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

I've been using Ariens snowblowers all my life, so I'm pretty disappointed with my 2004 8526LE so far.  When I received it, one of the shoe bolts was stripped out and the shoe would not stay adjusted.  Ariens sent me a couple new ones, which I was happy with.  However during the big blizzard, I noticed my wheel drive was very sluggish, I had to push the thing to get it going forward, and as soon as it hit any resistance, it would stop.  I had fully tensioned and adjusted everything after the initial 15 mins but figured maybe there had been some stretching.  Brought it in to inspect, the pivot point where the drive cable connects (sticks just out of the body) was not pivoting, it was just hanging around in there loose.  Wasn't like that when I got it for sure.  Took it all apart, found the bolt with no cotter pin sitting in the bottom.  So it apparently had been slid through and no pin ever put on (the bolt was stuck in some ice on the bottom, with no pin in sight).  Of course this caused a lot of wear to the friction disc and there is rubber all over the friction plate now.  So I also needed to change the oil last night, and while it was draining I decided to inspect other parts again with a fine tooth comb.  I am missing a bolt that holds the dipstick tube support and the front of the carb cover in place, my starter has a horrible looking electrical connection that I had to re-do (it stopped working during the storm, I thought it was Ice, guess not) and in general all kinds of stuff was loose.

I bought it in the crate as it came from Ariens, unopened, so this was not a dealer assembly issue.  Pretty disapointed for $1000.....  I mean I looked it over when I got it and did the adjustments, but I had no idea I had to rip the entire thing apart and inspect the inside too.  Sheesh.

Now that its all fixed it works great, would drive itself through a brick wall, its not the quality of the product itself that bothers me, more the quality control of the assembly.  So at the beginning of next year looks like I'll need a new friction disc already and spend some time removing the rubber off the plate.  Oh well.

-Dave

uconncuzinvinny wrote:

I disagree completely.  The missing cotter pin was inside the unit, the bottom cover would have had to be removed and the dealer would have had to inspect very closely to see it wasn't there.  The bolt was in place when I got it (as I adjusted the cable tension and the pivot was working fine).  It vibrated out during my first use I'm assuming.  If Ariens didn't notice it while building, I highly doubt a dealer would have found it.  The front bolt on the oil stick possibly, but if I missed it during my initial inspection, they certainly could have too.  It may have even been in there and just loose.  The shoes come set all the way up and the stripped bolt was holding it enough to look like it was fine, and I am not convinced a dealer would have any reason to adjust the shoes down since the scraper blade was the proper distance from the ground for a flat surface, but I have an uneneven drive and noticed it when I went to raise it some.  The electrical connection was covered, but knowing the starter was being flakey I pulled back the sheath to expose the problem, again, I doubt a dealer would have bothered if it started when they got it (which it did for me).

My experience in the past has been if anything a dealer no matter how good they are would have missed all this stuff, and potentially missed something while assembling it since at the beginning of the season they are trying to assemble as quickly as possible.  In my case, 15 minutes of time to know its done right is worth saving the money.  Like I said, none of the issues I had were to do with dealer assembly, they were all from factory assembly.  I did the full break-in and careful adjustment, something I'm sure every dealer rushes through to get stuff out the door, so I stand by my decision to do it myself, and I would do it again (and I have done it 4 times in the past).

-Dave

Jonathan wrote:

I consider my $1000 one to be "higher end" :-).  Just because its the middle-of-the-road consumer line, doesn't mean it should have quality issues.  I'm not disagreeing with your statement, just saying I hope its not the case!  Plus every other Ariens blower (including lower end ones) I've ever owned/used up until about 4 years ago had none of these issues, it seems to be a more recent thing.

-Dave

"Ariens may be very reliable if properly assembled, checked over and tested.  But on the whole, their factories are putting out more problems "out of the box" then others."

This statement potentially holds water. But using this forum as a judge for that statement of Ariens as a whole, when their are more Ariens owned here than any other brand is taking a giant leap into the realm of wonderland. I will agree that from very recent posts, it appears that theirquality check before leaving the factory has been spotty, with appears and spotty being the operative words. We don't always know all there is to know.

A dealer should assemble all machines and check them for proper operation to begin with. If someone is buying without that in mind, then they should revisit how they buy. I can buy all kinds of merchandise direct from manufacturers or distributors thay requires me putting it together. If it doesn't work and operate properly afterward it doesn't mean that equipment is no good and doesn't necessarily mean that it shouldn't be sold that way. It just means buyer beware.

I'm not talking about specific cases but rather making an advisory statement for the readers and future buyers, it's good practice.

  Marshall,

    Your statement is true for last 7 years, but wrong for the last 2 years!!

As I recall last year it was blow by, this year belts, springs, not adjusted correctly, poor dealer setup and so on and on.

I think since Ariens began  selling to the Box stores , demand has jumped and unit production has been greatly increased !

But as a result, quality control has suffered!!  They still build a good blower, but with first operation problems.

IMHO

                                               Fred   

That's why I worded it as I did and agreed to what I did Fred.  

Marshall wrote:

I would agree if my handle bars fell off, or my chute wasn't working properly.  However this part is internal and not assembled by the dealer, and since upon delivery it was functioning properly (bolt holding in there on a wing and a prayer) it would make no difference.  How many dealers remove the bottom cover to check the brake clearance Vs. checking from the top (where it can be clearly seen), and even if they did, would they have seen the missing cotter pin?

If you went to buy a car from a dealer and they mentioned a wheel had fallen off during shipment because someone forgot the lug nuts, would you feel any better about the fact that the dealer had fixed it rather than you?  It was still a flaw in the manufacture of the product, and is indicative that there could be more.....

-Dave

Forum Members have been complaining about Ariens quality control since I became a member in the vicinity of 2 yrs ago.

Many of the complaints were about rushed engineering (consumer grade drive systems, chute design, etc) 

That's why I bought a Simplicity.

When you get a good Ariens they're great. If you don't you get a big headache. Ariens will fix it...but the snow does'nt stop falling while the new snowblower is in the shop.

If you must have an Ariens make sure it's a Pro model.....many less complaints from what I read here.........

Like everyone is saying...Perhaps Ariens production quality has suffered due to the increased volume from Home Depot sales.

                                                                                                         Dan

drinkingbird wrote: I have no argument with you, as I said, I wasn't speaking to any particular case but rather in general. In your case it clear.

Let me add here that I am not defending Ariens. Well maybe I am a little bit.

What I don't like to see is any company that makes a good performing and quality product get hosed as a whole. Critisized properly, yes but, hosed as whole, no. When readers read things that basically leaves an impression that the product sucks, I'll try to step in if I think it should be narrowed down as to what the problem is (Drinkingbird, not saying you said that).

I have noticed the posts on Ariens quality control lately, it seems they are coming more often which is not good. Fact is, I had been considering making a thread about it from someone who doesn't even do snowblowers. But, I thought about it and decided that many of the post were related to box store screw ups and improper set-up thus giving me pause to post negatively. I know we hear about the problems more than we do the successes and this is a heavy forum for Ariens owners so, the rusults may be skewed somewhat?

Shoot, if I moved north tomorrow and were put in the position of having to buy a snowblower, with what little I know about them, I would go Sim's/Snapper and probably Toro second. But that's just an opinion from a guy in Oklahoma where there's more dust than snow. Might change once I were to get there?