snowstorm

I have the exact same issue on my ST926LE (926001) with an aluminum XS gearbox. There is a leak at the rear shaft seal after each use.

Anyone knows why the two lower side seals are reliable while many people have a leak issue with the higher rear seal?

I needed to add 2 ounces of L2 to bring the level back to the fill plug. Should I replace the rear seal?

Is L3 grease thicker?, would it help to replace the original L2 by L3?

GreatCanadian wrote:
I'm sure your Ariens works fines in powder snow. What I would consider before installing the Clarence kit, is if you are satisfied with how it works in wet snow and slush.

If your machine currently plugs when throwing wet snow, then longevity will be improved. A lot of stress is put on the machine when it plugs, as snow don't come out but still comes in. The result is that more and more snow (and weight) accumulates in the housing putting stress on engine, belt, and auger gear case.

When the wet stuff comes out the load (weight of snow) is less.

/SnowStorm

After reading several posts about the Clarence Impeller Kit, I decided to install one on my 2007 Ariens 926LE Deluxe snowblower.

What motivated me to do so is that my snowblower has outstanding performance in powder snow, but on the other hand, its performance in wet snow is to say least very poor i.e. throwing distance of 3 to 4 feet and a lot of jamming. The impeller gap to the housing is not uniform; it is about 1/4" at the center and about 3/8" at the edges of the impeller.

So last weekend I installed the 4 blade / 3” wide kit (the 3" wide kit is perfect for this machine as it just fits the flat section of the impeller) and it took me about 2-3 hours to complete the installation. I started by positioning the impeller at 90° and I used a punch to mark the centre of the middle bolt so that the drill bit would not slip, then I installed the blade, and then used the blade as a guide to drill the remaining holes. Everything went smoothly.

I could not wait to test the kit and fortunately we got 4" of wet snow 3 days later. The results are outstanding: this machine now throws wet snow, slush and water!!! at about 40 feet. This is impressive. I was scared to throw snow on the neighbour's driveway and car. So I'm very satisfied with the kit.

While reading other posts I noticed that some concerns have been raised about this kit and I would like to provide my opinion.

One of the main concern is that this kit will produce premature wear on the motor and belt. I do not believe this. With this kit installed whatever snow that comes in the bucket goes out. Before installing this kit, wet snow accumulated until a jam occurred and engine almost stalled. My conclusion is that there is a lot more stress on the impeller and belt when the snow accumulates until the engine almost stalls. Less snow going out = more show in the bucket = more stress on the machine. With the kit installed, the engine is forcing, mainly due to weight of the wet snow, but is never near to stall. This answers this concern by itself.

The second concern is that in the case one blade of the kit brakes then it would be ejected, causing potential injuries. I do not think that is worst than blowing pieces of ice that are present at the end of the driveway. Also for this problem to happen all three bolts would need to break at the same time.

The last concern was that small rocks could jam between the impeller and the housing. I think that with this kit installed small rocks can not go between the impeller and the housing as there is no more gap. Rocks will simply be ejected with the snow.

/SnowStorm

At the End-of-Driveway, the snow is always packed and is sometimes higher and the housing height which is 24”.

To attack this amount packed snow, I use two techniques:

When the machine does not move forward anymore because the sides of the housing are blocked by the packed snow,

I start to move the snow blower left & right using the handles; this maneuver cuts the snow with the side of the housing,

and this is enough to advance one or two inches to help the serrated auger make its job.

When the engine starts to slow down, I release the traction while keeping the auger engaged until no more show comes out of the chutes.

I then engage the traction until the engine slows down again. I will repeat this has often as necessary to get through the EOD snow bank.

Hope this helps.

I always replace broken V-belts with GATES "PowerRated" belts.

The part numbers for the GATES  "PowerRated" belts are:

1) For 3/8" (3L) width belts: 67XX, where XX is the length of the O.D. in inches.
2) For 1/2" (4L) width belts: 68XX, where XX is the length of the O.D. in inches.
3) For 5/8" (5L) width belts: 69XX, where XX is the length of the O.D. in inches.

O.D.: Outside diameter (in steps of one full inch, no half inch available).

For 1/4" belts you can use GATES "Truflex" belt part number 2LXXY where XX is the O.D. in inches and Y is in 1/10 of and inch.

In order to find the O.D. you can:

1) Measure your current belt.
2) Find it on: http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/
3) Find it on: http://www.gates.com/part_locator/index.cfm?location_id=3598 in the "Lawn & Garden Equipment" category.
4) Find a part interchange on: http://www.gates.com/part_interchange/index.cfm?location_id=3286

Hope this helps.