My Ariens kept clogging and dumping "logs" of wet snow instead of throwing the snow - I was unhappy - especially after reading this thread and the complaints of others. I decided to call Ariens before taking a sledge hammer to the machine.
They said, "check the impellor drive belt - it has probably stretched and is slipping, preventing the impellor from throwing properly. Take the belt cover off, hold down the auger handle and see if belt is tight." I tried that - the belt was so loose I am surprised it could throw any snow. Only took two 1/2" wrenches to loosen idler pulley and move it to tighten belt when engaged. I took the snow blower out again in today's 8" of heavy, wet snow and it threw it further than it had ever thrown!!!
So, if blower is not throwing well, check impellor belt tension before getting ticked off. I didn't do this until forcing the machine through the job - would have taken a third of the time if I had checked and adjusted the belt before I started, or when I saw it wasn't throwing well.
Yep this was my same problem, couldn't believe how loose the belt was. Supposed to get 4-8 inches of snow by Wednesday morning so I'm looking forward to seeing it throw the snow 40 or more feet like it used to. Thank You very much for making this post Cloggedchute! :)
