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

Thinking about doing a little side-work and I'm wondering if anyone has any complaints about the Ariens ATC concept?  It kind of freaks me out to think about NOT having both wheels fully engaged.  I think I would prefer having the levers to disengage a wheel, but this is contrary to what their PR is advocating.

I just don't quite get the concept.  Is it 1WD unless it slips?  or is it 2WD unless one is "blocked?"

I know that a lot of areas I'd be doing were on a bit of a grade.

Also, The wheels of today are a lot "grippier" than those of old.  Are chains really necessary?

Canadian Winters would probably be significantly easier than what places like southern New England and Long Island get.  We almost never get the light powder you see in a snow storm.  We get wet sleet, even when it does snow light powder, the storm will often begin as sleet or freezing rain or end that way.  This combines with salted roads plowed into our driveway means the snow the machine must move itself into is denser, far heavier, and tends to clog the machine.  This so taxes the drive mechanisim that within a short time you end up having to 'push' the snowblower into the snow because the drive plate and friction wheel slip.  I never went longer than 2 years between swapping out the rubber on that friction wheel, and after 5 years the drive plate had to be roughed up with a sander, no easy task for a part not designed to be removed from the machine for regular service.  Now you know why I paid the buckaroos for a Honda with No Friction Wheel.

Sounds like your previous snowblowers were in severe service or you typically over drive the snowblower into piles.  I don't have any thing against or in favor of friction discs but I hope your new Honda hydrostatic transmission will able to endure the same conditions.  If the hydro trans go south, it will be expensive, compared to burned or worn out friction discs.

I too have Honda hydro trans and I'm careful of not abusing it.  This is my first hydro unit with little reliability experience so I err on side of caution.  Wet or dry snow, I let the auger does most of the work chewing snow rather than forcing the bucket in with the power of the hydro trans.  I'm confident it can take that kind of abuse, but using it more akin of a snowplow rather than a snowblower, I don't know for how long it will last. 

"Canadian Winters would probably be significantly easier than what places like southern New England and Long Island get."

Do you think?  I could have sworn that parts of Canada are a bit north of New England.    

I live on the north shore of Lake Superior.  We get a great deal of lake effects snow. It's December 1st and we've already got over 14" of snow and almost all of it fell heavy and wet.  It rained here all day yesterday.  If it had fallen as snow, we would have received another 10  to 12" of wet snow.   We'll get snow right into mid to late April.  Last year, we received 30" of heavy wet snow on April 1st. 

Believe me, where I live, you're above statement couldn't be more inaccurate.  Machines in this neck of the woods see demanding service. 

Proper use and maintenance of the machine will go a long way toward keeping it functional.   I do my own maintenance and do frequent inspections/adjustments.  Neighbours who aren't as vigilant are packing their snow throwers into the back of their pick ups and hauling them in for service every two or three years. 

There's nothing wrong with disk drive systems.   They're simple, reliable and inexpensive to repair if and when necessary. 

aa335 wrote:
Sorry but 'overdriving' is impossible.  The machine was never out of its lowest speed position, and even that was unable to push the auger into the snow pile without me pushing it as well.  The Friction wheel rubber slipped, either because it was worn or the drive plate was worn smooth.  That is why I got rid of the machine and bought the Honda.  I'll have to use my strength to turn the Honda, the old Craftsman-MTD had steering triggers, but that is far easier than providing the forward movement of the machine.  If I bought a 'Friction Wheel' machine I'd never buy one with tracks again.  the Tires have a chance of slipping when they can't move forward, the track machine simply makes the friction wheel slip.   The Town I live in and a number of others in the area use the Honda's for sidewalk clearing, they've held up well, and municipal workers are never easy on the machine, or careful about how they use them.   When they used the friction wheel machines they bought either John Deere or Ariens machines, but they don't anymore.  In fact the Town had a new HS 1132 TAS on order with the same Honda dealer I bought mine from.

You can overdrive even in first gear, especially when going into EOD piles.  This happens when the wheel speed is faster than the auger processing the snow.  If the wheel or tracks slips on the snow, this is less stressful on the drivetrain than friction disc slipping.