Chug, chug, chug,
sputter, chug, chug, chug.  What vibration, what noise !   But after ten years it's still
like the day I bought it and will probably be the same in another ten, or twenty.

Then there's the price of parts.  I have this Honda four-stroke brush cutter.  I wanted
to buy another head so I could switch from a blade to a string with a single screw
instead of having to spend a bunch of time dismantling and reassembling things to
switch from one to the other.  The price for a second head (minus the guards,spool
and so on) was almost the price of the entire machine. Imagine the price for parts
and repair to Honda's hydrostatic drive.

I have a 1995 Case 1845C skidsteer loader which is also built the American way,
every part is overly robust and its four-cylinder C-u-mmins [this software won't let
me put those three letters together] diesel always starts like a car when I fire it up,
even in winter.  All parts are readily available and cheap.  Just like Ariens.  By the
way this machine, with chains, is a real snowmover (though I bought it for
landscaping).   I've noticed that skidsteer loaders have also gone the route of
decreasing robustness and increased complexity.  Too bad.

To you Honda owners, I'm not trying to pick a fight :-)  I seriously considered buying
one this year but the fact that they won't turn on a dime was the main fault since it
will be used to clear a lengthy wheelchair ramp with u-turns and a tracked machine
would have been a pain (now if their tracks could be operated like the wheels of my
loader, which can spin on itself, it would be a different matter). I may still buy one
oneday (in another life I was a Honda motorcycle mechanic) but if I do it will be more
like buying a motorcycle or sporstcar,  for the fun of babying it  and working on it in my 
garage to keep it shiny new.  While the Ariens spends the night in the doghouse.

Paul

goofienewfie wrote:

I'm thinking that maybe you could contact Ariens via their web site and give them your feedback in precise terms.  Maybe they will take the advice to make some changes in these areas you've mentioned.  Certainly the bolts could come with nuts if they wanted to manufacture the parts in question that way.  I think it would be a good idea.  It's also a good idea about treating the parts to prevent rust.  If you contact them, please let us know what Ariens' response is.  That would be very helpful. 

  this is how  the companies make there money....  im surprised no one on this forum has mentioned it in the past.  when you purchase a new machine " disassemble" and anti-seize stuff.  my small engine teacher here in minnesota worked for the polaris dealer and the upper people told him this exactly,  that this is how the make they money is selling parts later.    take briggs and stratton..... right now we are sellin g a 5hp vertical mower engine for $139.00.   2 yrs down the road from proper maintenance, i will sell him a new $40.00 carb plus gaskets and such.   get the point.   

mech12 wrote:

Yep! same thing everywhere and most in China. I always make my wife smile about China, when I go to Walmart to buy something to hang on the wall they always come with screws....yeah screws chineese screws, if you miss your first shot they strip right away, that's how thing are made now, zinc plated sounds good but you know what is really zinc? it's crappy steel :)))))))))))))  So to get competitive to asiatic we now north american made our stuff like them what a mess, we are far from the tough steel 1959 ford truck

Hi all;

My complaints here are relativily minor. But, none the less unexpected for the price paid for this machine. In any case it is fixable, just with some work and money involved. My case being that for  just a few more dollars and a tad bit more time, these would not have to be address by any owner for a few years and that is what most expect with this type of machine. Has this ruin my Ariens experience? No. I suspect that what I have done to this machine would have been needed on almost all machines. Borat, in a post to me you explained you had to anti seize your wheels, as for the pulleys you didn't mention. I am currious to know why you ranking system? What makes your machine and torro better then ariens?  I won't mention the honda, as I too believe this to be number one.  The main differences I know of the simplicity/snapper/JD are the briggs engine and the cast iron gear case. But what else? The Toro is aluminum.  This brings me to another question, what is the makes the cast iron so good? I know its heavy are probably last longer, unsure if age of it lasting will make a difference in the end as I think the heavy aluminum one on mine will withlast fairly well. The Pro's have a cast iron, but my is just slightly less then a pro model. But isn't what makes a good gear is the gears inside and not so much the case? Why all the talk about the cover? I am thinking it would be better if we could compare the gears inside. Maybe the cover does make a difference, I am new to all this.

