# Is the belt supposed to look like this???



## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

I had the Platinum 24 delivered a few weeks ago. I decided to take off the belt cover just out of curiosity and this is what I found. I called the retail center and sent them this picture. They had a tech take a look at the pic but they pretty much downplayed the issue._ Their response was "The belts used aren't like typical belts, they are raw/unfinished belts. We typically see some that look like this. We can order and install a new belt for you, but it shouldn't be an issue during use."
_​So what do you guys think? I'm not a mechanic but something tells me that it shouldn't look like this. I did actually use the snowblower today for about 30min without any issues, but when I'm paying $1300+ for a machine, I want it to arrive without any issues.




***Updated 12/16/13 With additional pics/videos***




























This is a short clip the covers a few different angles of view... 




This is spinning the flywheel with the auger lever engaged...


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

I have the same machine, but I have to admit to never having removed that cover. I've got around 10 hours of use on mine. I'll have to check. I did my first oil change on the P24 today. I'd appreciate it if you checked out this thread and let me know if you run into the same problem I had when you do your first change. http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/ariens-snowblowers/7826-ariens-lct-engine-oil-change.html
Thanks,
Larry


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

If you look from the other side is the tensioning pulley only covering half the belt and the cause of the damage ??


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> If you look from the other side is the tensioning pulley only covering half the belt and the cause of the damage ??


To be honest, I really don't know. I wasn't home for the delivery, but my wife said the guy started it up and ran it for a minute or two to show that everything worked. Before ever starting it again, I (re)adjusted everything correctly according to the manual. I do remember tightening the tensioner and cables. Before adjusting, I vaguely remember thinking that the belts looked too loose even with the cables engaged. When I was done, everything looked perfect.

I can't imagine that the pictured belt is "normal" considering the other side of the belt doesn't look the same, and neither side of the adjacent belt looks frayed.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

At least have them send you a back up belt at their expense.


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## Garnetmica (Oct 27, 2013)

Another surprising quality issue.


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

td5771 said:


> At least have them send you a back up belt at their expense.


That was their suggestion about a month ago. I agreed but have yet to receive a phone call or the belts in the mail. Probably time to follow up with them. Apparently you need to remove the auger housing to replace the belt, doesn't seem particularly difficult, but again, not something I was expecting for a brand new $1300+ item.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

ariens does have a rep for good stuff but there are some surprises. I am currently working on a 7524 model and the thing actually has a plastic drive gear on the axle. very disappointing.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

It appears to me that the idler pulley over on the far side is cutting directly into the belt where the goove is being made. It could be just the camera angle but it sure looks like it. What do you other guys think?
I see what frog is saying.


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## BB Cub (Jan 10, 2012)

micah68kj I think you are right about the idler pulley. I would take a pic from the other side and send it to areins and see what they have to say.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

I'm guessing that the tensioner pulley mount is either bent or missing a spacer of some sort. That pulley should easily overlap the end of both belts at the same time as in the photo.
Might also want to check the drive pulley on the end of the engine to see if it's loose and it's "walked" out further on the crankshaft than it should. It should bolt down against a shoulder to position it.


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## BB Cub (Jan 10, 2012)

theholycannoli, after I posted I took another look at your pic. is there something up against the arm that the pulley bolts on ?


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> I'm guessing that the tensioner pulley mount is either bent or missing a spacer of some sort. That pulley should easily overlap the end of both belts at the same time as in the photo.
> Might also want to check the drive pulley on the end of the engine to see if it's loose and it's "walked" out further on the crankshaft than it should. It should bolt down against a shoulder to position it.


That makes sense. From my pic, that tensioner does look way off. Although, I may have tugged on the belt to spin it for a better view of the frayed part of the belt. Hard to remember as this was a month ago. I'll have to take a look tomorrow morning.



BB Cub said:


> theholycannoli, after I posted I took another look at your pic. is there something up against the arm that the pulley bolts on ?


not that I noticed, but it's possible. Again, I'll have to check and take a few more pics at different angles. I'll update in the morning.



