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

I'm kicking off my fourth season with my Ariens ST11528DLE snowblower. For years I put up with an inexpensive MTD which had something or other falling apart nearly every time I used it, all the while promising myself that next time I'd spend more money and get a quality machine. I heard an

awful lot of people saying that apart from the super expensive Hondas, the Ariens were the best. So when the time came I shelled out nearly $2500 for this 11.5 HP, 28" Ariens "Pro" model that I was sure would be like going from a Chevette to a Rolls Royce. I couldn't have been more wrong .

First off I will say that the thing does throw the snow a long ways compared to my old MTD. However in three full seasons and the first two storms of this season I've had the following problems with this expensive piece of crap: the metal engine cowling split apart from vibration and had to be replaced only a few weeks after I bought it. The replacement did the same thing so I got that one welded and reinforced. The headlight quit working and the wiring harness had to be replaced. Both of the engagament levers have split open at their pivot points and had to be welded. The tension spring on the wheel engagement cable broke. As if all of this isn't enough on a practically new machine, yesterday the electric starter wouldn't engage and I thought it must be frozen up. On closer inspection the starter has broken clear of the engine, and the ear with the bolt hole has broken off one side of the starter and the bolt is gone altogether. The starter body is just sort of hanging loosely by one bolt. Obviously this is off warranty by now and it looks like a costly repair.

Besides being extremely frustraing I find this sad. Ariens has had a very solid reputation and now it is clear that their priorirty has shifted from maintaining that reputation to cutting their production cost by using cheap materials and parts. For the unsuspecting buyer the feeling of pride of ownership is replaced by disappointment and hostility, and understandably so. If Ariens loses just one sale because of this product review my time in writing it will be made worthwhile.

My Ariens chute was very easy to move like yours so I added some thick grease to the worm gear and it stopped the problem.  I also have had several Honda's and they all did the same thing.  What I did to correct it on the honda was to remove one of the plates that hold the chute on and bent it down just a touch and remounted it.  Put just a bit of tension on the chute and fixed it.  

Knee_Biter wrote:

The model number is 926016, but the blower is a 2007. I was thinking it was 2008 but it's a year older than I thought. Mind you last winter we had almost no snow so it only got out of the shed about three times. Nonetheless, it's off waranty and I'll have to buy a new starter for it out of pocket unless the dealer makes some sort of benevolent gesture. I was planning to drive out there with the blower today but we're having a minor snowstorm. ( which means I need my blower so I hope using it without the starter bolted on won't hurt it )

I must say that the first time I used this machine it impressed the hell out of me...finally a blower that would blow the snow far enough that none of it would have to be gone over a second time to be clear of it.  But the honeymoon fizzled as soon as things started to break. I don;t think this one vibrates any more than the other two I've owned with Tecumseh engines ( which was plenty...enough to loosen both the muffler bolts and the carburator bolts on the MTD) , unless it's high frequency vibration that is less noticeable to the operator. I'm just wondering if the whole problem started with improperly tightened bolts on the starter. Being fairly inaccesable and hidden those bolts may have been loose for a long time without my being aware of it. Of the four metal mounting tabs on the starter one is boken off altoghter and at least two other are cracked. Maybe that set up a vibration that spread and affected other parts of the machine.

My neighbor had similar issues. He sold it at a garage sale and bought a Simplicity... then moved to Minnesota. He said the Simplicity (Large frame) was worlds better in quality than the Ariens.

Billy,  I am not familiar with that model.  But I would think like others have stated that something is out of balance causing the problems.  If I were you I would remove the electric starter and use the pull start for some time and see how it goes without that mounted.  If all is good then you know it was loose to begin with and it caused your problems. 

I would also run the machine without the belt cover and look and see if all is smooth with no wobble or flapping.  The OHV should be pretty smooth.  I have a 2003/04  model 1128dle pro 924508 and it is built like the old platform very solid.  Same engine and I like it.   You 100% should not be having the problems that you have.  Check out what I have posted and get back to us.  I am sure you will get it fixed.  Just take your time and check it out yourself.  When you are done you will know your machine inside out and thats a plus.  Also where are you located?  If local I would help you take a look and try to figure out whats going on.

>>The engine on the Ariens runs smoothly enough at full throttle, but when it starts to force in deep snow there is just as much vibration as the old non-OHV 10HP engine.

    The description is very subjective.   I've had a number of 10hp L-head and 11.5 OHV's and if I overdrive them they thump and vibrate much differently than a well  loaded engine working $#%*fortably under governor control.   If you were overdriving into tough conditions I would think it very reasonable the things would loosen and fall off.  Having a cowling "crack" or "split" is another thing and hard to imagine.  I've never seen anything close to that.  Never seen cowling damage.  Can you describe the splits and cracks or better post a picture of the repaired cowling?  

   Also the levers if you can?  Seems like the levers would have split from movement when trying to hold onto a bucking bronco.  Are you turning the machine by lifting it by the handles when clearing?  

