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

pulling out my hair trying to make a decision on snow blowers.  latest challenge is ariens platinum 30 or john deere 1330?  Seems like they are pretty similar machines and the deere has electric chute options (convenience / repair issue).  i can save 150 bucks with deere, but thinking that is short money if ariens is better machine.  Any takers?

Hi there did you consider the ST28DLE (926038) Professional Series from Ariens?...I just purchased this model machine for $ 1800.00 plus taxes in Canada and was also considering the Ariens's Platinum ST30DLE (921018) model machine. For a couple of hundred dollars I would definitely consider the ST28DLE Pro model. The ST28DLE Pro machine comes standard with a 420 cc Briggs & Stratton Polar Force engine. This is a lot of engine for a 28" machine...I would stay away from the electric chute system because of maintenance. Personally, I would focus on the heavy duty points of a snow blower. The ARIENS Platinum & Deluxe series machine have a short 2" auger shaft sticking out from the commercial grade gear box from each side. Then to compensate, a support bracket is installed on top of the gear case and screwed underneath the blower housing. This is to prevent the gearbox from twisting during action. The Pro 28,32 & 36 models machine from Ariens have a full length auger shaft that goes from onside to another, eliminating the bracket support. The 420 cc engine has 14.39 HP., this is how its calculated..ex: 21feet/lbs. of torque x 3600 rpm divided by 5252 gives me 14.39 horsepower. This engine also comes with a crankshaft balancer, cast iron cylinder sleeve and a forged crankshaft.  Also, with the Pro 28...the sheet metal side panels are thicker having a 12 gauge thickness. You also get these massive reversible skids shoes and drift cutters that come standard with the Pro series...the other ARIENS models are much lighter duty and don't come with drift cutters. The tires are more aggressive on the Pro Series which eliminates the need for chains...especially if your driveway is street level. By the way; the differential ATC (Hilliard Auto-Lok) is a real beauty for turning...it comes standard on both models (Platinum & Pro Series) not on the Deluxe model. It also comes standard on the John Deere 1330SE model (Easy Steer)...this is a really nice invention. You have double tracking and at the same you can easily steer when you have to turn. By the way, the John Deere also has a short auger shaft coming from the gear case...The shaft is a little longer than Ariens's maybe 4" on each side than the Ariens Platinum or Deluxe model..If you look at the 1330 SE blower housing, you will also notice that it also comes with a support bracket mounted to their gear case. In any case, Good Luck with your purchase...Remember you will have the Snowblower for a long time...maybe 20 years to 30 years. My last machine was a TORO from 1978 (826). This model machine costed more back then...but was well worth it. $ 200.00 over 20 years is not that much more to invest in a solid rock machine...Take care!

Husqvarna 1830 EXLT  Tracks, Hydrostatic Transmission not the friction wheel the machine you are looking at have, and plenty of power.  A True beast of a machine.

Consumer Reports rates the Cub Cadet 900 series snowblower this years best, it has a 16 Inch Diameter Auger that feeds the snow into a 16 inch Fan (impeller), most machines have smaller augers and fans than that.  This would be a friction wheel drive like the ariens and JD models, but not those 16 inch snow remover parts. Cub Cadet is an MTD manufactured machine.

well said Scopes O1

New_Yorker wrote:

Yeah I seen that as well, not sure of MTD in my opinion......Much better off with Toro or Husqvarna or even Deere!

I have no personal experience with MTD equipment, so take this for what it's worth, but I've heard a lot of people refer to it as junk.  I just bought the 1330SE.  My local Deere dealers weren't even carrying the Deere line.  They were all selling Ariens.  Most of them mentioned that it was simply due to the fact that when Ariens quit manufacturing the Deere units they simply kept the Ariens line.  I got mine at Lowe's.  I have no idea whether it's a good piece of equipment, but I heard good things about Simplicity's products.  It's also green.  Having spent most of my life on a family farm that used nothing but John Deere equipment, that pretty much tipped the scales between all of the brands I looked at, which included Ariens & Honda.  If I had thousands to spend on a snowblower, I would have probably gotten a Honda.

