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

Hi all,

I just bought a 1993 (I think?) Ariens ST824. Model 924082, serial 0040XX.

The good news: Paid $150, the augers weren't turning (the belt had come off, and seems like it needs to be replaced). It starts & runs fine, and has electric start. The engine showed ~120-130 psi when cranking it with the electric starter, and ~60 psi when pulling it by hand (I don't know whether those are good or bad). It has a differential, rather than the simple pin-through-the-axle setup of my MTD. I thought that was a cool surprise, I didn't expect a differential. Is that common on the ST824's, or did I get lucky? The differential works fine. It's a weird feeling being able to just steer it.  I get the impression that the previous owner gave it some grease occasionally, since the gearbox area seems well lubricated. The person I bought it from just got it recently, so I don't know its history.

The less-good news: It has a fair bit of rust, unfortunately (may have been stored outside?). But it seems solid. There are two areas that concern me so far.

One is that the big gear on the differential can skip against the teeth of the mating sprocket. There appears to be quite a bit of play in the wheel bearing on that side (the bearing at the other end of the shaft, for the right wheel, seems a bit better). So I think the shaft is being allowed to move too far away from the mating sprocket, and it's able to skip. Is this common? It looks to me like replacing the wheel bearing should do quite a bit to help make the gears tight again. Am I right? Is that a difficult job? Special tools needed, etc? It sounds like a tapered roll pin has to come out, from glancing at the service manual. 

The other issue is that there is play between the two halves of the unit. The tractor half, and the snowblower half. The big bolts at the top of the frame, which join the two, were loose, and able to bang back & forth. It seems that it's been used like that for a while now, unfortunately. One of those bolts can't be tightened, the nut (below the frame) just spins. I'm having a hard time figuring out a part number for that nut. As a result of those bolts being loose, I assume, the bottom area, where the two halves join, has also worn. There is a rod in the tractor half which slips into a groove in the snow blower half. That groove has opened (I think) and the rod has worn smaller. So there is play down there as well. I'm not sure if there's a good way to try and take up that play, with some kind of bushing perhaps.

So I think I need at least some belts, a friction disk, probably one wheel bearing (I'd prefer to leave the right-side one alone, if possible), and I'm sure some other random parts. Maybe I can figure out some way to tighten up that rod-to-groove fit at the bottom.

Does this sound like it's worth fixing up? I'm looking for something reliable and durable to replace my MTD 8 hp, 26". I just don't know whether the issues described above should really never happen, and therefore this machine has been put through a LOT. And that maybe I should look for a different one. I don't have a problem fixing this stuff, as long as a handy homeowner can replace the bearing, and so on. I just don't want to start down a rabbit hole.

Thank you for any feedback or suggestions!

RedOctobyr wrote:
I use antiseize on just about everything, great stuff.  I don't think I would use any Loctite.  A combination of Loctite and rust would make those bolts impossible to get out again.
 If you get them tight they shouldn't loosen up.  I've never had any come loose.
Run the screws/bolts in and out a few times to loosen up any rust that may still be in the treads.
Then clean the threads on the screws/bolts and in the hub.  Just shoot both with some carb cleaner.  That way when you tighten them down again. There wont' be any binding resistance.
That can give a false sense of how tight a bolt is.  You'll feel that when you taking them out. They will likely be tight all the way out even though they are broken loose.

If you haven't tried again already.  Make sure that the allen hole is clean so that the wrench can get as far down in the hole as possible.  Sometimes I will use the side of a small hammer to hit
 the allen wrench.  That jarring blow sometimes helps in breaking them loose.  I've also slipped a short length of tube over the allen wrench to give more leverage.  I only do it that way if I've had
 to take the pulley off the hub.  Usually I use an allen socket on an extension with a ratchet.  Last week I had two of those allen bolts that were simply not going to break loose.
So out came cutting wheel.  That's never fun.  But those hubs are so brittle, that once you make one cut.  You can crack the rest of the hub off in pieces with a chisel.
Hope you have success.

My set screws had traces of blue Loctite. I'm thinking they came like this from the factory. I know the previous owner and i'm fairly certain he did not remove them or apply Loctite.

