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

I've been using Ariens snowblowers all my life, so I'm pretty disappointed with my 2004 8526LE so far.  When I received it, one of the shoe bolts was stripped out and the shoe would not stay adjusted.  Ariens sent me a couple new ones, which I was happy with.  However during the big blizzard, I noticed my wheel drive was very sluggish, I had to push the thing to get it going forward, and as soon as it hit any resistance, it would stop.  I had fully tensioned and adjusted everything after the initial 15 mins but figured maybe there had been some stretching.  Brought it in to inspect, the pivot point where the drive cable connects (sticks just out of the body) was not pivoting, it was just hanging around in there loose.  Wasn't like that when I got it for sure.  Took it all apart, found the bolt with no cotter pin sitting in the bottom.  So it apparently had been slid through and no pin ever put on (the bolt was stuck in some ice on the bottom, with no pin in sight).  Of course this caused a lot of wear to the friction disc and there is rubber all over the friction plate now.  So I also needed to change the oil last night, and while it was draining I decided to inspect other parts again with a fine tooth comb.  I am missing a bolt that holds the dipstick tube support and the front of the carb cover in place, my starter has a horrible looking electrical connection that I had to re-do (it stopped working during the storm, I thought it was Ice, guess not) and in general all kinds of stuff was loose.

I bought it in the crate as it came from Ariens, unopened, so this was not a dealer assembly issue.  Pretty disapointed for $1000.....  I mean I looked it over when I got it and did the adjustments, but I had no idea I had to rip the entire thing apart and inspect the inside too.  Sheesh.

Now that its all fixed it works great, would drive itself through a brick wall, its not the quality of the product itself that bothers me, more the quality control of the assembly.  So at the beginning of next year looks like I'll need a new friction disc already and spend some time removing the rubber off the plate.  Oh well.

-Dave

Dave-
  Sorry to hear that about your machine.  Maybe the cause of the friction disc problem is actually that the machine needs the R3 drive upgrade and doesn't have it.  My 824 didn't have it and I have shards of rubber all over the place(a rag dampened with gas is a wonderful way to clean the disc and drive shafts)  hope it works good for ya now that the gremlins are worked out

All or most problems would have been caught by the dealer who did the setup and run in, but you did the setup.

I had some initial problems with my Ariens which I think would have been found by the dealer if he had done the initial run-in. I knew nothing about the run-in until I got the machine delivered and read the manual. My dealer doesn't do it and told me to use the machine and bring it in if it needed adjustment. I did it myself and when removing the bottom cover to check the auger brake found that the hard plastic idler pulley for the chain had come off its shaft. Amazingly the two washers and the clip were still there. There were some minor chain marks on the pulley so it had been assembled, but I suspect the clip had been put on hurriedly and hadn't seated properly in the groove. The blower is running and performing great and I have no regrets about purchasing the Ariens. It is disconcerting though to hear of machines where the basics were not taken care of at the factory.

SNOWREMOVER WROTE..........

"Ariens, from the posts on this board, seem to have more problems than other blowers."

FROM THE 7 YEARS I HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FORUM, I FIND THAT TO BE A FALSE STATEMENT.

I am wondering if the majority of members of the forum buy higher end machines so that complaints/problems coming up in the forum may be skewed. Just a thought.

terrapin24h wrote:

Nah the cotter pin having fallen out meant the disc wasn't pressing hard enough, thus lots of slipping.  This unit was manufactured 9/2004 so hopefully it is the new version of the drive (but I could be wrong, any good way to tell?)

Thanks

-Dave

uconncuzinvinny wrote:

I disagree completely.  The missing cotter pin was inside the unit, the bottom cover would have had to be removed and the dealer would have had to inspect very closely to see it wasn't there.  The bolt was in place when I got it (as I adjusted the cable tension and the pivot was working fine).  It vibrated out during my first use I'm assuming.  If Ariens didn't notice it while building, I highly doubt a dealer would have found it.  The front bolt on the oil stick possibly, but if I missed it during my initial inspection, they certainly could have too.  It may have even been in there and just loose.  The shoes come set all the way up and the stripped bolt was holding it enough to look like it was fine, and I am not convinced a dealer would have any reason to adjust the shoes down since the scraper blade was the proper distance from the ground for a flat surface, but I have an uneneven drive and noticed it when I went to raise it some.  The electrical connection was covered, but knowing the starter was being flakey I pulled back the sheath to expose the problem, again, I doubt a dealer would have bothered if it started when they got it (which it did for me).

My experience in the past has been if anything a dealer no matter how good they are would have missed all this stuff, and potentially missed something while assembling it since at the beginning of the season they are trying to assemble as quickly as possible.  In my case, 15 minutes of time to know its done right is worth saving the money.  Like I said, none of the issues I had were to do with dealer assembly, they were all from factory assembly.  I did the full break-in and careful adjustment, something I'm sure every dealer rushes through to get stuff out the door, so I stand by my decision to do it myself, and I would do it again (and I have done it 4 times in the past).

-Dave

Jonathan wrote:

I consider my $1000 one to be "higher end" :-).  Just because its the middle-of-the-road consumer line, doesn't mean it should have quality issues.  I'm not disagreeing with your statement, just saying I hope its not the case!  Plus every other Ariens blower (including lower end ones) I've ever owned/used up until about 4 years ago had none of these issues, it seems to be a more recent thing.

-Dave

"Ariens may be very reliable if properly assembled, checked over and tested.  But on the whole, their factories are putting out more problems "out of the box" then others."

This statement potentially holds water. But using this forum as a judge for that statement of Ariens as a whole, when their are more Ariens owned here than any other brand is taking a giant leap into the realm of wonderland. I will agree that from very recent posts, it appears that theirquality check before leaving the factory has been spotty, with appears and spotty being the operative words. We don't always know all there is to know.

A dealer should assemble all machines and check them for proper operation to begin with. If someone is buying without that in mind, then they should revisit how they buy. I can buy all kinds of merchandise direct from manufacturers or distributors thay requires me putting it together. If it doesn't work and operate properly afterward it doesn't mean that equipment is no good and doesn't necessarily mean that it shouldn't be sold that way. It just means buyer beware.

I'm not talking about specific cases but rather making an advisory statement for the readers and future buyers, it's good practice.