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

Looking at this machine.has ariens ax motor. Made by LCT.www.lctusa.com. always had briggs motors.anybody had one of these motors? Service tech gave these motors an 8 out of 10. Machine costs $1200.00 LCT is a usa co. But has motors made in china. Service tech said to summerize use seafoam on motor and let run out of gas. Any replys are great. Thanks!!

The 250cc Briggs on the Platinum 24 from last year was also made in China, as are all Briggs snow engines starting this year. The last of the US-made snow engines, the 305cc and 342cc, were discontinued when Briggs transitioned production from Auburn, Alabama to Chongqing, China. The Ariens AX engines are contract manufactured by LCT which is a US company based out of Traveler's Rest, SC with manufacturing facilities in China. LCT has a joint manufacturing partnership with Lauson/CPC out of Janesville Wisconsin who hold the remnants of Tecumseh Power. All Ariens AX engines and parts are serviced and supported directly through Ariens. That is, the warranty and service process is unified for the machine and engine rather than having to work with the engine manufacturer to get service and support separately (although that is still an option). Along with the power upgrade from last year (up 2.0 ft-lbs torque), the Platinum 24 gets larger 16" tires and a 2nd generation Auto Turn. The latest Auto Turn releases power from the interior wheel for tighter turning radii, has a wet sump for longer life, and unlocks faster than the old system (formerly called ATC, Auto Traction Control). I hope this helps. PK

My main concern is, how reliable are these motors? Starting, power, ect. I have a briggs 8hp now and still going after 20 plus years. The ariens comes with 5yr. Warranty on everything. Thanks for the info.

Snowmann wrote:

Wow.. end of an era.

snowmachine wrote:
Actually, its the beginning, depends on if one looks forward or backwards.

My kids will be seeing high quality products coming out of China in the near future.  Japan will get lazy and produce ho hum cars with shortsighted union management. overburdened by entitlement benefits. 

I try to look both ways as to not repeat the mistakes of the past. :-)

aa335 wrote:
Sounds like a viscous cycle to me!  While I'm not a union fan, neither am I a fan of top management who take tens & hundreds of times more salary & benefits than the average person (and does not contribute taxes proportionally). There must be a better way to allow everyone to share.

GtWtNorth wrote:
It is not fair to say top management "does not contribute taxes proportionally"

While the salaries that top executives take is in some cases are way out of line,  in the United States Of America they must still file their taxes and pay taxes based on their adjusted gross income like everyone else.

If we are talking about people who only pay 15% tax on capital gains, remember before they invested the money to enjoy those capital gains, they first had to pay the federal tax on the money earned.   The 15% capital gains tax is a tax on the profit from money that already paid tax on in the first place. 

Snowmann wrote:
I added the numbers to Snowmann's comments to help simplify my comments:

1)  I saw a new 2013-2014 Deluxe 28 with the new AX engine while at Home Depot today.  It sure looks different.   I wonder if this new LCT/Lauson/CPC engine line is going to be a really good thing when compared to Briggs, Honda, Kawasaki, and Subaru, for example?  I'm hoping for something really good here.  

2)  So this new Auto-Turn is going to make turning even easier, that is, no muscling to turn the blower?  Would it be as easy to turn as the old-style differential that Ariens used to have back in the early 2000s and the 1990s?  My son has a 1993 Ariens ST824 with its differential that is absolutely effortless to turn.  Of course, that old system wasn't perfect since you could end up with one wheel slipping while one wheel keeps turning if you hit a slick spot with that one wheel, for example, but I'm only trying to say how easy it is to turn.  I hope this new approach will duplicate that ease.

I'd like to hear some comments about the new engine and new Auto-Turn when some guys out there have experience with them.

Snowmann, what are they doing with the extra 2 ft lbs of torque on this machine vs the 921017 with the Briggs Polar Force engine? Have they increased impeller speed for increased throw? New impeller pulley on the engine output shaft? What aspect of performance is increased with the new engine?