# Ariens Deluxe Differences



## sweatypickle (Sep 16, 2014)

Hello all. I'm trying to decide between an Ariens Deluxe 24 and Deluxe 28 plus and I had a couple questions. 

Is there any difference/benefit to the gear layout in the Deluxe 28+ (and all upper end models) compared to the horizontal layout that's used in the Deluxe 24, 28, 30 and all lower end models (including Snow-tek).

Ie:







vs









The 28+ is about $300 after taxes above the 24. I'm ignoring the standard 28 as the 12.5ft-lbs engine should have slightly more headroom on the 24. The 24 in my area also comes with the X-trac style tires ($100 upgrade) as opposed to the awful Polar Trac tires on the standard 28.

As for the logistics part, my clearing area is about 1600 square feet so the extra 4 inches shouldn't be that noticeable. The additional 3.5 inches might make getting past a vehicle in the carport more difficult. I'm in Northern Ontario Canada so we do get some large snowfalls but it's not an extreme snowbelt area. Would the extra 2ft-lbs torque be noticeable or would the smaller intake/engine on the 24 basically even out? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

My thought -

To me, it just seems to make more sense to have the speed control front-to-back as opposed to sideways - it just seems to be the way my brain thinks !

As far as engine size, I feel that you can never have too much HP. This purchase should last you 2-0-30 years, so I tend to go for the biggest/best.

A question on the chute-direction control. I wonder why Ariens changed to the ice-auger control from the joy-stick set up. I feel that the joy-stick on my works great, and is very convenient and responsive. Any ideas ?


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

ALOHA to the forms.. interesting name there, never had a sweaty pickle myself.


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## liftoff1967 (Jan 15, 2014)

Ok, any other Ariens people confused??

The first photo above clearly indicates it is a deluxe 30, but shows, what I'm gonna call horizontal shifting. Looking at the Ariens web pages (the video's to be specific) they indicate vertical shifting as shown on the bottom photo for the Deluxe series, and then for the compact series, they are shown horizontal shifting. What gives??


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## sweatypickle (Sep 16, 2014)

liftoff1967 said:


> Ok, any other Ariens people confused??
> 
> The first photo above clearly indicates it is a deluxe 30, but shows, what I'm gonna call horizontal shifting. Looking at the Ariens web pages (the video's to be specific) they indicate vertical shifting as shown on the bottom photo for the Deluxe series, and then for the compact series, they are shown horizontal shifting. What gives??


The Ariens web site/videos are all showing the 2013 lineup. As of 2014, the Deluxe lineup and lower (including Snow-Tek) have the horizontal shifter. The Deluxe 30 has the GEN3 306CC engine mind you. The Deluxe+ and above range have the vertical style. I'm wondering if there are differences/benefits/quality other than the obvious.

Here's a 2014 28 Deluxe


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## Kielbasa (Dec 21, 2013)

Who ever came up with that design for turning the chute must of had their head up their DUPA.  To go and reach over the dashboard and grab the bar to turn the chute like that is too hard and difficult. When I tried it at the Big E. my first thought was DUPA-O-NINE. To me it's actually a worse design then what came on my 1971 Ariens. I would never buy one of the so called Deluxe models just because of it. 




RIT333 said:


> My thought -
> 
> To me, it just seems to make more sense to have the speed control front-to-back as opposed to sideways - it just seems to be the way my brain thinks !
> 
> ...


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## sweatypickle (Sep 16, 2014)

Kielbasa said:


> Who ever came up with that design for turning the chute must of had their head up their DUPA.  To go and reach over the dashboard and grab the bar to turn the chute like that is too hard and difficult. When I tried it at the Big E. my first thought was DUPA-O-NINE. To me it's actually a worse design then what came on my 1971 Ariens. I would never buy one of the so called Deluxe models just because of it.


To be honest, with all the testing I've been doing, it never crossed my mind as being an issue. I'm well over 6' though, so I could see an issue for the vertically challenged. The Platinum design seemed somewhat finicky to me. The Toro's joystick definitely has an edge there.


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