# Blower fell out of truck...



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

I'm sure that some of you have seen my other thread about my restoration and repower of a 32 inch 1972 Ariens. Short to say, I've put a lot of time and effort into that machine. 
I loaded up my truck with my 32 inch and 24 inch Ariens to bring across town to help a friend do his and his neighbor's driveway. After about an hour of clearing snow, I load up the truck again to go home. Now this is the part that baffles me because I'm not sure what exactly happened...I pull up to my driveway, hear a loud noise immediately followed by an even louder thud. My tailgate seemed to open up and my 32 inch blower fell out. Newly painted, new 420 cc motor, new parts...laying dead on the road.
What happened next was nothing short of a slew of 4-lettered words escaping my mouth. I was not happy

The damage, from what I can tell at the moment, is that the handlebars got mangled and distorted, and the drivetrain got jammed up. The clutch and shifter aren't working. Thankfully the motor started right up and doesn't have any damage. I didn't have the time to work on it, but I'm hoping that sometime tomorrow or Thursday I can take it apart and [hopefully] get her back up and running.


----------



## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

That sucks. Did it bust up the body on the snowblower? Hopefully you can fix what's broken or get another blower. At least the engine survived


----------



## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Well, could have been worse. Could have been the 2011 Ariens and it could have happened going down the highway. Did you have them tied down? Perhaps the Harbor Freight ratchet straps are not as good of a deal as they seem?


----------



## Colored Eggs (Dec 7, 2012)

I hope anything that broke can be easily repaired or replaced. Seems to me the truck decided it would be nice and unload the cargo for you by dropping the tailgate. Guess it underestimated that an ariens might be built tough but will not do well if dropped to far.

Sounds to me like the blowers may have shifted shoving the tailgate open or that it was not closed all the way. Maybe blocked by snow or ice.


----------



## Rockproof (Jan 12, 2013)

Ouch! I can't even imagine how horrified I would be if I saw my restored blower laying in the street. I feel for ya man. THAT SUCKS! Hopefully ya get her back in shape soon...


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

GustoGuy said:


> That sucks. Did it bust up the body on the snowblower? Hopefully you can fix what's broken or get another blower. At least the engine survived


The body is still in its great condition. The handlebars broke the fall...



Shryp said:


> Well, could have been worse. Could have been the 2011 Ariens and it could have happened going down the highway. Did you have them tied down? Perhaps the Harbor Freight ratchet straps are not as good of a deal as they seem?


Haha well I'm glad you brought some valuable perspective to this funk I got stuck in. Truthfully though, I don't think I'd be as upset if the 2011 fell out because I only bought it, opposed to the '72 being torn apart and restored on my time and dime. Either way, they both suck. They were not tied down, I'll describe it in the reply to ColoredEggs



Colored Eggs said:


> I hope anything that broke can be easily repaired or replaced. Seems to me the truck decided it would be nice and unload the cargo for you by dropping the tailgate. Guess it underestimated that an ariens might be built tough but will not do well if dropped to far.
> 
> Sounds to me like the blowers may have shifted shoving the tailgate open or that it was not closed all the way. Maybe blocked by snow or ice.


Yeah I'm thinking it'll be an easy fix, it's just the initial shock that has me all worked up into thinking that my new blower already kicked the bucket. I have a similar blower that I can use for donating parts if need be. When I tear into it within the next couple days, I'll be able to figure out what happened and what to fix.

As for the way my two blowers were loaded into the truck, the 2011 was loaded into the bed first and turned 90 degrees so it's parallel to the cab. The 32" was then loaded straight it then slightly turned so the tailgate could close. I didn't feel the need for tie straps because it was only a 1 mile drive and the machines felt secure.

My guess is the same as yours as to how it opened up. I really have no definite answer though. Just another thing to work on, inspecting the linkage to my tailgate's lock and release mechanism


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

Rockproof said:


> Ouch! I can't even imagine how horrified I would be if I saw my restored blower laying in the street. I feel for ya man. THAT SUCKS! Hopefully ya get her back in shape soon...


