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

I am purchasing an Ariens 7524 (w/7.5 HP OHV)and am wondering about those with smaller machines and EOD issues. I live in the snowbelt north of Toronto. I have very limited storage space (along w/wife who felt most confident when handling the 7524 vs. the larger machines) and, after much consideration, the 7524 was the right machine. My only real concern is EOD as we can get large, over 1 foot piles deposited there. Anyone else with this machine, the other small Ariens, or other smaller machines, what is your experience with EOD? Thanks very much.

My previous machine was an older 5hp/24" - and my double driveway faces a park/soccer field/schoolyard from which I routinely get 2ft drifts even if there is only 4 in. of snowfall...and of course the plow has fun with that at the end of my lane.  As long as the snow was relatively fresh, I never had problems.  Only in the super-wet conditions and snow/ice would there be a problem.  The newer machines have better tires (at least on the better machines) and with timely blowing, you shouldn't have any problems. 

Cheers......  *(:>)*

Bob,

I would not have less than 8HP.

Suggest you take a look at Simplcity 8560E at  $999.00.

24 in wide and is a quality blower!!

                                                                                             Fred   

I would hesitate to call that a smaller machine. I used a 5HP 24" for many years. Just use accordingly, perhaps a bit slower with a little less bite, >"24.

I think you'll do just fine handling one foot EOD piles with that 7524.

In Feb 2003, I had an EOD pile up to my waist (about 35+ inches!!). My little 5hp 2 stage MTD ate thru it just fine, but a more powerful machine would have performed the task much more quickly. I don't mind - I love being out there! However, many don't share my enthusiasm, and a more powerful machine would be better suited for their needs.

Marty

1 foot swells will not tax a 7.5 machine. I used a snapper 5-24 no trouble. Of course, larger would be better. If larger is out of the ? then dont worry  7.5 will deal with it ,just slower. I went with larger after several years of taking too long. Takes too long 'cause I have a 19' wide 300' long driveway.

 Rember buy bigger spend more  and cry all the way home. Buy smaller spend less and $#%* everytime ya use it. BUT if storage is your concern dont worry it WILL do the job!

A little off topic here...BobSmith...do you ever go to drippy's? Ther is a bobsmith there.

Guys, thanks for all of the replies. Jogo-Never heard of drippys-is it in Ontario?

I received delivery of my Ariens 7524 this morning. This is my first snowblower. I never operated one until this morning. I was actually impressed by the ease of operation and startup. The snowblower guy gave me a thorough demo and I was set. I had about 1-2 inches on the the ground plus 6-8 inches of (fresh) EOD plow crud at the end of the driveway and it handled it all with ease. It also handled the rest of the driveway with ease. My driveway is about 15 feet wide and about 60 feet long with a couple of weird spaces that I already see I'll have to get creative as far as handling the blowing geometry. I noticed that when you hit a deeper patch of snow, it tends to really shoot the plume far--I don't know, maybe 20 feet plus, whereas when you're going over an inch or less it tends to not throw it no too far. I was also dealing with a stiff SE wind too so that was a factor. He said it blows best to the right so I'll have to remember that. I can see why you'd want a pair of ski goggles when you're doing this, especially in high wind. I've got to remember to use my safety glasses-I was just having too much fun and didn't use them that first time.

All in all, I'm satisfied but not blown away. One thing-wow!, are you ever done fast on a, say 1 or 2 in snowfall like we had! I was actually throwing a bit more snow onto the driveway from the yard I was done so fast and I wanted to keep testing it.

I can see where you might want a bit more power but this will suffice, I think. Anyway, the real test will come when we have the 1 foot plus and EOD wall to deal with. I'll report back when I have to do that. I went to the local hardware store and picked up a bottle of CASTROL GX 5W30--the snowblower guy said about 3 driveways and change the oil. I also picked up a small (8 in) straight brush with medium-stiff bristles sticking out the end--kind of a rust cleaning brush, along w/a small handle snow brush with soft bristles. The little brush can get in the impeller area (spark plug unplugged and totally shutdown) and the snowbrush can clean the rest. Of course Ariens supplies the little black shovel that clips onto the top of the blade to get anything really stuck in there. I also got some mid-grade unleaded for the gas can.

So, it works, so far, and I can store it and move it around easily. Bring on the snow (not much of a problem in this area!).

Every so often someone mentions the "works better with more snow" phenomenom. The same thing happened with my 10.5HP blower.

Basically the throttle control only controls the low end of the engine's range. You typically run with the throttle set wide open and only move it to shut down. There is an governor that tries to maintain engine RPM. If you don't have enough load on the augers then the governor doesn't kick in and the snow dribbles out. Once you have enough load the governor lets the engine rev up and the snow flies. I've found that most of the  time going slower isn't the solution, going faster is. You get more snow, the load goes up, the governor kicks in and the white stuff flies.

If you start to get snow plowing, where the snow is being pushed forward in front of the blower, then you need to slow down. The augers aren't pulling the snow in fast enough and you need to move slower to let them do their job. Of course with a LOT of snow the machine can bog down due to too much load.

Have fun.

Drippys is an onlinr game server, ther is someone named Bob smith, and a littleBob smith there

Congratulations on your purchase!  You should get years of dependable service from it.  You already have WAY MORE machine than the equivalent piece of crap from Canadian Tire!

Ken

Just found this site - looks good.

I'm jealous.  I am still using a 5hp machine I rehabbed as a basket case years ago.  Drive is 3 car wide x 100 ft long fronting on a major 2-lane US highway (US195 in Eastern Wa).  Needless to say that even a 2" snowfall will build quite a plow berm across it.  I have to "nibble" at it in the lowest gear.  Same when I have to double (sometimes triple) blow.  That poor machine has handled banks over 4ft deep but it does take awhile.

Re: throw distance  - a governor will maintain whatever speed is set by the throttle, be it WOT or idled down.   Engine speed does not  not change due to load as long as it isn't heavy enough to overload the engine.  Snow will blow further if the auger is kept well loaded.  Why,  I don't know but it is easy to demonstrate.  Take say a 4" snow and hit it at whatever speed the machine will take.  Now drop gears down about half and compare the distance.  To me it is totally couter intuitive but that's the way it works.

Harry K

You might consider using a synthetic oil.