Well, after some soaking, I got one of the Allen screws to break free. The other one is still quite stuck. I've tried giving the screw head a few whacks with a hammer, put on more penetrating oil, etc, and have managed to put a nice twist in 2 of my Allen wrenches :) I don't have a socket-style Allen wrench, unfortunately. I tried heating it with a soldering iron, that didn't do much. If I can find my torch (figures it's AWOL at the moment), I may try that, in case there is Loctite which needs to be softened. For what it's worth, manjestic, the screw I got out did not have any visible Loctite on it. Worst case, I could leave this screw in-place, and drill & tap a hole for a new screw, on the other side of the hub. But I would rather get this one out, if possible. Fortunately, the hub has already come off the shaft, so at least I have good access to it.

I picked up a set of these somewhat recently from harbor freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/sockets-ratchets/9-piece-38-and-12-drive-sae-hex-bit-socket-set-67884.html

Not too expensive and very useful.  (The holder they come on is a different matter)

Correction: The day after I posted this I snapped the 5/32" one off...

Seeing as how the hub is off the shaft.  You might consider just drilling out the remaining frozen set screw.  Starting with a bit that's just a little smaller than the allen hole will give you a nice straight
pilot hole.  Then find a bit size that will drop in the the empty hole that you have.  Use that and if you keep it nice and straight.  You may be able to use the old hole and threads.  Just run a tap thru
the hole after you drill it the second time.  Just a thought.

Success. Shryp, your post got me thinking about grabbing some sockets. I got a set of Craftsman Evolv allen sockets ($10, vs $30 for the "normal" Craftsman set). The Evolv line is apparently made in China. Still has a lifetime warranty, but I did note that the package says your need your proof of purchase for the warranty (the regular Craftsman stuff does not specify that). The salesman said they're not insisting on that yet, but they might in the future.

Anyways, got those home, and figured I'd go for broke, so grabbed my Harbor Freight electric impact gun (240 ft-lbs max). It did in about 1 second what I couldn't do in 3 days of soaking and twisting by hand, the setscrew came flying out :) That impact wrench is becoming awfully handy.

The holes had some rust in the threads right where the setscrew threads meet the shaft. You couldn't thread the screws in any further then they had been, they'd just bind up against the rust. So I gently ran a tap down each one to clean them up, then the new screws I bought went in fine.

Coated the shaft, the woodruff key, and the inside of the hub with snowmobile grease, heavily anti-seized the new setscrews, put a dab of grease in the screw's heads (to prevent rust), and reassembled it. Bolted the machine together before tightening the setscrews, so I could align the impeller pulley with the pulley on the crankshaft. I didn't use a torque wrench on the setscrews, since I didn't see a torque spec in the manual.

Adjusted the drive tension, checked the impeller belt tension. Took it outside, the transmission seems to work well, and the augers turn fine :) Next up, an oil change, maybe install the new friction disk I'd bought, and add a fuel filter. I do want to address the slop between the worn bar and the frame, where the two halves split, down at the bottom. And there is a lot of rust, sadly. I may try one of the rust treatment/protector products for this winter. Painting it seems like a big undertaking. I wonder if Ariens makes touch-up paint that you can brush on, for addressing little areas without having to mask things nearby.

That's great that you got the other allen screw out.  I've got one of those 18V impact drivers and they work great for getting out really stuck and frozen bolts.
Here is a photo of the rod repair I made on my blower.   That rod is held in place by a weld on each end, on the outside on the tractor housing.  If you simply grind down the weld so that
the steel at that point is perfectly flat.  And then grab the rod with a pair of vice grips and turn it.  It will break free and you can pull it out of the holes on either side of the housing. 
If you don't have a welder to weld it back in place.  You can use shaft collars on both ends to hold the new one in place.  Get a piece of 3/8 rod and cut it long enough so that there is enough
rod sticking out on both sides of the housing to slide on a shaft collar..  Also measure of the width of the housing where the rod is before removing it.  It needs to be exactly the same width
after you have installed the new rod.  The belt keeper behind it should keep the housing at the correct width but it's better to know what the measuremnent should be.

RedOctobyr wrote:
I did some spot painting of the chute and auger housing with great results, with a spray can.  Granted, I completely disassembled the attachment, but I think some wet sanding with 2000 grit will take care of overspray.  I sanded and primed and then used Chevy Orange Engine Enamel.  Though it matches quite well, I wonder if Hemi Orange isn't a better match.

http://rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=372