New Ariens Snow Blower Advice

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Originally Posted by gathermewool

Belts: Rgr that. Manual says that adjustment may be needed after the initial 15 minute run-in of the belts (unloaded).
-----That seems odd, but I'll make sure to keep an eye on it.
-----A few hours of actual use or more makes more sense to me for belt stretch.
-----How can I tell if it's slipping? I assume the auger will feel like it's stuttering; maybe the belt will squeal?

Fuel: I plan to run the carb AND fuel tank dry prior to summer layup
-----I'll keep an eye out for leaks throughout the seasons, and especially when I take it out of layup next Fall/Winter.

Thanks!


For slippage, you'll notice the auger or impeller stall/stop when in use if the belt loosens up enough. Or for the drive system, the wheels will stall/stop when the going gets tough. I've only had to adjust the wheel drive tension on mine.

I'd try to use ethanol free fuel if you can, but like said, the fuel shut off on the engine are problematic on these. I've seen the twist nob and valve come right out on people and drain the tank onto their driveway. Mine has gotten crunchy and a leaky if I use it. I just leave it in the on position all the time now.
 
Great, thanks for the advice. I'll just leave the fuel valve open all the time.

Is there a convenient place to cut the fuel line and add a more robust fuel cutoff valve?
 
For what it is worth, I've owned the Ariens Deluxe 24 with the 254 cc motor for two seasons now. We haven't had a really heavy snowfall since I bought this unit, but we get a good 24" snow dump once or twice a decade. Maybe this will be the year; who knows? In any event, I think that this is a 5w30 synthetic application if ever there was one. 15w40 makes sense for OPE that is always run at temperatures above 60 degrees, but makes little sense for machines that won't be running above 40 degrees.

Originally Posted by Astro_Guy
Congratulations on the new machine, although I must confess that is has a really HUGE engine for a 24-inch snow blower. The basic Ariens in that width features a 208 cc, and the deluxe model I have features a 254 cc motor. 396 cc ???

Change the factory fill after the first seriously hard use of five hours, whichever comes first. Use 5w30 synthetic after that. 15w40 makes no sense for air cooled engines that operate in cold temperatures. That engine should never get hot enough to need 15w40, and it will certainly start easier with 5w30.


369cc - still huge, I get it. This is likely the newb in me talking, but I'd prefer more power and a smaller bucket, than the other way around. If this means I can take on larger drifts with the full auger, instead of having to take thing half-bucket at a time, that might result in the same amount of time spent or less than if I had the Deluxe 28".
 
I remain interested in this Ariens engine with EFI. Don't see any battery on it. How on earth can it "boot up" in just a couple revolutions of the pull cord? Might have a backup mode of some sort until it gets up to speed.

Like all good tech these days, we'll see this in a year in everything.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
I remain interested in this Ariens engine with EFI. Don't see any battery on it. How on earth can it "boot up" in just a couple revolutions of the pull cord? Might have a backup mode of some sort until it gets up to speed.

Like all good tech these days, we'll see this in a year in everything.


I didn't do too much research, but did inquire with the dealer about this exact thing. I believe he said the whole thing is battery-powered. Seemed odd, but that would solve the pull-start issue. To drive home the point, he even mentioned that they typically drill a couple of holes and install pig-tails to allow for trickle-charging the battery while not in use. I didn't ask for much more information, so that's all I've got.
 
I'm curious as well on this EFI thing. No electrical power and the injector(s) won't inject fuel. It has to need power to start, which I suppose is no big deal because no larger OPE has pull start anyway and requires 12VDC to start.
 
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Just did some more reading, and it looks as if the EFI is powered by a 7.2VDC Ni-MH battery pack. NOPE - no, thanks!
 
I just ran the new snow blower for 20 minutes - 5 to warm-up and 15 to run-in the auger belt drive, IAW the manual.

I used the drive system to get it into the shed, too, so it was more like, say, 22 minutes of total run time.

I don't plan to run it again until I need it.

//

I would still appreciate any other suggestions or adding a "+1" to any of the above advice that you agree with (I really wish this forum had a "like" and "dislike" selection for posts). There are many times I don't have much to add to a post, but would definitely have "liked" it.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
I'm curious as well on this EFI thing. No electrical power and the injector(s) won't inject fuel. It has to need power to start, which I suppose is no big deal because no larger OPE has pull start anyway and requires 12VDC to start.


20 years ago, Arctic Cat had one-pull EFI. One pull charged a capacitor, which ran the injectors.
 
When the fuel shutoff valve on our previous Troy-Bilt failed, I just bypassed it with a new run of Tygon fuel line as I needed it running quickly during the storm. Never got around to installing a new valve, I always drained the gas in Spring anyway.

We replaced it with an Ariens 24" Deluxe in 2016, same 254cc LCT engine as yours likely has. I let it sit as delivered until snow hit, then broke it in under load for 3-4 hours after the initial 15min run-in. Changed the oil while hot using Rotella T-6 5W-40 and it's seen quite a few NJ snows since then with no issues. I mix Sta-Bil Marine in my gas cans during fills year round, so the gas is always treated.

Same Spring maintenance as the old Troy-Bilt and lawnmower...drain the gas, spray the tank and carb inlet with fogging oil, pull the starter to put the piston at TDC firing, change the oil, put it away until next season.
 
Speaking of fogging oil:

Some of my OPE states to remove the spark plug and add a few drops of motor oil, then pull the cord to evenly distribute the oil prior to placing the equipment in long-term storage.

Would fogging oil or something like Fluid Film be better?

Originally Posted by bobdoo
Originally Posted by JTK
I'm curious as well on this EFI thing. No electrical power and the injector(s) won't inject fuel. It has to need power to start, which I suppose is no big deal because no larger OPE has pull start anyway and requires 12VDC to start.


20 years ago, Arctic Cat had one-pull EFI. One pull charged a capacitor, which ran the injectors.



That's pretty interesting. I wonder what size cap they used. Seems neat that a small cap would receive enough energy to get the EFI going after only one pull!
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool
Speaking of fogging oil:

Some of my OPE states to remove the spark plug and add a few drops of motor oil, then pull the cord to evenly distribute the oil prior to placing the equipment in long-term storage.

Would fogging oil or something like Fluid Film be better?


Wouldn't use Fluid Film inside the engine or carb, it's not designed for that purpose. Dries semi-solid which isn't good in this case.

Regular motor oil or fogging oil inside the cylinder.
 
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