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

I'm in the market for a new snowblower and was curious what is the best Ariens option for a compact snowblower? Is the Ariens Compact 24 with the Briggs & Stratton 205cc engine or the Ariens Deluxe 24 with the Subaru SX21 211cc engine the best choice.  The major differences I noticed are the Compact 24 has a light while the Deluxe 24 has 15in tires, 14in auger/impeller and xs aluminum  gear case.  My area isn't really that big and the price is very close on both units.  Any suggestions or comments?

Quite honestly, Neither...

The Ariens website has a pretty good selection brocure that compares all their models and I found some interesting differences between the Compact, Deluxe, Platinum, and Pro models.

I found the Deluxe and Platinum models very similar and the Pro model is where they separate the men from the boys.

The difference in weight between the Platinum 30 and the Pro 26 is close to 100 lbs. That is alot of weight considering the Pro26 is 4" narrower and lugs a slightly smaller engine . The gear housing alone changes from pot metal to aluminum on the Deluxe vs Platinum while the Pro employs a cast iron housing.

The high end Ariens machines are all using Briggs engines in lieu of the imports. Briggs has been around for a long time and after weeks of researching the Ariens website as well as Snowblowers Direct I have found very little negative information in terms of power issues.

Regardless of the manufacturer, after you run the curb a few times and the unit starts to twist and vibrate, you will know right away why most all the schools and maintinance yards in the country choose Ariens Pro.

No doubt a major investment for most of us and in today's world you get what you pay for.

My recommendation, Go for the Pro.

Starwarrior,

starwarrior wrote:

The Platinum 30 is 250lb.  The Pro 26 282lb

starwarrior wrote:

Yep, great brochure, lots of info, here's the link:

http://www.ariens.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Ariens%202011%20Sno%20Spec%20Sheet.pdf

trouts2 is right, only 32 lb diff.

OOPs, I do stand corrected. I mixed up the Deluxe and the Platinum Models.

Even so, the weight differential is quite interesting.

Compact 26       181lbs

Deluxe 28           220lbs

Platinum 30       250lbs

Pro26                  282lbs

I have to admit the lighter machines are more manuverable and so much easier for the snow wusses out there however lighter machines will also have a tendancy to ride up a drift bank rather than work through it which makes for more work and is harder on the machine.

Also you may want to take note on something stated in a previous trouts2 message.

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.

So the answer is that you need is to replace an  entire gearbox assembly which can end up costing a bundle.

I am glad I went with the PRO

Starwarrior