# Ariens Deluxe 28 SHO



## GoBlowSnow

We got about 6 inches of snow between 7:00 pm last night and 5:00AM this morning. Barely enough to justify starting the new gal up and giving her a shake down cruise. 

Pros:
- Power, Power, and more Power. 
- Awesome smooth running engine 
- Auto Turn isn't too bad... 
- Control knobs/levers work well 
- Lots of people slowing down to take a look at the impressive snow throwing distance 

Cons: 
- HEAVY. Much heavier than I anticipated, and that makes it harder to control for sloped driveways. 
- Auto turn isn't too bad.. but could use improvement. 
- I get done with my driveway and walks as well as those of the neighbors I take care of about 75% quicker vs the Single Stage 16" Toro that I end up having more time on my hands! 

With all that being said, I love the Deluxe-28 SHO. However- I believe I would have been better off if I would have gone with the Plat-24 SHO. But whats done is done and I'm going to be happy with it.


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## detdrbuzzard

sounds like a great machine that you are not 100% happy with maybe with a larger snowfall it will completely win you over


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## Cardo111

GoBlowSnow said:


> We got about 6 inches of snow between 7:00 pm last night and 5:00AM this morning. Barely enough to justify starting the new gal up and giving her a shake down cruise.
> 
> Pros:
> - Power, Power, and more Power.
> - Awesome smooth running engine
> - Auto Turn isn't too bad...
> - Control knobs/levers work well
> - Lots of people slowing down to take a look at the impressive snow throwing distance
> 
> Cons:
> - HEAVY. Much heavier than I anticipated, and that makes it harder to control for sloped driveways.
> - Auto turn isn't too bad.. but could use improvement.
> - I get done with my driveway and walks as well as those of the neighbors I take care of about 75% quicker vs the Single Stage 16" Toro that I end up having more time on my hands!
> 
> With all that being said, I love the Deluxe-28 SHO. However- I believe I would have been better off if I would have gone with the Plat-24 SHO. But whats done is done and I'm going to be happy with it.



Glad to hear that overall you seem pretty happy with your new machine, as we all know no machine is perfect. I think you meant to put one of your cons under pro's getting done faster. 

This is a nice machine and so is the Platinum 24 SHO you mentioned, I attached a vid I posted on the Platinum.

All the best.


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## GoBlowSnow

Hey I love the machine. But if I had it to do all over again, I'd go with the 24 Inch. The 28 inch is awesome, I love it. And someday when I move out into the country it will really pay off. But an important lesson I have learned here and one which only I could learn here by getting out and trying it out here is that while it's a 28 inch, it's still big enough to cause some minor headaches with having to turn it and maneuver it around some of my neighbors short and small driveways. But it really shines where I need it to, and that is to throw the snow far, since I have a wall/steps going up to the front door on one side of my driveway, and a small section of land used for a flower bed on the other side, that I use to pile up the snow from my neighbors longer and steeper driveway. So with doing mine, I first pile up the snow out onto the street near the curb, and then once that is done, I can then take the machine out onto the curb/street and transfer the snow from my driveway onto my front lawn with that awesome throwing distance. 

One more CON I forgot to add- And this is just me personally- I don't like the new combined choke/throttle speed switch. I much prefer a lever to control the engine speed, and a separate knob to turn for the choke. Having the hi/lo switch on top of (or is it bottom?) the choke switch makes it more troublesome as sometimes you go to adjust one and end up choking the thing out or changing the engine speed. I knew this was going to be a dislike of mine when I got the machine, but I decided to go ahead and get it anyway because well... a switch isn't enough for me to justify not purchasing an otherwise perfect machine.


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## Normex

GoBlowSnow said:


> One more CON I forgot to add- And this is just me personally- I don't like the new combined choke/throttle speed switch. I much prefer a lever to control the engine speed, and a separate knob to turn for the choke. Having the hi/lo switch on top of (or is it bottom?) the choke switch makes it more troublesome as sometimes you go to adjust one and end up choking the thing out or changing the engine speed. I knew this was going to be a dislike of mine when I got the machine, but I decided to go ahead and get it anyway because well... a switch isn't enough for me to justify not purchasing an otherwise perfect machine.


 Most new engine manufacturers have the one speed engine only (high speed) so we better get used to it as such.


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## uberT

Nice video, Cardo. I bought one, too. Mine is missing the Ariens decal on the bucket  Is that something the dealer would apply?


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## GoBlowSnow

Nope but I bet Ariens would be happy to send you one if you contact them. Those decals are already on the machine when they are shipped out to the dealers.


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## uberT

Thanks. 

I just find it odd that the decal is missing. I do have the reflective strips on the sides of the bucket - - that's a very good idea.


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## Cardo111

uberT said:


> Nice video, Cardo. I bought one, too. Mine is missing the Ariens decal on the bucket  Is that something the dealer would apply?


