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

pulling out my hair trying to make a decision on snow blowers.  latest challenge is ariens platinum 30 or john deere 1330?  Seems like they are pretty similar machines and the deere has electric chute options (convenience / repair issue).  i can save 150 bucks with deere, but thinking that is short money if ariens is better machine.  Any takers?

Husqvarna 1830 EXLT  Tracks, Hydrostatic Transmission not the friction wheel the machine you are looking at have, and plenty of power.  A True beast of a machine.

Consumer Reports rates the Cub Cadet 900 series snowblower this years best, it has a 16 Inch Diameter Auger that feeds the snow into a 16 inch Fan (impeller), most machines have smaller augers and fans than that.  This would be a friction wheel drive like the ariens and JD models, but not those 16 inch snow remover parts. Cub Cadet is an MTD manufactured machine.

well said Scopes O1

New_Yorker wrote:

Yeah I seen that as well, not sure of MTD in my opinion......Much better off with Toro or Husqvarna or even Deere!

I have no personal experience with MTD equipment, so take this for what it's worth, but I've heard a lot of people refer to it as junk.  I just bought the 1330SE.  My local Deere dealers weren't even carrying the Deere line.  They were all selling Ariens.  Most of them mentioned that it was simply due to the fact that when Ariens quit manufacturing the Deere units they simply kept the Ariens line.  I got mine at Lowe's.  I have no idea whether it's a good piece of equipment, but I heard good things about Simplicity's products.  It's also green.  Having spent most of my life on a family farm that used nothing but John Deere equipment, that pretty much tipped the scales between all of the brands I looked at, which included Ariens & Honda.  If I had thousands to spend on a snowblower, I would have probably gotten a Honda.

By the way, I had a 1978 Toro model 826 with a Friction wheel and never had to replace the wheel...It is simple and cheap to fix if needed. If it's adjusted properly it works like a charm...I have looked at all three models the Husquvarna,John Deere and the Cub Cadet professional series....My 2nd choice would have been the Cub Cadet 930 SWE and lastly John Deere 1330SE ...For your information, before I make any purchases I like to know exacatly on how the machine is built and also know on how easy it would be to fix in future...I have looked at all the parts and owner's manuals for all of these models including the Ariens Professional Series machine...At the end I went with Ariens Pro 28 with 420 cc engine from Briggs...more bang for the buck thats what it comes down to. Also parts and service if needed are readily available.  I found the The Husquvarna 12527HV & 1830SB somewhat lighter duty and overrated ...Personally, I don't like the LCT engines from China. I didn't find the mechanical aspect of it appealing...What worries me is the parts availability and reliability of this machine in future...I have spoken to many different repair shops and many have told me to stay away....Good luck!

scopes01 wrote:
scopes01, first off, welcome to the forum.  I appreciate your post because I had no clue that the auger shafts could/would be so short on a machine.  I have always just assumed that snowblower auger shafts were all full length on all machines from all manufacturers.  That certainly explains the supports above the gear case that I've seen on the Ariens; and now John Deere, built by Briggs.  How about Simplicity?  Those are also built by Briggs.  I wonder how widespread this fact is.  My Toro 1028LXE has two shear bolts on the auger shafts, but they are nearer the outer end of the shafts, proving that the shafts go all the way through.  And of course, there is no gear case support arm.

Speaking of Ariens, I happen to have their catalogs from 2007-2008 through 2011-2012.  Those supports appear on the 2007-2008 Deluxe machines.  For 2008-2009, they appear on the Deluxe Track and Deluxe models .  For 2009-2010 through 2011-2012, they appear on the Platinum and Deluxe models.  Now, my first thought is that I don't like the idea.  I'd rather have those shafts go all the way through.  However, I don't know if from an engineering view the machines with the short auger shafts are at a mechanical disadvantage.  All the stress is on those two shear bolts near the gear case.  I have pictures of the bucket area of a Platinum 30 at Home Depot.  Indeed, there are only two shear bolts, both close to the gear case.  No other shear bolts on the auger shaft.  That proves the point.  This isn't just an Ariens thing, however, as evidenced by the JD 1330SE.  Is this really a problem, or just a perceived problem?  I'm not convinced Ariens is willing to sacrifice their reputation over a shorter auger shaft.  Maybe Snowmann can enlighten us.

How easy is the ATC on the Ariens to turn?  I hear various opinions on that.

Thanks Ray for welcoming me to this site…I really enjoy reading the different posts and comments from everyone!

