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

Hey guys,

So I was able to put my Ariens Deluxe 30 to the test a few days ago and it did a good job of throwing heavy slushy snow 20+ feet which I what I would expect for the heavy stuff.  What I found hard was manuvering the machine.  Because of it's heavy weight, it digs into the driveway pretty good to the point where it marks up the driveway in a few locations.  My queston is, am I using the blower wrong?  Are you suppose to apply downward pressure on the handles to keep the bucket lighter and slightly up?  The blower definately cleans the snow right to the ground.

Are there shoes that have wheels that I can use to make the machine easier to move around?  Maybe I should look at those...

Thanks,

Midfi

if the scraper bar is digging into the driveway you need to lower the skid shoes to get a little clearance under the scraper blade. Take a paint stirer or something similar that is about 1/8" thick and put in under the scraper on both sides of the blower housing then adjust the skids down until they touch the driveway and tighten the nuts on the skid shoes. You should see a small gap under the scraper bar when you are done.  Most 2 stage machines leave a little snow behind when properly adjusted.   You may also want to change the skid shoes to ones made from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. I made a set of these for my large frame Snapper and the glide nicely over my concrete driveway and dont leave any marks on the driveway.  I would say the resistance of these UHMW skid shoes is about 1/4 that of the old steel ones.

Carl.

Hey Carl, it's the actual skid shoes not the bar that are leaving marks so I think it's just the weight of the machine weighing them down.  I should look into the skid shoes you're talking about though...

Just make sure that you have a little space under the scraper bar.  I love the UHMW skid shoes that i put on my Snapper they really do offer much less resistance and they dont mark up the driveway.

Carl

carlb wrote:
i.e. the "plastic" shoes. 

They're around $35 and seem to hold up pretty well and will NOT leave rust marks on your floor, either.

I won't add pressure to the handlebars as I want the machine to dig into the snow instead of riding up over it.  But I tend to slightly use my hips against one of the handles to keep it pointed in the direction I want.

You could always add a counterweight near the center of the handles to offset the weight of the bucket. If you balance it properly, you'll be able to control the angle of attack more precisely by lifting the handles up a bit to be more aggressive or applying some down pressure to ease off a bit. 5 lbs. placed in the right spot will make your life a whole lot better.

JohnWI wrote:
Just be aware that not all "plastic" skid shoes are created equal.   UHMW and  Delrin ( acetal resin)  are much more wear resistant and have better lubricating properties then most thermoplastics.