By the way, I had a 1978 Toro model 826 with a Friction wheel and never had to replace the wheel...It is simple and cheap to fix if needed. If it's adjusted properly it works like a charm...I have looked at all three models the Husquvarna,John Deere and the Cub Cadet professional series....My 2nd choice would have been the Cub Cadet 930 SWE and lastly John Deere 1330SE ...For your information, before I make any purchases I like to know exacatly on how the machine is built and also know on how easy it would be to fix in future...I have looked at all the parts and owner's manuals for all of these models including the Ariens Professional Series machine...At the end I went with Ariens Pro 28 with 420 cc engine from Briggs...more bang for the buck thats what it comes down to. Also parts and service if needed are readily available.  I found the The Husquvarna 12527HV & 1830SB somewhat lighter duty and overrated ...Personally, I don't like the LCT engines from China. I didn't find the mechanical aspect of it appealing...What worries me is the parts availability and reliability of this machine in future...I have spoken to many different repair shops and many have told me to stay away....Good luck!

scopes01 wrote:
scopes01, first off, welcome to the forum.  I appreciate your post because I had no clue that the auger shafts could/would be so short on a machine.  I have always just assumed that snowblower auger shafts were all full length on all machines from all manufacturers.  That certainly explains the supports above the gear case that I've seen on the Ariens; and now John Deere, built by Briggs.  How about Simplicity?  Those are also built by Briggs.  I wonder how widespread this fact is.  My Toro 1028LXE has two shear bolts on the auger shafts, but they are nearer the outer end of the shafts, proving that the shafts go all the way through.  And of course, there is no gear case support arm.

Speaking of Ariens, I happen to have their catalogs from 2007-2008 through 2011-2012.  Those supports appear on the 2007-2008 Deluxe machines.  For 2008-2009, they appear on the Deluxe Track and Deluxe models .  For 2009-2010 through 2011-2012, they appear on the Platinum and Deluxe models.  Now, my first thought is that I don't like the idea.  I'd rather have those shafts go all the way through.  However, I don't know if from an engineering view the machines with the short auger shafts are at a mechanical disadvantage.  All the stress is on those two shear bolts near the gear case.  I have pictures of the bucket area of a Platinum 30 at Home Depot.  Indeed, there are only two shear bolts, both close to the gear case.  No other shear bolts on the auger shaft.  That proves the point.  This isn't just an Ariens thing, however, as evidenced by the JD 1330SE.  Is this really a problem, or just a perceived problem?  I'm not convinced Ariens is willing to sacrifice their reputation over a shorter auger shaft.  Maybe Snowmann can enlighten us.

How easy is the ATC on the Ariens to turn?  I hear various opinions on that.

Thanks Ray for welcoming me to this site…I really enjoy reading the different posts and comments from everyone!

Traditionally, all snow blowers have had auger shafts that would spread from one end to another through the gear case. Coming from a machining & manufacturing background, the only reason that I can think of for going with a shorter auger shaft is simply manufacturing costs. Plain and Simple!….If any sales guy try’s to tell you otherwise like rigidity and performance is improved with a shorter shaft…in my opinion he is simply incompetent. Now to say that it is a totally bad design isn’t fair on my behalf to say.  It all comes down to the application and what it will be used for. I have sold quality Japanese CNC machine tools for most of my professional sales career, and one important point that I would ask the customer is what he wanted to do or try to achieve. Therefore, if consumer has a 15 ‘wide x 20’length driveway, the Ariens Compact or Deluxe model is fine and will do a great job. However, if the consumer tells me that he will be doing all driveways on his street on regular basis. I would then suggest him to go to a Commercial grade machine. As for Simplicity, John Deere and Snapper…if I am not mistaken they are all built by Briggs & Stratton.  As for Toro, it has a complete auger shaft that goes across on all their two stage machines older and new. Another point that I realized with Snowblower manufacturers recently. Is the fact that they have become much more marketing oriented. For instance, Ariens used an aluminum auger gearbox case (no support and a complete shaft) for the longest time on their entire residential line model machines same as Toro. For the Ariens commercial grade line they were using a cast iron gear box different from the one used today. Now, they have decided to supply a commercial grade cast iron gearbox on all their models (residential & commercial) to the exception of the Compact models. However, a short shaft on the residential machine and a complete shaft for the commercial machines. I think it sounds good to promote “Commercial Grade Gearbox with 5 years warranty”. Now if they wanted to supply a short shaft on their previous version aluminum split type gearbox casing, they would have had a lot problems with leaks and cracked casing because of the stress and twist of not having a complete shaft supporting it from one end to another. Also they couldn’t use the older cast iron gearbox casing either with the shorter shaft, because of its design with side flanges and seals. Therefore; they re-designed a totally new cast iron gear box for both applications (complete and short shafts for the entire line-up except for their Compact line)

