Picked up a very nice Ariens 1028 924116 with a mushed gearbox. The owner hit something and continued to run it destroying the steel worm. I've got a stash of brass gears but with a distroyed worm the only option was get a new gearbox. Ariens does not supply parts for the aluminum gearbox anymore. They only source an assembly with a cast iron gearbox, including the auger drive shaft and rake shaft.
It's heavy and seems well built but no telling what is in there for a gear. If anyone knows please post. Some pictures show the original aluminum gearcase half. The auger drive shaft is two parts mated with a bolt that is welded in place. That is probably done so they can put in varying length drive shaft extensions for various models.
I had seen pictures of this assembly at a dealer but from those it seemed puny and I was not looking forward to the prospect of one day having to buy one. The replacement is pretty nice and will be a great upgrade to the 1028. The assembly is $179 from Jacks and the same price for 24 and 28 inch rake. Not sure why they include the rake shaft versus getting the price down a bit. Possibly they assume the shaft will have a slight bend which will affect the gearbox. ??
What I would be very interested in knowing is if anyone knows what the gear in this is. Is it the same as the shouldered gear used in the original aluminum gearbox or a different bigger better gear or smaller?
This message was modified Dec 14, 2010 by trouts2