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

Well I wore out my second snow blower. The engine was fine but the lower end wasn't worth fixing. I agonized and druthered all summer and finally decided on an Ariens Pro 28. The two items I dithered over were Hydrostatic Transmission and Tracks. I finally decided that tracks were too much for the suburbs and hydro was too expensive. We shall see what difference the dual belts to the auger of the pro make.

Background

I have cleared many driveways ( up to 20-25 per storm at one time) with a "lower end" blower. Most driveways were short while a few were long. The main long one was in cottage country in the snow belt of southern Ontario, Canada on a gravel driveway.

The cottage now has a tracked Honda which works great.

Considerations

1. Back in suburbia we have short driveways that are close together, turning easily and quickly makes life a whole bunch better;
2. Its bad form to empty your driveway by putting the snow on the neighbours'  driveways so chute control is important;
3. Most storms dump 10-30 cm ( 5"-15") of snow so speed is important to keep the engine loaded;
4. I want something that will last and that I can maintain (mostly) myself.

I got the Ariens 28 Pro because:

1. Sale price at the L&G I deal with;
2. Auto turn;
3. Robust construction with a big engine;
4. Tracks are slower than equivalent wheeled unit, I can upgrade later and the kit costs less than the "upgraded" unit;
5. The maintenance that I have had to do on previous blowers is spelled out in the owners' manual and is in line with what I have done before;
6. Hydrostatic transmission while something to lust after is way too expensive for the admittedly nice benefits.

Initial Impressions

I have used the unit after two storms of about 15cm ( 6") on 2 driveways including one with a severe slope.

1. The thing is so well balanced I keep pulling wheelies when I start it in near to top gear;
2. I normally blow at the fastest the unit will go without snowplowing. This unit is so fast there wasn't enough snow to slow it down enough so that I felt comfortable at top speed. Essentially its a bit too fast in top gear on the turns, I'll probably get used to this but I do wish there were banked turns at both ends of the driveways;
3. Auto turn is sweet, big big big smile;
4. I have to be careful I don't throw the snow too far, getting it too land between the driveways is a bit of a trick, a micro adjusting knob would be nice, Its somewhere between the really really close notch and the over there somewhere notch.
5. The only problem with starting happens when I previously run the carburetor dry and then forget to turn the fuel back on before priming and pulling the cord. Once it has fuel its starts reliably, I have not tried the electric start yet;
6. The gas tank is really big, I may not have to add the gas caddy I was designing for the old unit;
7. I keep thinking/dreaming of taking it north to the cottage to try it out in "real" snow, snowblower drag racing may be in my future;
8. The wheels seem to have good traction, EOD disappears quickly, we shall see once we get a heavy snow fall or two.

Peeves;

1. They don't include a power cable for the electric start. I have three spares from previous units, still in their bags since I just pull the cord. Not including a cable seems cheap. Yes its a peeve, no it doesn't make sense;
2. I still haven't found out the wattage, voltage or pinout for the generator / alternator on the engine. Mr Multimeter and I will have to work on that, I can't "upgrade" the lighting until I know.
3. I cleared the driveways so quickly I couldn't play as long as I wanted too, must have more snow, need more snow ...

Upgrades / Pimping it Out

1. I added a meter to keep track of engine operation time.
2. Depending on how well the light works at night I may add lights. Most upgrades seem to be on the handle bars whereas I was thinking of the auger housing. Does anyone have experience and or an opinion?
3. Backing lights seem a bit much.
4. Spare parts and tool container attached to the auger housing?
5. Gas container on auger housing?

I'll add an update after I've used it a lot more, right now I'm just waiting / hoping for more snow.