# Old Ariens modding questions



## ELaw (Feb 4, 2015)

Folks,

I'm hoping I can tap into the collective wisdom here re mixing-and-matching parts on older Ariens snowblowers.

The patient is a 10,000 series: specifically a 910954 tractor and 910955 32" blower unit - from the numbers I think it's a 1971 or 1972 model. I've already modded it a bit by installing a newer taller chute, and an 11 HP engine (still a Tecumseh!) with a larger pulley to make the snowblowing bits spin faster.

I love the unit and have been an Ariens fan forever (almost 40 years!) but have never particularly liked the "anti-dead-man" wheel drive control on the older units where if you have a heart attack and let go of the handle, the blower will take off and eat everything in its path. Plus with the "newer" 2-belt models, I could use a large pulley to speed up the auger/impeller but a standard sized one for the wheel drive to keep that at stock speed.

So with the above in mind, the other day for $50 I picked up a 924039 - a model from about 1979. If it had the 32" width I'd use it as-is but it doesn't... so basically what I'd like to do is combine its tractor portion with the front part of the older machine. Has anyone ever tried to do that? I've already identified one complicating factor: the newer machine has the aluminum auger drive gearbox whereas the older one has the cast iron one. So it seems few if any parts are interchangeable between the two.

My second question hopefully is much simpler. The old 'blower (as well as the new one) has its original small wheels & tires - I'd love to put some of the newer-style larger ones with better tread on. Is that possible? The unit has a differential and wheels that attach to the hubs with three bolts. If the large wheels won't bolt to my hubs, is it possible to just put larger tires on the existing wheels?


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## guilateen02 (Nov 23, 2014)

I know the wheels from a the older Snapper rer(Forrest Gump) machines fit perfectly. I have a set on my 8/32 machine now mounted with Carlisle Xtrac amd the deference is astounding. The larger wheel package will bring up the rear a little bit. I found that to be extremely useful, the front end doesn't ride up as easily in deep snow.


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## guilateen02 (Nov 23, 2014)

I've never tried mounting different generation buckets maybe someone else will chime in on that. Im intrigued on your taller chute mod. Can you share some.details on how you did it?


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## ELaw (Feb 4, 2015)

Oh man... it was a couple of years ago so I don't remember all the details, but it was pretty easy!

Keep in mind this is a "taller" chute mod, not the "tallest" chute mod. My understanding is that Ariens chutes come in 3 heights: short on the first-gen and 10000 series machines, medium on the 924000 series, and a taller design they changed to sometime later (2004-2005?). I think the first-gen machines had chutes driven by a spur gear at the base, 10000- and 924000-series were driven by a worm gear at the base, and the newer ones have a spur gear drive mounted closer to the top of the chute.

This machine is a 10000 series so it came with the short chute with worm gear drive. All I did was buy a chute from a 924000-series machine, which had the same worm gear drive but was a bit taller.

The one quirk, and I don't remember the details of this, was that the worm gear for some reason ended up sitting at the wrong angle. It *may* be that issue was related to the engine swap rather than the chute swap, I can't remember. But I ended up using a file to make a small piece of aluminum into a wedge shape to go between the worm gear bracket and the snowblower frame to correct that problem.

But other than (maybe) the gear issue, the newer chute was a bolt-on upgrade.

I think if you want to upgrade to the newest/tallest chute (which I do eventually), you have to cut the base off an older chute and weld it onto the new one, as the new chutes don't have a gear integrated into the base.


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## gto4evr (Feb 6, 2015)

On your tire question, the original wheels from my early 70's ariens were dryrotted and splitting with the tube showing through. I had a late 90's/early 2000's Yard machine (MTD mfg?) that rusted away and I blew the motor on. hubs were completely different but those tires fit on the ariens rims after splitting them off the hubs. The YM tires were tubeless and I tried it without the rotted tubes from the original tires. One wheel leaked and I found some pinholes in the weld seam that I filled with epoxy and they've been fine ever since. Anyways, the tread from the YM wheels was much more aggressive and the tires are a bit taller, but don't affect the angle with the bucket enough to cause a problem.