I'd think if that tensioner was that far off, I'd have some slippage during use today. The only odd thing that happened was some "bucking" while the forward wheel drive was engaged. Seems like the skid plate was just catching the ground, or just coincidence that tipping the blower backwards solved the problem both times it happened.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Looking at your photo again the drive pulley on the engine is fine. If you stand over it and look down I'm sure it's lined up with the auger and drive pulleys below it.

As long as that tensioner can pull and hold the belt against the drive plate you aren't going to feel or hear anything as it's working properly it's just tearing up the belt.

When you get a chance to pull that cover and see it from the other side that should answer all our questions . . . well other than how it happened in the first place


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Everything appears to be lined up but the idler pulley. Just wondering if it's possible to get that pulley on there backwards?


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Well guys, here are some new pics. I'm pretty disappointed. Looks like things are way off, and perhaps more than one part is either defective or not properly installed. Initially, I didn't even pay any attention to the other belt because it didn't look damaged. In reality, I think the other belt reveals a misalignment much more clearly.




























This is a short clip the covers a few different angles of view... 




This is spinning the flywheel with the auger lever engaged... 






https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NSN6TMOugyOqXzAOGLCNnZEuHGOXHfbQl5ipjE8Zmqg?feat=directlink


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## chevyman_de (Oct 2, 2011)

Ok, the tensioner pulley is not properly aligned. No doubt about that. But...


...the section where the belt is frayed looks now actually better covered by the tensioner than it would be under normal circumstances. Therefore I don't think the belt is frayed because of the alignment flaw.
I guess it's just a string from the belt reinforcement not properly covered by the belt's rubber, which meddlesomely peeked out of the belt's shoulder and got frayed in the progress. The dealer could be right regarding the belt.
Remove the fringes with a lighter and call it a day.


Aligning the tensioner is a different story.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

I'd like to be able to climb into the picture and see down into the body where that arm is attached. The pulley doesn't look like flipping it around would change anything and it's spacing from the arm looks correct so it's likely the arm is somehow shifted forward. From the photo it looks like the pulley has been hitting the impeller housing and taking off some paint 

What is the model number of yours ??

I grabbed a model off another to just see on a parts diagram. If yours is the same, that idler has the spacer built in so it's not reversable so it's in the only way it can be. The arm it's mounted on is welded to a shaft near it's middle and that's where it pivots. What the diagram isn't clear on is how that shaft bolts to the body under the friction wheel. Might be something as simple as a 3/8ths lock nut or bolt was loose or missed during assembly ???
Best thing is you know what's wrong and someone with experience with these should be able to flip it up and fix it pretty easy as long as nothing is damaged or stripped.

This is what I was using to "see" how it's mounted.
http://www.partstree.com/parts/?lc=ariens&mn=921017+%28035000+-+%29+Deluxe+24+Platinum&dn=9444


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

I know kne thing for sure. If they are telling you it's no big deal I'm telling you *it's a big deal. *. That thing is literally going to eat belts in its present setup. *They need make it right.*


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## chevyman_de (Oct 2, 2011)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> What the diagram isn't clear on is how that shaft bolts to the body under the friction wheel.


After spending some time with looking at a large printout of the diagram I think that bracket 26 in the diagram with the frontside bushing for the shaft is bolted to the side of the housing with the two screws 17 in this picture.










The shaft goes through the backside of the housing (second bushing) and is there held in place by the lever 31. There seems to be no provision to adjust the position of the idler arm.
The shaft rests against its front bushing via spacer sleeve 28 and washer 27. Wave washer 39 and shim 27 do the job at the other end. In order to move the shaft rearwards for a significant amount, bracket 26 would have to be repositioned slightly. I don't believe that there's enough play in the holes for screws 17.