Thanks UberT! I am not sure if it is applied by the dealer or the factory. I know that the auger side housing reflector strips are specific to the SHO models. I had Deluxe models that came with the Ariens sticker along the top edge of the bucket so I would have to think that they all should include that sticker. You may want to contact the dealer first then call Ariens if he does not have it. As another member stated Ariens will send you another one if needed.

All the best.


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## uberT

Yeah, all Ariens I've owned have had that sticker.

Thanks!


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## uberT

Well, I looked at the SHO parts catalog today and it doesn't show a sticker on the bucket apart from the safety warnings, which I have, and the reflector strips.

The SHO label is up on the control panel. So, maybe I'm not missing anything.


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## GoBlowSnow

We got about 10-14 inches of snow between Monday and Tuesday this week. With the winds, I had a few drifts of up to a foot or more. A good work out for my new machine. I'm still using the electric start as the recoil mechanism that went bad on me hasn't been replaced yet, still waiting for my dealer to ship me a new one. It's been several weeks and I have shipped back to him the defective one. I gave him a call this evening and he is going to look into this right way and i'll call him back tomorrow. He's been super busy these past few days, no doubt selling new machines and also his business of snow plow installations, parts, and service. No big deal, I am glad he has the business! I know he'll take care of me. 

So back to this past snowstorm and an updated review of the Deluxe 28 SHO... 
- I needed to fill up the fuel tank since I was certain I would be out there for awhile. The fuel tank seems to not hold as much fuel vs the old traditional rectangular fuel tanks I was used to on the older machines with the Tecumseh engines. But it is what it is I suppose. Then I ran into trouble trying to get the gas cap back on. I had to play around with it a bit twisting and turning and ended up taking out the little strainer and fuel level thingie as I could not get the gas cap on there. I don't know what the big idea was behind this new type of gas cap, but I absolutely hate it. It is quite a fuss trying to get the thing to latch onto the 2 notches at the top of the tank. The old plastic screw on type of lid that were on the previous models worked just fine.. But this new type of lid is very troublesome and I am afraid I'll end up damaging the tank trying to get this thing on there. I'll have to get some photos. 

Once I fired her up with the electric start (again I am waiting on a new recoil from my dealer) I got to work clearing my driveway first. With the amount of snowfall we got, it did a beautiful job at throwing the snow the distance I needed it to. NO problems with the driveway, but.. the auto turn did catch a few times when I didn't need it to so I had to wrestle with the machine a few times. That was on the driveway. Then I worked on the sidewalks and also the curb and took it all the way down the street so that we would not have any drainage/melting/refreeze icing issues which we commonly get, that end up on the sidewalks and make things very slippery. I ended up getting into some of the heavy stuff that the plow truck had pushed into the sidewalks and curb. It did bog down the engine a bit, but at the same time I was in some pretty heavy stuff there so I am not disappointed. But in the stuff that was about a foot tall on the sidewalks and even parts of the street, the auto turn again was trying to pull me off to one side when I didn't need to be. So I am not very happy with the auto turn at this point. I find it to be more troublesome than helpful. While I love the power of the 28 SHO, the auto turn is enough to make me wish I would have gotten one of the older models that had the lever that releases one wheel to make turning easier. However- to get the kind of power that this machine has, I would have likely needed to go with the previous gen Deluxe 30 with the B&S 1450 Snow Series engine. Which I have used before and which I like the layout of and controls of much better as opposed to the AX engine on the 28SHO. As previously stated, I do not like the choke and 2-speed throttle levers being on top of one another on this new Deluxe 28. I would much prefer a layout similar to the photo below. But what's done is done. I may hang onto this machine, or I may sell it in time and get me the previous generation Deluxe-30. Time will tell.


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## Town

You may want to try the Ariens plastic skids. I have them to eliminate paver damage due to scratching, but it seems to help with the Auto turn operation as well. Users with the plastic skids do seem to be happy with the Auto Turn while those with steel skids much less so. Worth a try.

I like the new throttle control but its small size may not suit gloves or mitts. I set the throttle with bare hands and the fuel control, choke and ignition too. Start the machine with gloves and turn off the choke with bare hands. At the end of snowblowing just turn off the fuel and ignition. It is so much more convenient than the older machines many controls. 

I agree the fuel tank and fuel cap are terrible designs. When I complained about the small amount of fuel when filled to the red plastic "FULL" mark, Ariens said that the full mark did not apply to my machine. While I could never put the specified amount of fuel in the tank it does hold a lot more if your ignore that mark, and even more if you remove the strainer all together. There is another strainer in the fuel line inside the tank. The fuel tank cap has two longer arms that you can align with the cutouts in the tank neck and press down and turn to lock. Lubricating the thick rubber washer with silicone dielectric grease helps remove friction too.

I would have thought your AX engine would be 369cc and have lots of power to blow heavy snow without bogging. Especially compared to the 306cc B&S engine you previously had. Perhaps it is just new and needs some time to bed in, or perhaps it needs some adjustment that your dealer could check.

Good luck.


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