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

I'm taking delivery of a new ariens 1130 DLE tomorrow that I purchased from a local dealer in Portsmouth, NH.

Long story short, I bought a used 8hp craftsman from an upstate snow thrower repairman for $175 which I thought was an incredible deal. We had about 1 1/2 inches drop last week, and sure enough with only 4 passes on the driveway, the engine blew. Luckily the guy was a man of honor and gave me my money back.

Have been looking at Sears and Home Depot for a few months now, so up to speed on the prices. And the local dealer was a bit higher in price, but actually knew all the ins and outs of the machines, including some maintenance tips. So that value add, plus the good feeling of supporting a local business, I decided to buy at the local dealer.

Plus, I also bought a Cub Cadet lawnmower with electric start from HD last summer and it had problems from day 1. So the local authorized CC dealer I took it to for repairs was also the guy I bought the new ariens from. Another long story short, the CC never worked as advertised and the authorized dealer suggested I take it back to HD, which I did to exchange for a Toro.

Anyway, I've read the new owners manual on the ariens already and can't wait until it comes tomorrow. We are looking forward to snow 5 out of the next 7 days.

Aside from changing the oil after the first 2 hours of use, can anyone offer any good maintenance tips? I've already stocked up on Pam cooking spray as I've read that it really helps in keeping clogs from building up.

Any advice is appreciated.

I have the same unit, great machine. Start up the machine, shut off fuel valve and let it run out of gas.  Remove belt cover and look at belts with the clutch engaged and disengaged. Check manual to see if set properly based on clearance of the belt to the bar bracket that goes over them, if everything fine, leave belt cover off and Tip the machine into service position( sitting on the auger bucket).  Remove the pan covering the bottom.  Take snap brackets off on the outside of the wheels, then slide off the wheels.  Anti seize the part the wheel slides over and inside the wheel. Make sure to get under the tire key as well, there is one inside the wheel, you will see it when you slide it off, put wheels back on.  Look in the box/chassis now that you have the pan removed, check to make sure differential gear, chain and friction disc rod are well lubed. Check friction plate clearance from friction disc as per manual, Also check attachment belt brake arm as per manual, both may be misadjusted based on the cables that control these parts. If everything is fine with measurements, grease, etc.. Close the pan, put unit back down and close belt cover. Check that chute is rotating properly and that the tooth is unlocking and locking. Remove chute rotation cover and make sure gears are greased. If deflector hood is tight going up and down on chute, rub vaseline on the metal while the deflector is completely up.  Run for 2 hours, change oil. Keep eye on belts from time to time.  Extra -> wax, dry and buff machine. :)  Your baby should be ready for what ails it. 

I may have left somethings out, but this will give you good start :)

Oh, while you got you pan off, snap a pic of inside,  wondering if your friction plate is coated on the edges.



 

Thanks for all the great advice. Had a chance to share your input with the guy who delivered her this morning. He told me he personally set her up (in addition to making deliveries and giving a tutorial on using the machines they sell, he is also the shops head mechanic) and that I should run her for 2 hours then change the oil. Beyond that, he already greased all the internal components and pointed out the grease gun input near the right tire.

Thanks again for your insightful advice and I'll let you know how she handles the coming week of snow.

If I were you I'd still pull a wheel off and see how much grease there is
on the axle.  You want a lot of grease.  Same for the base of the chute.
Mechanics in shops don't have to time to baby a machine whereas
you can, if you have the urge.  There is more to lubricating a snowblower
than shooting some grease in the fitting on the outside, which only goes
to one specific place.

Did he say he opened up the machine to lube the drive parts ?  The factory
sort of puts some grease in there but it can be improved upon.

Paul

I agree with Paul, If nothing else I would take off the wheels and anti seize them.  As for myself, if somebody had to post what I did when I bought my unit, I would have done it all.  The belts and adjustments should be fine, but its nice to be completely sure. On top of that you will be getting used to your machine and how it operates, giving yourself some ease when something happens. In the end you will need to be able to do all that is listed at some point in time, Unless you get somebody else to do that work for you. If you plan on doing the work, why not know how its done now and also ensure its right to make things easier to remove and work on it the future.

Paul, did your friction plate have a coating?

goofienewfie wrote:
I can't remember.  I know the attachment brake did but that doesn't mean anything.
There's been a change of plans and I won't get to it until after Christmas (and I'll
probably face about 3' of snow, with a layer or two of ice mixed in, should be fun.
At least the main part of the driveway is taken care of by a local guy with a tractor-
mounted blower).

Paul

pvrp wrote:
Shucks! Yes, the attachment brakes and a few other things do, but wondering about the friction plate, next time in take a glance :)  Oh no, sounds like a bad recipe for fustration. Hope its not to bad to clear, no neighbor to help clean things up while away?

I as wondering if some one could awnser a question i got the same snow blower yesturday, and we got about 12inches and the blower just pushed the snow  to the side did very little throw throwing.I called the dealer back and he said to adjust the cable and put more tension on it, i did it and it did very little. I was wondering if any oner had any advice or what i can do.

Did you take off the plastic cover over the pulleys to see if the belts are on the pulleys? Did you adjust the clutch/brake cable as per the manual? It sounds like the brake/clutch adjustment still isn't right.

yes i checked the belts, like the manuel said.

snowking63 wrote:
Start up the machine, turn off fuel valve and run carb dry until the unit shuts off. Remove the belt cover look at the belt space between the bracket that goes over the top and the belt. Check as per the manual, then flip the unit up in service position and remove the bottom cover pan and look in at the brake arm. Check it vs the specs in the manual. But a quick check would be to push down the auger lever to put it in engage position and watch the little brake arm release. Arm with a roller on it. Make sure its pushing up against the brake pad and moving it slightly off the belts. If the belts were set right in step one and the arm is pushing the brake pad off the belts, It should turned the impeller and auger when started.  Keep the cover off and put in back down into standard position and turn the fuel back on and start it up.  Engage the auger again and watch the belts to see if they are moving. If they are moving your impeller and auger should be as well.  Put a cable tie or band around the auger lever to keep it down and walk around front to watch the auger and impeller, they should be spinning. Be carefull, don't be foolish and get close.  If they are spinning everything should be fine if you set the belts right like the manual.  If you try it out again and its still not working right, the belt must be slipping, go over the adjustments again.  If they are not spinning, then shut the unit off, remove spark plug cap and check out the shear pins in the auger rod that goes through the center into the gear box. Remove them completely and inspect to see if they are cracked/broken off.

Its more and likely something to do with the belt slipping, the brake pad not being released or shear pins broken.  Make sure you are adjusting the right cable as the one on the left in operating position is for adjusting the friction plate for the wheels and disc.  The cable on the right is for the belt and brake arm release.  The one on the right is the one to focus on.