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## ELaw (Feb 4, 2015)

Interesting! What did you do for valve stems?

I'd love to have tubeless tires... I know it's counterintuitive, but almost all the tires I own with tubes leak, and almost all the ones I own without tubes don't.


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## gto4evr (Feb 6, 2015)

I used short automotive valves. They were a bit of a struggle to get into the holes, but fit without having to drill the opening. (I hate making changes you can't go back on) They're still a bit long and I had to trim a relief hole into the plastic cap that goes on those raised ears to cover the center of the hub, but you can position the rim so the valve goes up between them. I was kind of surprised the tires fit so well considering the numbers on the tires didn't match but the calipers said otherwise. I'm very happy with the wheel fit. I'll snap a pic and get you the tire info tonight when I get home from work.


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## gto4evr (Feb 6, 2015)

On the tires, I took off Carlisle 4.10/3.5 - 6 tires with tubes, and swapped on a pair of Carlisle 13 x 5.00 - 6 tubeless tires. Step one was to wire wheel all the rust off the bead and weld area on the original rims. used the real steel epoxy putty to fill in the weld seam (only had to do that to 1 of the rims, the other was a clean weld bead all the way around), then for good measure I used some silicone to coat the entire weld area in the rim to prevent any possible leaks, then worked the valves in. coated both beads with tire bead sealer (that stuff is awesome, I never mount a tire without it anymore). Fill the wheels with air before putting them on the blower since it's much harder to get a inflation tool on the valve due to the height. Original tubes had 90 degree bends in them to get around the hub. Tires are meaty, much wider than original footprint and great traction. 

first pic is the old tires by the Yard Machine rims


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I did the same thing to mine.


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## db130 (Feb 16, 2013)

guilateen02 said:


> I know the wheels from a the older Snapper rer(Forrest Gump) machines fit perfectly. I have a set on my 8/32 machine now mounted with Carlisle Xtrac amd the deference is astounding. The larger wheel package will bring up the rear a little bit. I found that to be extremely useful, the front end doesn't ride up as easily in deep snow.


What's the diameter on the Snapper lawnmower wheels that you used? I just sold a Husqvarna snowblower with large wheels and I also observed that the front end stayed planted in the deep snow. I'd love to have a similar stance on my 10000 series.


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## stanz (Mar 17, 2015)

*All sorts of options*

I know this is an old thread but I stumbled upon this so here's my two cents.

I'm a BIG fan of the original series buckets with the heavy cast iron gearbox but I don't like the tractor section. I was told that you couldn't mate the old bucket to a modern tractor section. Well, that was enough of a challenge to get me going.

The old Sno-Thros use one belt and a lever to engage a lovejoy coupler between the tractor drive pulley and the auger drive. The newer models use two belts with a hand control for belt engagement of the auger drive.

I found a newer Ariens with a blown auger gearbox. I pulled the bucket off and removed the auger drive pulley and hub off the shaft. 

I then removed the lovejoy coupler from the auger drive of a Sno-Thro bucket.

Next I installed the hub and pulley from the modern auger drive onto the Sno-Thro auger drive. 

I could have used the chute from the Sno-Thro but I prefer the worm gear chute control. That required welding on the worm gear mounting bracket from the newer bucket after I cut it off.

After that it's a simple matter of bolting everything together, the belt from the newer Ariens fits fine.

My Sno-Thro bucket is one of the old ones that have the removable side panels from the front portion. I know it's a safety issue, but I removed them. I now have a snowblower that can cut into snowbanks much better than a newer model due to the exposed auger.

I did the conversion years ago and have since changed the tractor portion for a smaller 5hp unit. It makes it easier for me to use at work than my original 8hp large tired tractor. The attached picture is the original setup. The second picture shows the current state of the build with the small tired tractor section from a newer 524.

Original Build Thread


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## cranman (Jan 23, 2016)

I machined the love joy coupler recently to adapt a pulley to the splined shaft of the old style bucket.....the only thing missing is the brake for the impeller pulley. I had a thread on this in the Ariens section two months ago with pictures of the adapter


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

Find a 73-4 Tractor half. Problem Easily Solved. I have some Available in Central Ma.


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