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

Bought this Ariens 11528DLE last year, in January. For some reason, the forward and reverse drive will stop working. The friction wheel is fine, and there is no adjustment for the belt. I brought it to the local Ariens dealer, and of course, they could not reproduce the problem. They were nice enough to look inside, clean the wheel that the friction wheel drives with brake cleaner. Next snow storm, same thing, one pass down the driveway, and it stops. The dealer says, never heard of this one, maybe water is getting inside.

Paid lots of money for a machine that is touted as one of the best, I wish I could figure out why it is happening. Any suggestions???

Thanks

Brian from NH

I have the 926004 model with the Techumseh motor and am having the exact same problems.  The unit is a 2005 and I have had problems with the drive since day one.  I had it in the shop two times the first two years of ownership and they never fixed the problem.  The first year they replaced the friction disk, the second year the pulley assembly.  The third year Ariens blew me off and wouldn't respond to the problem, and the dealership didn't know what to do.  It started acting up again the last snow we got.  It was a whooping two inches of fluff and the temperature was in the single digits. After 10-15 minutes the drive wasn't working, and then after pushing it up the driveway through two passes it pick up again.  I finished the driveway, and pulled the belt cover, and saw nothing.  I tipped it into the service position and opened the bottom plate, and saw some ice but not on the plate.  Either way some sort of moisture is getting in there from somewhere.  Hopefully the baffle will work.  Does anyone have a picture of the kit they can post?  I ordered one, but I have no idea when it is going to come in.

fabianfledge wrote:

Damn Fabianfledge, I feel for you, I have been pushing my 11528DLE for the past year. Just had the baffle installed and used it for the first time, never stopped once. The machine is working like it was designed, finally. I do not know if the baffle will fix yours, because it seems like a Briggs and Stratton problem, but hey it is worth a try.

I would like to thank everyone who responded to this thread. I just hope that the machine continues to work properly, the snow today was 5 inches of light powder. The real test will be the heavy stuff.

I will say, I am more than disapointed in Ariens. To have machines out there that have a known problem, and not sending out a recall, is irresponsible. The dealer that helped me was certainly not at fault, they never heard of the problem, which is a problem in itself, Ariens should have alerted all of the dealers.

Ariens, sent the baffle to the dealer and the dealer fixed it. This is after a year of having the issue. Ariens knew exactly what the problem was when I called them. There was no apoligy, no offer of a loaner, no nothing. I would expect that if a company values repeat customers, they would have made this right. I do need a new lawn tractor and last year I was looking at Ariens, but not anymore. I do want people to know that I am very happy with the way the dealer handled the situation, very nice people.

Again, I want to thank people who tried to help with this issue. This is a great forum.

Brian NH

Brian,

  My snowblower has the same problem as yours, but mine didn't do it everytime I used it.  They do make a kit for the Techumseh engine, so there must be an issue with them, just not as bad as the Briggs maybe.  I am praying it will work.  I know how you feel about Arien's lack of support.  My snowblower was bought at an Arien's dealer and they never heard of the problem.  The snowblower warranty paperwork was all turned in to Ariens, why couldn't they let us know about the problem? What other problems are there that we don't know about? My family has had Ariens forever.  My dad still uses a 1967 model, and it works great.  If the baffle doesn't fix the problem I guess I will try and trade it in, and my next snowblower will not be an Ariens.

I posted a rant on the "John Deere 1130 SE" thread that deals with this.

The short version is that it seems to me that the root cause of the problem is that the friction disk, as implemented, needs to be dry. The problem is that the blower works in an inherently wet environment. The traction system clutch/speed control should work in a wet environment.

At the same time it is good to "hear" from Snowman that newer models at least have a work around in place to alleviate the problem.

I just received the baffle kit for my model.  It really isn't designed to prevent the water from getting in, it just diverts it like a rain gutter.  I will install it and see what happens.  Hopefully this is the fix I have been waiting for.

fabianfledge wrote:

Try it out, you are right about the water being diverted, and so far it has worked for the past two snow storms. I took the cover off and looked at it for the first time yesterday. Two plates, water runs down the first plate, and hits the second plate. Water ends up running off both sides of the snow blower. So far, so good. I hope you have the same result.

Brian NH

brjl wrote:

??? Actually the 11528DLE water baffle is one plate (any 926,XXX series model). The 921,XXX models are two plates. I hope the dealer put the right one on your machine or it probably won't work right.

PK

Snowmann wrote:

Oh boy, I really needed to hear that, I guess I better do some checking, thanks Snowman.

Brian NH

I installed the kit today.  It wasn't difficult.  I just have to wait for snow to see if it works.  It may take several blowing sessions to determine if it is fixed,  but I will post back to let you know.

fabianfledge wrote:

Was it two pieces?