Horrified - yeah...that would probably be the best word to describe the way I felt. 
And I need her back in shape. Supposedly, we're getting a gnarly storm this weekend


----------



## Ray 1962 10ML60 (Oct 14, 2011)

My sympathies man. I know how hard we work on these machines to bring them back and keep them reliable, that is just really sh**y. It's a labor of love for sure, but that's tough love right there. You'll bring her back to glory.


----------



## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Shryp said:


> Well, could have been worse. Could have been the 2011 Ariens and it could have happened going down the highway.


My luck would be it'd bounce and take out a 72 passenger school bus FULL of kids. Don't even want to think of that insurance claim. 

Hope it is all little stuff that can be straightened or replaced easily.


----------



## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

How did the 420cc engine throw the snow? You should post a picture of the machine. Are you able to straighten out the handle bars or will it need replacing?


----------



## 69ariens (Jan 29, 2011)

MY first question is did you have the blower in gear. Mine was in the back off plow truck during the hole blizzard and with out straps getting jolted every time I hit a snow bank and never moved. My second question is is you truck a gm. Every gm truck that i have owned , the tail gate latch has suck on them. I driven dawn the road hit bumps and my tail gates fell open. from 87 to my 05. This has never happened to the dodge's i have had or the one three fords I have owned.


----------



## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Sucks*

That totally sucks. Hope it's not too hard to find the parts to put it back together.

One thing I always do on my trucks is to lock the tailgate unless I'm loading or unloading something. Never had one open yet, and reduces the chance of the tailgate being stolen.


----------



## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

I have an old neglected '88 Silverado and never had the tailgate pop open. I do lube all the hinges and latches a couple times a year though. I'll use spray white lithium or a spray oil like JB80.
WD40 doesn't help much as it dries up right away.


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

GustoGuy said:


> How did the 420cc engine throw the snow? You should post a picture of the machine. Are you able to straighten out the handle bars or will it need replacing?


The 420 was like an untamed animal. Easily throwing snow 50 feet, that was only with 2-3 inches of snow. Can't wait to see what it can do with significant snow. I'll snap a pic of it tomorrow when I start working on it. And I hope I can straighten everything out, won't know until I work on it.



69ariens said:


> MY first question is did you have the blower in gear. Mine was in the back off plow truck during the hole blizzard and with out straps getting jolted every time I hit a snow bank and never moved. My second question is is you truck a gm. Every gm truck that i have owned , the tail gate latch has suck on them. I driven dawn the road hit bumps and my tail gates fell open. from 87 to my 05. This has never happened to the dodge's i have had or the one three fords I have owned.


Whenever I load some type of machine into my truck, I typically always put it into gear to, hopefully, prevent something like this from happening. As for what just occurred, I _recall_ putting it into gear, but not 100% confident. It was, however, stuck in reverse after the fall...

An no, I drive a dodge dakota with a shortbed. It has a history of giving me problems opening, but it never opened up while in use.

I think it might have been a culmination of factors to create a perfect storm...linkage possibly being worn out, the locks/latches may have been clogged to allow the tailgate to close but not lock shut, ice on the bed floor, not being tied down despite a closed tailgate, and possibly leaving it out of gear.


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

HCBPH said:


> That totally sucks. Hope it's not too hard to find the parts to put it back together.
> 
> One thing I always do on my trucks is to lock the tailgate unless I'm loading or unloading something. Never had one open yet, and reduces the chance of the tailgate being stolen.


Thankfully I have another blower from the same era that I can use for donor parts if I have to. I don't want to tear apart another one of my blowers if I don't have to, but it's good to know that I at least have interchangeable parts.

I don't have the luxury of having a locking tailgate. Perhaps a valid investment for the future now haha


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

Well I was able to take a look at my machine today. I forgot to take pics of it before, but it looks _almost_ like it did before. I bent the handlebars back.