   I have seen machines owned by big guys with the handlebar bold mount holes at the tractors worn out to an ovel from being man handled.  Not on an Ariens but happened on Toro's. 

Knee_Biter wrote:

I appreciate the thought Knee_biter, but I'm way up in northeasterm Quebec. I am going to take the starter right off tomorrow and while I'm at it I'll try and see if anything else is vibrating abnormally.

trouts2 wrote:

When I speak of the old non-OHV 10HP I'm referring to the ones I've owned personally, it's not a generalization. As far as the cowling is concerned, when that first happened I just noticed that it was drooping down and I thought a sheet-metal screw had fallen out, but when I looked closer the thing had split in two. They're paper thin so I'm not surprised. I took it directly back to the dealership and nearly got in a fistfight with the mechanic who tried to tell me that it wasn't on the warranty because it was part of the engine and not part of the Ariens blower.( as if the brand new engine didn't have its own warranty) The owner wasn't around but after some harsh words the guy put a new cowling on ( they had one on hand which tells me THEY had most likely seen it before).  That one didn't last too long either and when it started to crack around the screw hole I got it welded and I think we welded a washer to reinforce the area around the screw hole. It's been fine since that.

As for the engagement levers, they haven't been abused. They both cracked in exactly the same place, right where the rods are welded on...or actually just  outside the radius of the actual weld. I'm not a mechanic but I've owned everything from snowblowers to brushsaws and as far as I'm concerned those levers simply cracked from metal fatigue and use because they were made with too light gauge material. I had my MTD for thirteen years and although it had a lot of problems the engagement levers certainly never broke.

What bothers me the most about your ordeal is Arien's lack of responsiveness.  I started buying Ariens products in the mid 1980's and have owned and still own a lot of their products...lawnmowers, both front and rear tine rototillers, sno-thro's, etc.   For the first twenty years the company seriously stood behind their products.  I remember calling them to ask where I could buy a can of Ariens orange spray paint becuase the paint was peeling off the top of the deck of my Ariens lawn mower.  They said that what I described sounded like the metal deck wasn't completely cleaned of stamping oils before it was painted.  They explained that spray painting it wouldn't give the right look so they authorized a dealer to put a brand new deck on it free of charge even though it wasn't covered by warranty.   Ariens became my outdoor power equipment company because of that, but now, it's all changed.  They're not the same company.  When I called them about an engine issue I was having with my two month old 2007 Ariens 11.5hp 28" LE snow thrower they weren't interested in talking to me at all.  My dealer just closed and minimally my expectation was that they would refer me to another authorized dealer but I just got the bum's rush. 

Sadly there are no true North American OPE manufacturers, who care about their reputation or product left anymore.   Ariens sold out to the mass merchandisers.  Snapper sold out to Simplicity, who in turn sold out to Briggs, who are rapidly selling out to China.  John Deere just buys Simplicities/Snappers and paints them green. Toro outsources their residential equipment manufacturing to MTD and sells them at Home Depot.   Lawnboy, Gilson, Jacobson...all gone.   I miss the days when we had real choices...today we only think that we do. 

We, as consumers are our own wost enemy when it comes to the slide in quality of much of our mass produced goods.  The reason?  We buy it!

There are still some decently built domestic machines available if we want to pay for them.  Airens and Simplicity Pro serices, and Toros high end machines are still well built. 

Wise consumers will do their homework then spend the extra bucks to get a premium machine.  However, there are not a lot of wise consumers.  Most people who buy a snow blower don't know what they're buying nor what is actually available to them.   From my personal experience, the local dealerships don't do much to keep consumers coming to their show rooms.  Their prices are usually MSRP or higher and they don't deal.  In addition to the initial sticker shock, parts and labour pricing is virtually criminal.   It's particularly bad in this town because Ariens and Toro are sold by the same gouger.  So, if you want to be left with a dime in your pocket, you're pretty much forced to go to the big box stores and buy a watered down version of what you really want.  Fortunately, the local Simplicity dealer isn't as bad for initial price of the machine but is just as guilty when it comes to parts and labour. 

There are a lot of savvy people on this site who are re-powering/refurbishing old Ariens, Simplicity and Toro products that were in decent condition.  I'd be willing to bet that those old machines will do the job as well, be less problematic and much more durable than most of the new offerings available today.  I know that if I encounter any problems with my machine, I'll do the same.           

borat wrote:

My opinion is that with any snow blower, you must be prepared to do your own maintenance and repair.

Although in theory you can go to a good dealer, the reality is that when it breaks, it will break in the middle of a storm, and if you're counting on a dealer driving out fixing it to get you going, then I'm assuming the dealer is your next door neighbor.

Buy a good machine, do the maintenance and learn how to work on it. None of it is that hard, nor does it require extraordinary tools. Mainly common sense and a mail order supplier for parts.

Don't be like my neighbor who had a good MTD track machine and a good John Deere tractor and basically gave them away because "they just stopped working". No joke, bartered about conservatively $5,000 worth of OPE and accessories for a $400 plumber bill. I almost cried when they told me last spring.