The negatives to me right now for ariens are the tecumseh engine and the minor issues I posted about in the beginning of this thread. Other then that I have no issues.  As for the tecumseh, well most here tell me it will last a long time with proper care, this including yourself. So that doesn't seem to be much of a issue. I am guessing Ariens will be moving on to Briggs in the future, so that sort of  crosses that off for the future, at least I hope.

But there are some pros on the ariens that your simplicity doesn't have. For example, the differential.  I think this is amazing and truly enjoyed this feature last year. The simplity has wheel trigger and I believe on one side at that. I think that is less then superior to the differential.  Second I am unsure of, but does the simplicity have a dual belt drive system for the impeller and auger? I think this is a great feature as well. 

I think there are pros and cons to every machine, I think the ranking of the top 5 may change depending on ones needs. I am not sure if its clear cut as to what manufacture is in which place.  I have never used or even seen a simplicity/snapper/jd.  Last year Jd didn't have snow throwers. Simplicity or snapper is not sold in my area. So I cannot even really judge them in any way. I have seen and used Toro and I can honestly say I feel my ariens is better for my purposes then a toro.  Toro was more expensive as well when I was pricing comparable machines last year before I purchased this unit.

I am sure the ranking of the top five could be debatable for a long time and maybe it would certainly change depending on each persons needs.  But I would like to know the things I have listed here as to why you put them in that order for yourself.

As for the original topic, I would love to see Arien's address the issues I listed and maybe I will forward this off to their customer service. If I get a response I will be sure to let you know.

I didn't want to start a pis* fight over which snow thrower is best.  My point was that  from what I've read lately,  in my opinion, Ariens is not  "best of the best".   I came to my conclusions by doing a cursory count of the number of complaints about Ariens vs. the others.  If you do the same, you'll see that the ratio of complaints is very much biased toward Ariens machines.  I'm certain that the argument will be made that Ariens is the number one seller of snow throwers.  Therefore the higher number of complaints.   That may have some impact on the weighting but I doubt very much that the numbers would be sufficient to balance the complaints bias.  I will make one concession though and that is since Ariens & Toro began selling their lower end products in the box stores, it is very much possible that some of their problems are a result of poor assembly. 

My rating of Ariens is based on my observations of words associated with complaints, used in conjunction with the word Ariens.   Not scientific I know.  However, I've been around long enough to see a trend developing. 

borat wrote:
Hi borat;

Please do not take my post as a fight over which snow thrower is best.  As for Ariens being the best, I do not agree with this either and I own one. The point behind my post was coming from a person that is new to all this. I am a one year old snow thrower owner and have much to learn. This forum has been a wealth of information for me and has helped me from deciding my purchase to maintaining it. Actually your post have helped me a great deal and for that I very much appreciate it. The purpose behind my post wasn't to bite the hand that feeds me. The purpose was to get you to elaborate more on your thought process into your conclusion of order on the top five machines.  I was hoping you would go into detail about each machine features, rather then general conclusion based on post.  Since I have never seen a simplicity, I was curios to things like gear casing, engine, bearings, bushings, bolts, pulleys, differential, zerks, etc...  Get down to a nitty gritty analyst of the machines that make the world of difference in the end. Basing it on this information would seem a more thorough way of compiling a list of order. 

Last year when I bought this machine I was thinking of writing a review. Then I backed out on it, thinking that a year of running and the end maintenance would make a difference. It most certainly has. After having some problems and some interventions as to the way things are assembled, I can certainly say my review will be different. I am planning on doing one. I noticed a while back that your review was slightly updated, but never went into more maintenance specific details. After you serviced your machine is there anything you disliked on it? Or is everything up to spec and exactly how you would have it.

As for Ariens selling more machines, thus more complaints. Well I think this may have a slight impact. I know in my area I cannot get a simplicity/snapper. So there has to be more areas like that.  I am not exactly remote. I do live in the capital of my province and has a decent population; we also receive large amounts of snow. The snow thrower market is a good market here.

