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

I bought an Ariens 8524E snow thrower last November and today I received this Important Safety Information letter from Ariens.  I am not too happy about this.

I'm sure that is a letter everyone wants to recieve in the mail after they spend their hard earned money. I think the letter should read:

                    Dear soon to mad customer,

                                              Due to our lack of quality control or no quality control at all, your brand new snowthrower that you purchased from us will soon catch on fire and burn your entire garage down with it. But there is good news my new lexus was just delivered yesturday  see you on the golf course

                                                                                                                   Sincerely,

                                                                                                                             The President of Ariens

Personally I think you are both way off base on this.

The problem was reported to Ariens by Briggs and Stratton and says that the problem has occurred on a limited number of engines. Ariens has gone to the trouble of identifying which of their customers may be affected and have informed them. B&S is now working on a fix.

This is what responsible people and companies do when they find out that there is a problem with one of thier products. Irresponsible ones cover it up and may not even try to fix the problem. We should be applauding them for their efforts. It also indicates that B&S has an ongoing quality control effort that continues even after the product is out the door. It also shows us that both B&S and Ariens would rather admit a mistake than let their customers ( Ariens in the case of B&S and the individual owner in the case of Ariens) be in any possible danger.

In any large enterprise mistakes happen, it is how the organization deals with the error that differentiates the good from the bad.

It's curious that Ariens doesn't note this recall on their website.  It's also interesting that Briggs & Stratton's website claims that there are no B&S engines currently involved in a recall.

My interpretation of the letter is that:

1. A problem with a particular B&S engine has been identified;
2. The model of Ariens Snow Thro that the customer has uses that engine;
3. B&S is working on developing a repair;
4. Ariens recommends not using the machine until it has been fixed.

As far as I can see there is no recall happening, they are simply saying don't use your snow blower until we get back to you. If you do use it make sure it is kept away from inflamable material and let it cool down before storing it inside. Since spring is here I don't see this being too much of a problem.

It is strange that neither web site mentions the problem. Its kind of hard to search the B&S site without the engine model number, they're kind of big.

Whats the model number of the engine involved?

I agree with nibbler, and I think that Ariens is doing the right thing here.  They have identified a problem, notified the owners of the affected machines, and are working on a solution.  It sounds like it's a brigss & stratton problem, not an Ariens problem.  While I would be disappointed if I had bought one of these machines and received this letter, I would rather have them inform me of the problem early, instead of waiting for years before they tell me about it.  If this only affects a limited number of machines, then it's not worthy of a full scale recall.  But I do hope that they go public with this, or post notifications in the stores that these machines were sold in, so that customers who did not send in their registration cards can find out about the problem.

I wonder if B&S engines on other brands are also affected?

RickJ wrote:

Rick,

I believe this letter went to all registered owners and dealers of Briggs & Stratton powered Ariens Snothros. This would include models: 932043, 932044, 932045, 926007, 926008, 926009, 926010, 926011, 926012, 926014, 926015. These models include various Intek Snow and Powerbuilt Snow specs for model 12, 15, 20, and 21 engines (206cc, 249cc, 305cc, 342cc)

PK