Regarding the ATC on the Ariens….it is a really good feature that is offered. There is a little resistance when you turn, but almost unnoticeable. If you stick to a smaller machine like a 28” housing, it is very easy to manoeuvre than a 36” machine. I guess that was always the case. I happen to take a closer look at the ATC system on the Ariens (Platinum & Professional series). It is a really cool design. It is a Hilliard Auto-Lok system. It has two female internal splines bore on each side of the gear assemly for the axle shaft to enter. Then these Auto-Lok acts like tension device to release the resistance when you turn and yet still have traction on both wheels. John Deere 1330SE model also offers the same feature under a different marketing name called "Easy Steer"...and it is also a Hilliard product. Hope the info helps...Take care!

I had the 1330 with easy steer and did not like it at all.  It was very difficult to keep in a straight line - kept veering from side to side and was a contunuous fight.  And when taking a partial cut it was almost impossible to keep it from strongly veering into the deep snow.

Hi Joe

I know for a fact that the Auto-Lok Differential from Hilliard is used on the drive axle of your John Deere 1330 SE machine. Which they call the "Easy Steer". Now the way it is integrated into the snow machine's design is another issue all together. I have closely looked at the ARIENS ST28DLE and JD 1330SE Auto-Lok Differential from Hilliard. The main difference is that the ARIENS is using a spur gear around the Auto-Lok and a pinion to drive the axle with both wheels. The spur gear surface is about 1" wide and the pinion even more. Perhaps, 1.250" of surface for the pinion. I would have to open and measure to get exact size, but its about that. This surface contact increases the stability, rigidity and decreaes the vibration of the axle. John Deere doesn't have a spur gear around the Hillard Auto-Lok unit and neither a pinion. They are using a sprocket and chain to drive the axle. The sprocket is fitted to Auto-Lok and expected to give you that Easy Steer you looking for. Unfortunately, it's not giving you the performance you were expecting....Perhaps, it is also defective too...eventhough it is mounted on a sprocket and chain it should still be going on a straight line. I hope that this summarize it....Please send me your e-mail address and I will e-mail you two diagramms and pictures to explain the difference. Regards, Scopes01

FYI, not all throwers have full length auger shafts. My Simplicity 560 (and the 760, 860 series anyway) has 6" of shaft coming out of each side of the auger. This thing has had hard use here in Minnesota every winter since it was new 20+ years ago. There wasn't any issues from lack of full shafts, other than it could only rustweld part of the shaft to the auger. I am happy for the short shafts actually since I had a heck of a time getting it apart to replace the worm gear. My drive is over 400' long and is full of rocks, and sticks falling from trees. I wouldn't be too worried about the lack of full shafts on the newer machines. It took me this long to bust it and I'm not delicate with the machine.

scopes01 wrote:
Thanks for that Mr. Scopes - it may explain it.  Don't need the diagrams because I returned the 1330 in favor of a Honda 928 (the 1330 had other issues around traction too).  May be interesting for all to see the diagrams here though if you could post them.