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Just used the blower again tonight for another 30min or so with about 4in of snow. I'm noticing that besides leaving a long mound of snow outside of the auger housing (left) on each pass (which I've read is a common issue), it is pulling hard to the right in forward drive, and to a lesser degree pulling to the left in reverse drive. So much that I'm actually having to FORCEFULLY push the palm of my right hand against the back end of the right handle to keep it in a straight path.

Lots of issues here, maybe related...maybe not. Either way, I'm extremely disappointed with this purchase. An Ariens rep from this forum contacted me a couple days ago after seeing this thread, but prior to these drive and snow piling issues. I sent the pics/videos but have yet to hear back from her.

Between the frayed belt, misaligned pulleys, piles of snow being left on the driveway, and forward/reverse drive issues, I'm seriously thinking about returning the machine. Not to mention, the housing also arrived with a small scuff down to the paint on the right side and an area of paint on the bottom that is cracked/chipped...both are deep enough that metal is exposed and I'm sure will be the first parts of the machine that will rust. I realize the paint is a relatively small issue that can be touched up, but it just adds to the negative experience. At this price point, I don't want a "fixed" snowblower, I want one that works properly.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

If it is not tracking straight the first things to check are the tire pressure and the skid shoes. First make sure both tires are inflated to equal pressure. After that move it to the flattest place you have and see if both skid shoes touch the ground at the same time. If one is hitting the ground before the other it will cause drag. If it is pulling to the right I would say your right skid shoe is set to hit the ground before the left. Either that or your left tire has more air in it.


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Shryp said:


> If it is not tracking straight the first things to check are the tire pressure and the skid shoes. First make sure both tires are inflated to equal pressure. After that move it to the flattest place you have and see if both skid shoes touch the ground at the same time. If one is hitting the ground before the other it will cause drag. If it is pulling to the right I would say your right skid shoe is set to hit the ground before the left. Either that or your left tire has more air in it.


Tire pressure is good. I did have issues adjusting the skid shoes. No matter where I placed the machine, the right would ALWAYS hit first. If I adjusted so both hit evenly, the skid plate ended up being about 8mm higher on one side. I would have been able to live with that (I guess), except the low side of the skid plate was hitting the ground at the same time, or maybe even BEFORE the skid shoe was touching. I spent over an hour trying to level things out (following the instruction manual) and the only way I could get the skid plate nearly level and not scraping was to have one of the shoes significantly higher than the other. Yet another thing that should have been adjusted correctly during assembly.

I just sent a summary of the issues to Ariens via their website support form. I ultimately requested a replacement. From my perspective, I think a replacement is justified considering the issue was present upon delivery, before I ever started a brand new machine. Imagine buying a new car and before ever inserting the key, you find that there are problems. I want a new car, not a repaired new car.


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Just another update for anyone who may be following. I spoke with Ariens about the issue. They are wanting me to return it to the dealer for repair. Below is the conversation with Ariens.

_I had the Platinum 24 snowblower delivered on 11/25/13. I decided to take off the belt cover, out of curiosity, and found one of the belts to be damaged. This was no more than an hour or two after delivery and the machine was not used prior. That afternoon I called the dealer (Quality Garden in Meriden, CT) and sent them pictures f the issue. They had a tech take a look at the pic but essentially dismissed the issue by saying they could send me a new belt (which I have yet to receive).

To me, it looks as if the pulleys are significantly misaligned. In this current configuration, the pulleys are going to continuously eat through new belts. Furthermore, I'm noticing that machine is leaving a long mound of snow outside of the auger housing (left) on each pass. I checked for possibly having 2 left, or 2 right augers instead of a left and right, but they appear correct. Now after using the snowblower for about 30min on two separate occasions, I'm finding that it is also pulling extremely hard to the right in forward drive.

Lots of issues here, maybe related...maybe not. Either way, I'm extremely disappointed with this purchase. Not to mention, the housing also arrived with a small scuff down to the paint on the right side and an area of paint on the bottom that is cracked/chipped...both are deep enough that metal is exposed and I'm sure this will be the first parts of the machine that will rust. I realize the paint is a relatively small issue that can be touched up, but it just adds to the negative experience.