Traditionally, all snow blowers have had auger shafts that would spread from one end to another through the gear case. Coming from a machining & manufacturing background, the only reason that I can think of for going with a shorter auger shaft is simply manufacturing costs. Plain and Simple!….If any sales guy try’s to tell you otherwise like rigidity and performance is improved with a shorter shaft…in my opinion he is simply incompetent. Now to say that it is a totally bad design isn’t fair on my behalf to say.  It all comes down to the application and what it will be used for. I have sold quality Japanese CNC machine tools for most of my professional sales career, and one important point that I would ask the customer is what he wanted to do or try to achieve. Therefore, if consumer has a 15 ‘wide x 20’length driveway, the Ariens Compact or Deluxe model is fine and will do a great job. However, if the consumer tells me that he will be doing all driveways on his street on regular basis. I would then suggest him to go to a Commercial grade machine. As for Simplicity, John Deere and Snapper…if I am not mistaken they are all built by Briggs & Stratton.  As for Toro, it has a complete auger shaft that goes across on all their two stage machines older and new. Another point that I realized with Snowblower manufacturers recently. Is the fact that they have become much more marketing oriented. For instance, Ariens used an aluminum auger gearbox case (no support and a complete shaft) for the longest time on their entire residential line model machines same as Toro. For the Ariens commercial grade line they were using a cast iron gear box different from the one used today. Now, they have decided to supply a commercial grade cast iron gearbox on all their models (residential & commercial) to the exception of the Compact models. However, a short shaft on the residential machine and a complete shaft for the commercial machines. I think it sounds good to promote “Commercial Grade Gearbox with 5 years warranty”. Now if they wanted to supply a short shaft on their previous version aluminum split type gearbox casing, they would have had a lot problems with leaks and cracked casing because of the stress and twist of not having a complete shaft supporting it from one end to another. Also they couldn’t use the older cast iron gearbox casing either with the shorter shaft, because of its design with side flanges and seals. Therefore; they re-designed a totally new cast iron gear box for both applications (complete and short shafts for the entire line-up except for their Compact line)

Regarding the ATC on the Ariens….it is a really good feature that is offered. There is a little resistance when you turn, but almost unnoticeable. If you stick to a smaller machine like a 28” housing, it is very easy to manoeuvre than a 36” machine. I guess that was always the case. I happen to take a closer look at the ATC system on the Ariens (Platinum & Professional series). It is a really cool design. It is a Hilliard Auto-Lok system. It has two female internal splines bore on each side of the gear assemly for the axle shaft to enter. Then these Auto-Lok acts like tension device to release the resistance when you turn and yet still have traction on both wheels. John Deere 1330SE model also offers the same feature under a different marketing name called "Easy Steer"...and it is also a Hilliard product. Hope the info helps...Take care!

I had the 1330 with easy steer and did not like it at all.  It was very difficult to keep in a straight line - kept veering from side to side and was a contunuous fight.  And when taking a partial cut it was almost impossible to keep it from strongly veering into the deep snow.

Hi Joe

I know for a fact that the Auto-Lok Differential from Hilliard is used on the drive axle of your John Deere 1330 SE machine. Which they call the "Easy Steer". Now the way it is integrated into the snow machine's design is another issue all together. I have closely looked at the ARIENS ST28DLE and JD 1330SE Auto-Lok Differential from Hilliard. The main difference is that the ARIENS is using a spur gear around the Auto-Lok and a pinion to drive the axle with both wheels. The spur gear surface is about 1" wide and the pinion even more. Perhaps, 1.250" of surface for the pinion. I would have to open and measure to get exact size, but its about that. This surface contact increases the stability, rigidity and decreaes the vibration of the axle. John Deere doesn't have a spur gear around the Hillard Auto-Lok unit and neither a pinion. They are using a sprocket and chain to drive the axle. The sprocket is fitted to Auto-Lok and expected to give you that Easy Steer you looking for. Unfortunately, it's not giving you the performance you were expecting....Perhaps, it is also defective too...eventhough it is mounted on a sprocket and chain it should still be going on a straight line. I hope that this summarize it....Please send me your e-mail address and I will e-mail you two diagramms and pictures to explain the difference. Regards, Scopes01

FYI, not all throwers have full length auger shafts. My Simplicity 560 (and the 760, 860 series anyway) has 6" of shaft coming out of each side of the auger. This thing has had hard use here in Minnesota every winter since it was new 20+ years ago. There wasn't any issues from lack of full shafts, other than it could only rustweld part of the shaft to the auger. I am happy for the short shafts actually since I had a heck of a time getting it apart to replace the worm gear. My drive is over 400' long and is full of rocks, and sticks falling from trees. I wouldn't be too worried about the lack of full shafts on the newer machines. It took me this long to bust it and I'm not delicate with the machine.