Hi Joe...Good move to exchange it for the Honda...How do you like the Hydrostatic transmission?...does it work well....I really liked the Honda...nicely finshed and well engineered. The only thing about them is that I found them expensive. Other than that...it is a very nice machine...I haven't figured out yet on how to post diagramm on this site...But I will try..Cheers..Scopes01

We're getting 6-10" of snow tonight, so I'll be using my 1330SE for the first time tomorrow morning.  I'm going to be pissed if it works like ass.

gman4 wrote:
Here's a link where Snowmann (Ariens engineer) posted some comments about John Deere blowers:

http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/49213-A-1.html

See the original poster and Snowmann's comments (#1 response).


Here's a link about the Hilliard Auto-Lok used by Ariens and John Deere:

http://productsearch.machinedesign.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail/Hilliard/Hilliard_AutoLok_Differential/108436/0

In case you missed it, see also response #10 on this thread, by scopes01, regarding the difference between the Ariens use of the Auto-Lok and the John Deere use of it.


The John Deere is quite nose-heavy whereas the Ariens seems more balanced by comparison.  The heavier nose will be easier by nature to go through a pile of snow without the front end lifting up, but how heavy a person wants the nose is a personal choice.  The JD's electric chute controls concern me as far as longevity is concerned.  I would prefer a traditional and proven mechanical system that you know will work year after year.  I think the JD's are well built, but so are the Ariens.  Briggs builds the JD's, but for how long?  And then what do you do if Briggs bails out and you need parts?  Ariens blowers have always been built only by Ariens.  At least parts and service would be pretty easy to come by.

oljeeptek wrote:
oljeeptek, welcome to our forum.  Your comments are interesting.  I've not seen a discussion of auger shaft lengths before this thread came along.  Maybe it's not that big of an issue.  At any rate, after I made my first post on this thread before I went to work (see #7 above), I had time to ponder the Ariens short-auger issue further, and made a list of observations and questions:

1)  I assume the auger is hollow after the shear bolt.

2)  Is it solid for an inch or so at the end and shaped like a full-length shaft end so it can act as such in the bushing on the side of the housing, or just capped at the end with a part attached that is shaped like a full-length shaft end? 

3)  My son's Ariens ST824 (1993 model) has a full-length shaft with one shear bolt per side of the auger (each side is a single section), each located in the middle of the shaft, as compared to today's Deluxe and Platinum models where the bolts are about an inch on either side of the gearcase.  Interestingly, my Toro 1028LXE's shear bolts are located exactly 2.5 inches from the outer end of the shaft where it goes into the housing-side bushing.  Three different blowers, three different locations to apply power and absorb stress.  What does it matter how long the auger shaft is, then?   The only comment I can think of would be that a bolt in the middle of each side of the auger would evenly spread out applied power and any stresses the auger encounters in operation.

4)  The issue of the auger shaft rusting solid with the hollow auger shaft becomes a non-issue, since there are only a couple of inches of shaft to lubricate.

5)  Does the gearcase support arm hanging from the housing get in the way of snow movement to the impeller?

6)  Maybe the idea of the gearcase being supported from above is a good idea whatever the length of the auger shaft is because it takes away weight from the auger bushings on the sides of the housing.

7)  Conversely, maybe point #6 is wrong.  Maybe it's better to have a solid, full-length steel shaft supporting the gearcase instead of the support arm above.  That's what the Pro models have, after all.  Hmm.

7)  Ariens is saving money on steel used for the shaft as compared to the amount of steel used for the support arm.

Well, these are just things I thought of.  As a result, I think I'm not really concerned about the auger shaft length issue too much.  Maybe somebody else has another opinion?

scopes01 wrote:
I really like the hydrostatic tranny - wouldnt want to be without it now that I have experienced one.  The electric spout controls are a big advantage too, but I do wonder about longevity but no problems so far.  And they are expensive; if they could lop 500 bux off the price they would really compete. 

Well, I'm not sure whether my first snowblowing experience was all that I hoped it would be, but it's now my benchmark.  I thought the 1330SE did OK.  I would estimate we got somewhere around 8-10" of very wet, heavy snow last night, and perhaps a bit more in spots.  I'm not really sure what I should have expected, but I've been told that type of snow presents real problems for some snowblowers.  I'm sure some of the drifts in my driveway were well over 12". 