As for the damage...nothing was actually broken but there's a shaft that's part of the clutch that was the culprit of not shifting. The end of the shaft normally sticks out of the transmission housing by an 1/8 inch, and acts as a pivot point for the clutch assembly to engage and disengage. The housing was bent from hitting the pavement and that shaft slipped out, rendering the clutch useless.
I worked the metal back into place, got the shaft aligned, put everything back together and started her up. Ran like a dream just like before


----------



## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

sounds like the accident wasn't as bad as it seem to be and congrats on getting it back together & ready for work


----------



## Ray 1962 10ML60 (Oct 14, 2011)

Glad to hear it wasn't as bad as you thought!


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

Yeah thankfully it was just a minor issue. I guess it was just karma playing games with me. Just in time for the storm that we're expected this weekend...just heard that it's predicted to get about a foot of snow. Can't wait


----------



## GustoGuy (Nov 19, 2012)

SlowRider22 said:


> Well I was able to take a look at my machine today. I forgot to take pics of it before, but it looks _almost_ like it did before. I bent the handlebars back.
> 
> As for the damage...nothing was actually broken but there's a shaft that's part of the clutch that was the culprit of not shifting. The end of the shaft normally sticks out of the transmission housing by an 1/8 inch, and acts as a pivot point for the clutch assembly to engage and disengage. The housing was bent from hitting the pavement and that shaft slipped out, rendering the clutch useless.
> I worked the metal back into place, got the shaft aligned, put everything back together and started her up. Ran like a dream just like before


Awesome. Good to hear that the damages were minimal and easily fixed. Post a video of your 32 inch 420cc 15hp machine throwing snow 50 feet. Sort of like an ultimate snow removal machine attacking a foot of snow.


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

Well folks, I have a little update that I just learned about. My blower had given me some minor issues with its drive since falling out...didn't really think anything of it.
Our last big storm, the forward gears didn't work at all but the reverse did. I thou h http it was just a friction disc that needed replacing. Well I did replace the disc and the dang thing still didn't move forward. 
I took another, more thorough, look at the drivetrain and made quite the discovery. A part of the friction plate assembly had been cracked right where it bolts onto the metal housing. This caused the plate to move forward so the disc couldn't make contact with it. All due to the blower falling from my truck, no doubt.
As just a temporary fix, I welded an extra bracket to give support to the broken friction plate. This will hopefully last until the warm season when I can just replace the entire thing.

On the bright side, the new friction disc makes a world of a difference. I really have to take a video of this animal in action so you guys can see


----------



## kbsnow (Oct 21, 2011)

Just reading this now...I too have a Dakota, 2003, but never had a tailgate problem. I load my blower the same way and keep it in gear...gonna start securing it to the truck as you never know.


----------



## mkd (Dec 31, 2013)

slowrider! what make of pickup? my 2009 gmc sierra has opened the tailgate several times since i put the tonneau cover on. it goes down with a big clunk which you can deffinately hear. you can't see it's down with the cover on the bed though!


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

mkd said:


> slowrider! what make of pickup? my 2009 gmc sierra has opened the tailgate several times since i put the tonneau cover on. it goes down with a big clunk which you can deffinately hear. you can't see it's down with the cover on the bed though!


It's an 01 Dakota short bed. The tailgate has opened up a handful of times when driving normally. Something with the linkage isn't right


----------



## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

Because of your story I have been putting a strap from a loop in the bed down over the gate to the bumper, just in case...


----------



## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

I 0nce had an Older Toro go thru my tailgate....No Damage, Thankfully. I now secure them with a come along...Slow Rider, I have Handlebars and/or other Ariens Parts You might need 15 mins east of Worcester.


----------



## SlowRider22 (Oct 17, 2013)

nt40lanman said:


> Because of your story I have been putting a strap from a loop in the bed down over the gate to the bumper, just in case...


Better safe the sorry. Hopefully you'll never have to deal with an issue as such



Jackmels said:


> I 0nce had an Older Toro go thru my tailgate....No Damage, Thankfully. I now secure them with a come along...Slow Rider, I have Handlebars and/or other Ariens Parts You might need 15 mins east of Worcester.


Thank you.
If I ever roll into that part of new England, I'll be sure to stop by and check out all your parts and whatnot.


----------