At this price point, customers are not expecting to have any of these issues, let alone the 5 mentioned above. Between the frayed belt, misaligned pulleys, piles of snow being left on the driveway, forward drive issues, and paint defectives, I'd like to request a replacement. 

Please see the attached files to visualize the belt issue.

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__Hi Mark, Thank you for contacting the Ariens Company._

_Good morning Mark. My recommendation would be to take the unit back to the dealer for repair so it can be covered under warranty and the proper adjustment made on the idler. The pulley for the belt should line up properly with both belt, it should not be putting more pressure on only one belt causing premature wear, again the dealer can make the adjustment for you. As far as the snow blowing out of the left side of the blower housing, this will happen with different snow conditions. I have the 30" deluxe model and it does the same thing especially with light snow and no density, when you get more density to the snow I found this does not happen. I have tested many competitive snow blowers over the years when I was in Research and Development and found most all unit will do the same thing in certain snow conditions._
_ As far as the unit pulling to the right I would first checking the tire pressures, should be around 15-20 pounds each. The next thing I would do is to make sure your scraper is set correctly, there should be about 1/8" gap between your scraper blade and your surface (Blacktop, Concrete, etc.) you can do this by loosening the two nuts on each side of your skid shoes and putting a 1/8" thick washer under each side of your scraper blade and then retighten the nuts back up on your skid shoes. Hope this answers your questions._

_Please reply to this message with any further questions or concerns. We are happy to help.

--------------------------------------------------------

Hi Dick,
Thanks for your reply.
In regards to the machine pulling to the right; it is requiring SIGNIFICANT effort to keep a straight track. I am 33yrs old and in excellent shape physically. 5 minutes into usage my arms were beyond fatigued. I've been using snowblowers for roughly 10yrs and this type of pulling is not the result of tire pressure. I believe that the housing was somehow bent during shipment. No matter where I placed the machine, the right side would ALWAYS hit first. If I adjusted skid shoes so both were almost hitting at the same time, the skid plate ended up being about 8-10mm higher on one side, while the low side of the skid plate was digging into the ground. I spent over an hour trying to level things out (following the instruction manual) and the only way I could get the skid plate nearly level and not scraping was to keep to have one of the shoes significantly higher than the other. Unfortunately, this results in the skid plate being overall too high from the ground and unlevel at the same time. I've done quite a bit of research into this matter and I've found that other users have had very similar issues when the housing was bent.

In regards to the snow accumulating on the left; although this particular unit seems to suffer more than other blowers I've used in the past, it is something I could live with if there were no other issues.

In regards to the pulley alignment and belt damage; looking at the current configuration it is clear that the pulleys are not even close to being aligned. According to parts/assembly diagrams, there is not a method to adjust those pulleys in an anterior/posterior direction to get them aligned. This further leads me to believe that the housing is actually bent and the cause of poor alignment through the unit, including the skid shoes, plate, and drive system.



Perhaps there are issues that can be repaired, perhaps not. Regardless, I'm not interested in having a brand new $1500 unit repaired. Imagine showing up at a BMW dealership, handing over full payment for vehicle, and then discovering it has problems X, Y, Z before you even turn the ignition. Nobody in their right mind is going to agree having that vehicle repaired. They would either pick another car on the lot or have their payment refunded. This situation is no different.