I didn't really experience any of the previously mentioned issues with "Easy Steer".  It didn't seem to pull to one side or the other, even when taking a partial cut.  It also didn't seem to work, or make steering easier, when going in reverse, and I'm really not sure whether it's designed to work in reverse.  It was very easy to turn going forward, but I have no experience with other drive systems to which I can compare, so it seemed normal to me.

I did experience a few issues with traction in areas where the snow was deep.  I can definitely see the machine making zero progress through a hard packed snow.  The 1330SE seems to be very front heavy, which I think might be part of the problem.  It doesn't take much effort to lift the rear of the machine off the ground.  I'm not really sure what options are available, such as wheel weights and chains, but I would like to try something to address that issue.

It throws snow much better, or farther, when going through deep snow as opposed to areas where there isn't a lot of snow.  Cleaning up areas where it had spilled out the sides, it would only throw that stuff a few feet.  Maybe that's normal, and that stuff was pretty slushy.  It wasn't throwing snow up into the trees like some of the Honda videos I've seen.  I think it would be cool to throw snow over your neighbor's house.

The lights on my machine are always on.  I think a switch would have been nice.  I'm not sure whether that's by design, or whether it wasn't assembled correctly.

The handwarmers are pretty neat, and I liked the electric chute controls.  I thought they worked very well.

Green, yellow & black go very well with white.

Isn't this the last year that John Deere branded snowblowers will be available?  Aren't they essentially a Simplicity Pro machine?  Shouldn't parts, perhaps not all parts, be interchangeable?  Didn't Briggs & Stratton buy Simplicity?

It sounds like you were expecting a bit better performance than what was delivered. If you're not happy with it, you may want to consider taking it back for a refund and going with a different manufacturer. Buyers remorse really sucks and it's your hard earned $$$ so you may as well be happy with your decision. You've only had it for a couple of days at this point.

Don't worry about the Honda snoblower videos as they are over-rated and most likely staged by Honda fanatics to look really good.  I am sure with time and some pratice, your blower will perform well and meet your  expectation.  My old blower (although it was a free one) was so bad that a SS can outperform without any issue.  When you have a wet snow to deal with, spray some generous amount of silicone spray around your chute and auger and perhaps the snow will move out much better.  Happy blowing.

I think if you're going to spend $ 1500.00 +/- hard earned dollars, you should be very happy with your purchase and not second guessing the performance. I think is was Dr_Woof (I may be wrong) who described almost the same performance issues as described by Stainless. I realize the snow was wet and heavy but unless it's borderline slush the machine should still be capable of throwing it a reasonable distance, especially 8" - 10" of accumulation.

If it's not pumping snow, I'd say check the auger/impeller drive belt(s) to make sure they're not slipping.  If everything is operating correctly, it should move snow.  Super wet snow will be a problem with any machine.  Anything short of that should be manageable.  If his JD is built the same as my Simplicity and properly adjusted, it should move snow as good as anything out there.

I'm not sure I would say I was disappointed with the performance.  Like I said, this was the first time I had ever blown snow in my life and I had no idea what to expect.  As far as I can tell, the 1330SE got the job done.  I will say that I was anticipating, or hoping, that it would be a little bit more fun.   The machine threw the snow a good distance, probably 25-40 feet.  The only time it didn't throw it very far was when there was hardly anything to pick up, as in a strip a couple inches wide and a couple inches deep, and that snow was essentially slush.  That might be normal when dealing with a very small amount of material, but I'm not sure.  That was stuff that had spilled out the sides when taking a full cut.

When I got home from work, I realized that one of the things causing some traction issues was a 2x6 laying in my driveway.  Some snow had melted exposing the edge of the board.  This is a new house, and my builder had recently cleaned a bunch of junk out of my garage, and laid some lumber on the far side of my driveway to be picked up by the lumber company.  The night it snowed it was completely covered by the time I got home from work, and I had totally forgotten about it.  I'm glad that I only caught it with the edge of the front housing/intake/pickup. 