So sorry if my post came off as my machine is better, that wasn't my intention at all. I was just hoping for some details on machine comparison. Like the original post said, I am not completely happy with my machine, based on a couple of minor issues that I believe Ariens could resolve. That is at this point and maybe more things may arise, I can assure you, I will let you know. I am not going to hold back for the sake of being able to say I own ARIENS! Nothing better! :) 

Side note, I did forward these complaints off to ariens. I think I did so four times. Not on purpose. There contact form kept giving a sql error or something. Tried it twice in firefox and twice in explorer. Then I give up. Checked my e-mail later. Got four automatic replies from Ariens saying they received my e-mail. lol, I am sure four of them will catch somebody’s eye. haha.. Will keep you informed as to if I receive response.

Don't fret about the possibility of me being offended.  I'm not.    It's nothing  you said that I'm objecting to.   It was the "best of the best" quote that I found more than a little pretentious.   Trust me, I believe that Ariens make some of the finest machines out there.  Particularly their Pro models.   Anything less than that are, more or less on par with , or slightly less robust than comparable models from Toro, Snapper/Simplicity and their derivatives.   The main points that differentiated the lesser Ariens from the Simplicity/Snapper models  was the Tecumseh engine and aluminum gear case.   However, that appears to be changing.  I've noticed that Simplicity is going with aluminum gear cases on their small 8 h.p. models.  Their large frame models, 9 h.p. & up still have the cast iron gear case. 

Regarding your questions concerning what I like/don't like about the Simplicity, that'll be a brief synopsis.  I like everything about it other than the reverse speed.  It's painfully slow.  Other than that, everything works well and I've had no problems with freezing controls, rusting parts or anything else for that matter.  Now, that does not automatically equate to it being a better machine.  It's as good as the best brands out there and I'll stand by my ratings primarily due to the features (durable mechanical controls, B&S engine, cast iron gear case, very solid chassis, all metal mechanical components ) that, to me, make it a slightly preferable machine.  Much mechanical failure can be attributed to maintenance.   Or more correctly, lack thereof.   I'm certain that very many, if not most, purchasers of first class snow throwers, do nothing to them simply because it's an ???? machine.  People get false sense of invincibility because the have bought one of the best.   Not so.  When I bought my Simplicity, I knew it was a very well crafted machine but anything made on a factory assembly line should be given a thorough inspection once you get it home.  Even on the Simplicity, I found things that I wasn't happy with.  Mostly lubrication issues.  No grease on the drive chains, no grease between axle and wheels other than the driven wheel engagement mechanism and generally dry control cables and other mechanical interfaces.   So, with a bit of initial attention, many problems can be eliminated before they happen.  A note of caution though.  Don't get too goofy with oil & grease anywhere near the friction/drive wheel and drive belt surfaces.   Slopping grease or oil on those surfaces will be very, very inconvenient. 

I hope I've addressed your queries. 

         

borat, I wasn't really being pretentious, though it may have come
across that way.  It probably was a bit of a challenge, but mainly
just some rooting for the home team.

I've come to the realization that snowblowers aren't really for the
average person, which may account for their apparent slide towards
extinction.  The fact that they are getting cheaper and cheaper,
therefore requiring more and more maintenance certainly doesn't
help the situation.

Take for instance the requirement that the oil be changed on a new
machine after 2 hours of operation.  How many new owners would
know how to do this ? (especially since when you go to remove the
plug/cap it's the entire pipe that unscrews and then you need visegrips
and, well, it's a real pain).  But I can't see someone paying a dealer to
come over and work on the machine after a couple of hours, and if
it was bought in a big box store there is no one to come over.  Once a
year maybe, and even then most people wait for the thing to break
before seeking help.

I think the handyman (I've yet to meet a handywoman) may be on
the way out as well, at least in my part of the woods, and you more
or less have to be one to take care of outdoor power equipment.

So maybe we'll all be forced down the Honda path where you pay
a fortune for the machine then pay a fortune to have it maintained
by a dealer, just like a car.  I don't think the cheap snowblower can
survive as a disposable commodity, they're just too expensive for
that.  Unlike something like a lawnmower.  The snowblower of
yesterday could be treated like a lawnmower because it lasted,
and could be fixed for a reasonable price when it broke.

The problem with the Honda route is that  we're not all rich enough
for it, and like I said before I don't find fancy mechanics well suited
for hard work.  So maybe we'll be forced to go back to hiring the
local kid on the block if we can drag him away from his computer ?

Paul