I have supporting email documentation that I contacted the dealer on day one regarding the issue, and prior to ever using/starting the machine. I will not agree to have a problematic brand new unit repaired. If Ariens is not willing to provide a replacement, then I will be asking for a full refund and I will simply make a comparable purchase from another manufacturer. 
_
_--------------------------------------------------------------

_​Considering this has been ongoing for the last month, I decided to contact Home Depot and request a return. My 30 day return period officially ends today and I didn't feel as though Ariens was going to resolve the issue to my satisfaction. So now, I'm left with the decision of either re-ordering the same item or looking elsewhere.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Call me crazy but the guy in customer service should sort of repeat back your concerns and although he might not validate them he should be trying to steer you to a service center so they can tell him what they found and then he can tell you about his wonderful 30" blower that works so well (once yours is working as well as his). He should have them do the adjustments and if that's all it took the service tech can in a friendly way show you what was needed in case it happens again.

That reply just doesn't say we'll take care of you . . . it's more you need to adjust your new $1,500 machine to work better and remember to check the air in the tires each week.

I'd take it back and get cash.

Sorry to say you need to start over but buy another one from HD or wherever but you need a refund. You could be wrong and maybe it's just adjustments (don't hit me) but if it's bent and they can only kinda fix it who's going to eat it


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

If you knew you could still return it for a full refund *AFTER* the repairs I'd be curious to see if and especially how they fix the issues. Replace the worn belt, center the pulley on both belts, level the auger housing *THEN* adjust the scraper bar so you know both are parallel to a level surface and why it's pulling ??

The other thing to be concerned about is it going to be like sears warranty service where they say they can't get to it till Feb !!!! Needs to go back to HD.


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## Snowmann (Dec 24, 2012)

Looks like the final assembly and setup on your machine were not done exactly right. Some insight:

The fraying on the opposite side of the belt is from "profiling" or "V" shaping of the belt. Belts like this can be profiled by grinding or skiving with blades. The Aramid in the belts is tough stuff and can produce this type of "fuzz" during the profiling process (especially if the skiving knives are not freshly sharpened). That is, this fuzz was on the belt when it was new and it would not affect operation.

Units similar to yours that exhibit "pull" in one direction or another usually do not have the blower housing brackets fully seated on the frame crossbar. Correcting this involves loosening the 4 bolts holding the frame to the blower housing, then rotating the handlebars rearward slightly (inch or two)while forcing the impeller tunnel area towards the ground and retightening. If you remove the bottom cover (6 bolts) you can verify if these rails are fully seated on the crossbar. You would then want to readjust runners and skid shoes again on a flat surface, and check tire pressure and circumference.

The belt alignment looks puzzling. Is the idler arm bent? There are a few things you could do to bring this into alignment better.
1. Loosen the engine slightly and take up the bolt hole slack by shifting the engine slightly forward, then retighten (easy, takes two minutes) 
2. Loosen the auger gear case supports slightly and similarly reposition the auger gear box to shift the lower pulley forward (I don't recommend touching this however as it can create other clearance problems if not done exactly right)

The small black pulley should have about .015 to .030 inch "float" back and forth on the crankshaft. You should be abled to grab it and slide it forward and rearward this much. If it does not do that (clamped tight), then either the crankshaft is slightly short (I've seen this once or twice) or the blind hole in the pulley is too deep. In any case, if this were my task to fix, I'd take the engine sheave off and drop in a <1.0" OD washer or two to shim out the steel engine pulley and not bother with the other two things (at least the gear box repositioning). The black pulley is not sensitive to potential increased fore and aft clearance as it floats with the traction belt (you may end of with an additional 1/8" or so clearance by shimming this internally, I suppose a washer or two could clear this up if it makes you nervous).

Lastly, you certainly should not have to work on a brand new unit. The dealer should be able to help you with this. It's pretty straightforward.

I hope this helps.


