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

Well I've spent a lot of time researching new blowers and came very close to bring home the JD 1330se today but got cold feet after reading about the slipping drive issues. I'd be very interested to hear any long term reviews on this unit as it appears unchanged since 2010. I do have a JD dealer 10 miles from home so prep and support should be better than a Lowes units? Also if there is another blower 30ish inches I should consider please let me know. I live in northern MI with a 150' drive see a fair amount of snow. I dont mind paying a premium for quality if it makes for years of trouble free operation. Thanks for your input

Congratulations, you made an awesome choice and won't regret it....

By the way, make sure to drop the oil after the first five hours of use. Because this is special break-in oil formulated for new engines. I first flushed my oil out with regular 5W30 oil and then re-filled again with “Mobil 1” 5W30 Synthetic oil. If your snowblower will sleep outside during the cold winter months then go with 0W30 Synthetic oil. Make sure to verify the oil in the gearbox too. It should be fine…but you never know. You can verify this by removing the oil screw on top of gearbox (read owner’s manual to identify proper screw) and using a 1/8 diameter rod not too long but long enough so it doesn’t fall into the gearbox to measure amount of oil. You should have about 2.380" to 2.630" measured from the bottom of the inside top plate to the level of the red oil L3 Synthetic severe duty gear oil. Very important, DO NOT OVER-TORQUE this screw as it is very easy to strip the thread on the cover. It should be torqued at 80lbs per inch not feet. Please post some feedback after use…Good luck! Scopes01…

 

Here are two links below to the owner’s & parts manual of your 2011-12 Ariens ST28DLE (926038) snowblower:

 

http://apache.ariens.com/manuals/04337400B_ENG.pdf

 

http://apache.ariens.com/manuals/04337500A.pdf

Big thanks to everyone who posted here! Especially; Dr Woof, your experience and input was excellent! Borat, your advice will be followed. Scopes, I really appreciate your attention to all details. Awesome! Snow is in the forecast for Friday! Thanks Again, John

WOOOOOOOF!

That's a freaking coyote Woofy!    

We have them behind our house as well as lynx and "real" wolves.  I found a deer carcass in the back a few weeks ago so I put up a game camera near it.  Got daylight pictures of a lynx sitting on the kill and a coyote desperately wanting to get to it but not at the risk of a scrap with a rather large cat.   A day or two later, I got a picture of a nice wolf that likely brought the deer down.  The pictures were taken in broad daylight and only a two minute walk from our house. 

They like to be scratched in the right places

Now that's something you definitely don't want in your back yard.  Cougar have been spotted in the area and tracks confirmed by the MNR but no one has actually capture/shot one.  Wolfe, lynx, coyote, and most black bears avoid humans.  Cougars are a little different.  Being a cat, they're a bit goofy and will attack anything that they think they can take down, including humans.   Here are a few pics from my game camera:

Note times taken.  These pics were taken only two minutes walking from my back door.

The lynx is near the kill but can't be seen behind the balsam on the left.  The coyote is giving it wide berth. 


Look to the left behind the tree.  You'll see the lynx eyeballing the coyote.


Partial pic of the lynx sitting on the kill.  Coyote want's to eat but doesn't want to tangle with the cat.



I suspect that this is the wolf that brought the deer down.  Deer are often struck by vehicles and injured then they head into the woods where they're easy prey.

Nice pics!  Its in Minnesota?  Thats my daughter with the cougar.  Part of her job was tracking them - says there are a LOT more of them around then most people think - they just keep a low profle.  Usually.  But......every now and then.....a jogger does go missing.

Northwestern Ontario, Lakehead area.

OmFlyer wrote:
borat wrote:
                                                                  
For those who don't know, here are some photos of the John Deere and Simplicity snow blower catalogs that illustrate the similar terminology for turning features.  I thought maybe someone would find it enlightening.


                          Here's the the John Deere 1330SE "Easy Steer" feature from their printed 2011-2012 snow blower catalog:
                   
It's the Hilliard Auto-Lok differential.  Both wheels have power                                   From the specifications chart.  Bottom of photo.
as the operator turns either left or right.  Obviously, the outer
wheel turns faster as compared to the inside wheel.  No
triggers, no engaging and disengaging.

As scopes01 has already mentioned in reply #6 above, the John Deere method of utilizing the Hilliard system is different from how Ariens utilizes it.


          Here's the Simplicity set-up, called "Easy Turn".   This is from the 2008 (left) and 2011 (right) printed snow blower catalogs:                           
   
Not a two-wheel differential; locked two-wheel drive until operator decides to pull the left         From the specifications chart.  At bottom of photo.
trigger for the above effect.               


Having seen both brands of snow blowers at dealers, I prefer the overall build, look and feel of the Simplicity models, except I distrust the electric chute functions that both brands now employ on certain models.  I think the straight-forward mechanical controls are more trustworthy.

Good clarification.

My machine has Easy Turn.  I only use it to disengage one wheel to make turning easier.  I never try to move snow with one wheel driving.  Just doesn't make sense to do so.  What I found with my Easy Turn system is that too much of the wrong type of grease will cause the engagement mechanism to resist separation and make it very difficult to get it into one wheel drive.  I have since cleaned the grease off and now use oil to lubricate it.