I also realized that I lost a bolt on the chute.  I had noticed when I was blowing that the chute seemed to be swaying a bit, and some snow was kind of coming out of the side at the bottom of the chute.  I guess they did not tighten this bolt during assembly.  I should probably go over the machine and check everything.  I just never got around to it prior to Tuesday night's storm.

Stainless wrote:

I did not know or realize that this is your first experience using a snowblower. That said, 25 -40 feet throw distance is very respectable. The situation you describe with the strip of slush is typical of any machine as that is not enough snow/slush to fill the bucket and allow the impeller to work as designed. More snow in the bucket/impeller is better than less snow.

One thing you need to do before the next storm is to clear any debris or loose objects from your property before you either damage your machine or injure yourself or others. Loose rocks, pieces of lumber or other building materials, kids toys, hoses or extension cords, etc... should be picked up and stored properly. They can be become dangerous to you or others when you find them under a blanket of snow with your new snowblower.

To expand slightly on FrankMA's point, if you have a small volume of snow (spillover, for instance), you can help feed the augers and the impeller by speeding up. You won't bog down the engine most likely, so go from 2nd gear to 4th, as an example. That will feed the snow in more quickly, and will help keep the impeller full, which should make it throw better. And if you're getting 25-40 feet, with slushy stuff, I'd say that's doing really well.

I'm not trying to impugn the Honda people at all (I'd love to have one, if I could afford it). But some of the videos I've seen, where the snow is going about a half mile, are with very "dry", powdery snow. Not the wet, heavy, clumpy, slushy stuff. The right conditions can help enhance how the machine looks to be performing.

MN_Runner wrote:
I still like watching those overrated Honda's    fling snow 50 feet or up telephone poles.   And when the blower fan isn't loaded up with snow, you can hear it wind up like a jet turbine. 

I heard the snow was especially prepared to be more slippery as it flies through the air.  The chutes are charged with electrostatic to repel snow from sticking to them. 

RedOctobyr wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPSWe2ce4No&feature=channel_video_title

Here's a guy practicing mortar targeting with a snowblower.  Looks like wet snow.

Another video

Here is a video my neighbor took of me and my 1330SE.

Me and my 1330SE

aa335 wrote:
Wow, those are pretty cool! My MTD doesn't throw *anything* that far. Very nice. I presume they must really crank up the tip speed of their impellers?

Oh, and Stainless, that sure is impressive. And all this time I assumed the "30" in the model number meant inches, not feet :)

Gman4, if you haven't made your decision yet, go for the Platinum 30.  I might be a bit biased since I own one, but here's why - there both similar in features, however the electric options only appear to be prone to repair down the road.  I admit when I was shopping around last year I saw that feature and thought it was COOL, then I started thinking about long-term and it just didn't sit well with me.  If there were manual over-rides (other than force) then maybe I would've considered, but if those little motors fail THEN WHAT?  I'm stuck with no control.  IMO electric motors on a machine that is exposed to the harshest element doesn't make sense, the contacts will eventually corrode then fail.  At over $1000 for a snowblower, I'd rather not take the chance of a "convenience" feature failing on me - it's not convenient if it' broke, maybe convenient for the repair shop or parts suppliet.  ATC/Easy Steer is a nice feature which eliminates extra cables and finger triggers which could be damaged during use, fairly easy to maneuver as scopes1 mentioned there is some resistance but not too noticeable, you get used to it after awhile and don't even notice.  Performance so far with has met or exceeded my expectations, watching how far it can throw in most conditions is AWESOME!  Let us know what you ended up with...

Platinum is a marketing -Sales BS term, it designates nothing but the image they want you to have of the term Platinum, in hope you will remember platinum being valuable, and then mistakenly relating that to what they're hoping you'll buy from them.  If you prefer the John Deere, you can always invent your own marketing name for it, maybe the Diamond Dazzler model John Deere, then it sounds better that the Platinum machine.

Consumer Reports rates the Ariens 30" model   921013 slightly better than the John Deere 30" Model 1695812, and it appears to be related to handling , which is usually something like one is more difficult to steer than the other.  They test only brand new machines while they are new, so this result may not reflect how they compare over time, after the parts wear down a bit.