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.

Billy, thanks for adjusting the pictures.

 

>>>I asked the dealer if he'd seen this before and he said it happens quite often and described it as one their weaknesses. ( not sure if he meant a weakness of Ariens in particular, or a weakness of the Tecumseh starters)

 

   There are bazillions of snowblowers with starters so seeing failures would be expected.  I had about 150 used machines and I can’t say Tecumseh has a problem with mounting starters.  There have been a few with cracks or a chunk has fallen off at one of the mount holes.  Some have stripped holes but no telling if it was a customer mount or not.  Generally I see those problems in older machines over 15 years old.  For newer machines that have not been replaced by a user I’ve never seen a starter mount issue.

   Possibly yours did not get screwed in fully and eventually vibrated to the condition it’s in.  Pro come stock with electric start so should have been mounted by Tecumseh and inspected by Ariens.  The likely problem was not having the bolts tightened down enough.  It could have been the starter maker had a defective mount leg like a crack and no one noticed.  Ariens sells many machines so problems expected.  No flood or starter problem have shown up on the net that I’ve seen.

 

   I’ve had bunches of that style Ariens lever mount and never had a problem.  I’ve had 5 11.5 28’s and no issues.  I currently have an 11.5 28 that was used commercially for 4-5 years in excellent shape except for a blown motor.  After changing oil the owner did not screw in the drain plug fully, the oil leaked out and he did not notice it.

 

   Is that the picture with the rusted section and nut the cowling issue?  That’s the heater box.  That’s mounted with a screw on the top, one the shown nut and two small screws on the side.  With the two small screws in that thing should have almost no vibration so I can’t see how it would crack.  So may be it’s not the issue but I’m not sure.  Does it have it’s two screws in place?  With those there is no way the heater box should develop a crack.

 

>>>The engagement levers are flimsy and that's why they break.

    Weird place for metal to crack and I’ve never seen an issue with Ariens levers.  Never saw a problem on the net about levers.  I don’t see how under normal force enough pressure could be applied to crack that metal even if it was half as thin.  It’s only resistance is a spring.  For a lever to crack there something is unusual.  Possibly the cable/belt tension was so high much more force was required than overcoming the spring tension.  For regular operation I don’t see  how the lever metal is under spec’ed.

 

>>To me it makes a lot of sense for the manufacturer to have quality control over every part of the machine they are producing.

    The above was in reference to engines.  Makers order engines and have some leeway for quality.  They can spec builds to Teccumseh for beefier or flimsier parts to offset cost.  Craftsman, Sears, Murray, MTD were usually on the reduce cost side and Ariens on the add side.   

 

   I have not seen anywhere on the net or with machines here any problems like your have had.  Some of what you have is Tecumseh related not Ariens.  For the Ariens issues, if they were real issues common to many machines it would show up and it has not. 

  BTW: Once the starter had fallen off the chances of mount hole damage are very high.  If you mounted the starter did you check the holes, use loctite or something to keep the screws in?   

Billy have you found the cause of the excessive vibrations under a load?  Seems if that's the problem then you may have ongoing issues until it's corrected. 

Some possible things that may contribute to vibrations:

1. Poor compression

2. Sticking throttle/restricted movement

3. Leaking cylinder head gasket

4. Overheating

5. Broken, worn or sticking piston ring(s)

6. Incorrectly aligned flywheel and/or flywheel housing

7. Loose or broken mounting bolts

Quote:  "

   Is that the picture with the rusted section and nut the cowling issue?  That’s the heater box.  That’s mounted with a screw on the top, one the shown nut and two small screws on the side.  With the two small screws in that thing should have almost no vibration so I can’t see how it would crack.  So may be it’s not the issue but I’m not sure.  Does it have it’s two screws in place?  With those there is no way the heater box should develop a crack. "

Well it did, when the machine was only a few weeks old the first time. And as I said previously, they replaced the part and the second one cracked in exactly the same place. All of the nuts and screws are in place. I called it the cowling, but I'm no expert on terminology...whatever, it broke. Since it was welded over three seasons ago it hasn't cracked again and that's because with the weld it is now thick enough around that bolt hole. If it had been heavier gauge metal it wouldn't have cracked in the first place.

I can't speak to whether or not there have been online reports of these types of problems from other Ariens owners but I would guess that locally there would be a lot of Ariens owners but very few who would be online discussing them. The dealer I bought it from has been in business for probably thirty years and he told me starter issue is common. And I'm not the only one to have the levers break either. And again, it's been a couple of years since the first one broke, but it's never broken again after being welded and that should tell you something. 

I honestly don't feel that my engine vibrates any more than any other similar engine. I've owned three and operated several others and there has always been vibration, it's no worse....but no better on this one. And I know that a lot of this relates to the Tecumseh engine rather than the blower it's mounted on, but that's what I mean when I talk about the disconnect between the two. To my way of thinking a blower manufacturer can't, or shouldn't put their brand on a machine and then when there's a problem cop out and say " well the problem is the engine and we don't make the engine so we aren't responsible". It's up to them to put a decent engine on there and then stand behind it. Or better yet, make their own. 

I should say that I contacted Ariens with a complaint through their website. There is supposed to be a 48 hour response time. After a week or more I got back a short response asking for a model and serial number and a statement that my case would be reviewed. That was awhile ago now and I've heard nothing.    

    I’m on pretty good terms with the guys at Boston Lawnmower, the biggest stocking dealer for Ariens on the east coast.  I’ll put what they said at the applicable spot.

 

>>>With the two small screws in that thing should have almost no vibration so I can’t see how it would crack

 

   That’s what I think.  Also if the machine is vibrating like crazy and the 4 screws are the right screws and inplace properly I don’t think any part of a heater box would split.   If the heater box were vibrating that much the carb mount could probably break before anything else.  But just say there could e movement enought to cause presssure at that front side screw.  Take it out an look what that's screwed into.  That would probably rip out long before any cracking of the metal.  Right you say but it happen.  It did and I certainly can't explain it or understand how.

   I take off the heater box on every machine I get and never saw one with thin metal. 

   Boston Lawnmowers (BL) response was they never saw one cracked like yours.  Never saw one “just damaged” without a story i.e. no broken as in defect.  They said they have never had a warrantee claim for a defective heater box.

   

 

>>>  The dealer I bought it from has been in business for probably thirty years and he told me starter issue is common

 

BL guy said he never saw a machine that was sold with a factory installed starter that fell off. Never had a warrantee claim for that.

 

>>>Broken handles

 

  My take is they are not so strong but plenty strong for the job if things are in adjustment or even off by not so crazy amount.  I have over adjusted the auger lever to where the pull down would eventually break the cable or lever but that was for testing.  I could easily see fighting a blower and twisting the lever if someone were rough with their machine. 

The BL guy said the levers are not that strong.  He said they see broken levers mostly on machines with some age but never had a warrantee claim for them. 

 

 

>>>I should say that I contacted Ariens with a complaint through their website. There is supposed to be a 48 hour response time. After a week or more I got back a short response asking for a model and serial number and a statement that my case would be reviewed. That was awhile ago now and I've heard nothing.  

This one is inexcusable. 

 

Your heater box split at a weird place very early.  You had a second break in the same way.  You had early lever failure and a starter fall off.  All in all I’d go with bad Karma rather than try to balance what happened to you against the grillions of machines that don’t have those problems and fault Tecumseh and Ariens for what happened.  My own take is there is nothing to indicate vibration as the cause other than the starter falling off.   The starter was probably drilled, tapped and installed by a robot.