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## Runner50 (Jan 21, 2013)

TheHolyCannoli said:


> Just another update for anyone who may be following. I spoke with Ariens about the issue. They are wanting me to return it to the dealer for repair. Below is the conversation with Ariens. _I had the Platinum 24 snowblower delivered on 11/25/13. I decided to take off the belt cover, out of curiosity, and found one of the belts to be damaged. This was no more than an hour or two after delivery and the machine was not used prior. That afternoon I called the dealer (Quality Garden in Meriden, CT) and sent them pictures f the issue. They had a tech take a look at the pic but essentially dismissed the issue by saying they could send me a new belt (which I have yet to receive).
> 
> To me, it looks as if the pulleys are significantly misaligned. In this current configuration, the pulleys are going to continuously eat through new belts. Furthermore, I'm noticing that machine is leaving a long mound of snow outside of the auger housing (left) on each pass. I checked for possibly having 2 left, or 2 right augers instead of a left and right, but they appear correct. Now after using the snowblower for about 30min on two separate occasions, I'm finding that it is also pulling extremely hard to the right in forward drive.
> 
> ...


It appears from the above correspondence with Ariens you bought this from Quality Garden. But you state in this post returning it to Home Depot. Am I missing something?


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Runner50 said:


> It appears from the above correspondence with Ariens you bought this from Quality Garden. But you state in this post returning it to Home Depot. Am I missing something?


It was purchased through Home Depot online, but it was assembled and delivered by Quality Garden. I was also a bit confused on that, but it seems like any Ariens snowblower purchase is supposed to goto an authorized service center for assembly and adjustment before delivery.


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## Runner50 (Jan 21, 2013)

I thought from reading here that blowers sold from Home Depot were assembled by Home Depot employees? (why guys here recommend buying from an authorized Ariens dealer) You're saying that's not the case? Or are you talking strictly about online purchase from Home Depot? 
Did you have to pay Quality Garden anything for assembly & delivery?


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## TheHolyCannoli (Nov 19, 2013)

Runner50 said:


> I thought from reading here that blowers sold from Home Depot were assembled by Home Depot employees? (why guys here recommend buying from an authorized Ariens dealer) You're saying that's not the case? Or are you talking strictly about online purchase from Home Depot?
> Did you have to pay Quality Garden anything for assembly & delivery?


I'm not sure if it holds true for all online purchases, but the machine shipped to an authorized dealer/service center, and they then delivered it to me. At no point did I pay anything to the dealer, and there were no hidden fees anywhere. Price was $1399 with free "ship to home". The subtotal total was 1399 plus sales tax MINUS a 15% discount coupon that I had for a grand total of $1265 out the door...hard to pass up on a $210 discount, even if it was coming to me still in the box.

To be honest, I would almost rather do the assembly myself based on what I received on the first order. Basic things needed to be readjusted correctly when I got my hands on the unit. We will see how it arrives this time, but unfortunately the estimated arrival date isn't until Jan 6th - 15th...so based on Murphys Law, I'll count on having a blizzard Jan 1st.


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## Benny365 (Dec 4, 2013)

Snowmann said:


> Units similar to yours that exhibit "pull" in one direction or another usually do not have the blower housing brackets fully seated on the frame crossbar. Correcting this involves loosening the 4 bolts holding the frame to the blower housing, then rotating the handlebars rearward slightly (inch or two)while forcing the impeller tunnel area towards the ground and retightening.


I just did this because mine was tracking to the right, I did everything else. tire pressure, skid shoes aligned and it still would pull right.

the only thing holding the housing to the engine/frame is those 4 bolts, when i loosened those 4 bolts i could physically see the machine relieve the pressure on itself. i tightened it back up and bam, straight and true.

also installed heated grips today,,,,,I love them. blowing snow with bare hands.


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## fxfguy (Jan 26, 2014)

I am having the same auger belt drive problem as THC was with my Ariens Deluxe 30 I just bought at the end of December. My inside belt is tracking about an 1/8 th inch off the pulley and the edge of the belt is shredding. Started the unit yesterday I smelled something after it ran for about 45 seconds. I shut the machine off and pulled the cover and found the inside belt was off the pulley and somehow I have a little wear spot/hole on the cover where the pulley burned thru the cover. I have about a dozen hours on it so far is all. I'm gonna bring it back to the dealer tomorrow. One wierd thing is the belt that was still on the pulley is about an inch longer than the other


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