# my 1963 ariens sno thro story: saved from near death



## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

hi all
i have been wanting an old ariens snow thrower ever since i been reading on scot's ariens info site BTW great site
yes there,s a lot for sale on CL from non running ones at $100 and up to $500 for nice ones in my heck of the woods
but anyway, here,s my story on how i got my 63 or maybe 64 ariens
model 10ML60 i can't make out the serial number
once a week me and my wife go to this italian wholesale food store
my wife buys olives,cheeses,pastas,etc
but i don,t go there to shop
see behind this store is metal scrap company
scrappers line up to have their scrap metal weighted 
she goes in the store and i park by the street watching what they bring in
last week i decided to take my truck there instead of her car
so she goes in the store and i,m out by the street watching the scrappers with there load
15 mins later i notice something orange with kinda white,rust handle bars
i walked up to the guy and asked if that a ariens snow thrower
he said yes and then i ask him if he was scrapping it,he said yes
well without looking at it, i said ill give 10 bucks for it, more than they will pay in scrap metal ,he said sure, let me unload the rest of the junk and come back with it
paid him the 10 bucks and now it,s home good thing i took the truck that day:wavetowel2: my wife said i was nuts
i believe it's a 63 or maybe 64
i can't read the serial number seems to be complete, missing heater box
and maybe the name plate across the bars
engine has compression when cord is pulled
seems it was stored outside but solid no rot
the throttle is stuck but everything else moves
one tire still holds air the other bad
wow,not bad for ten bucks
i will try to fire her up,owners manual says SAE 10 oil ?, but i assume it will take 5W 30, a new plug and a carb overhaul and i hope the engine is good
if engine is no good i guess i can swap the 8 horse motor from my murray and then kick the murray to the curb


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## ELaw (Feb 4, 2015)

Not bad for 10 bucks? I'd say not bad for 5 or even 10 times that amount!

Those old Ariens are incredibly solid and I bet you'll have it working with a minimum of effort. Great find!


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## Rob711 (Feb 5, 2015)

GREAT MACHINE! These are so cool, great 10$ score! I wonder when and why they stopped with the brace between the auger gearbox and top of bucket.


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## nwcove (Mar 2, 2015)

wonderful that you saved it , and for ten bucks, how can ya go wrong!!


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## Snapper 524 (Dec 10, 2013)

Rob711 said:


> GREAT MACHINE! These are so cool, great 10$ score! I wonder when and why they stopped with the brace between the auger gearbox and top of bucket.


 It seems Ariens has brought back the brace between the gearbox and bucket on newer machines.


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## guilateen02 (Nov 23, 2014)

Is it going to be a beater,or can we expect a resto mod in the near future? Bringing the truck to buy olives and cheese, Well played sir, well played.


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## db130 (Feb 16, 2013)

You'll spend more than $10 on the replacement heater box 

but kudos to you for saving it from the crusher.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

Yeah, but for $10 you have stories and cred to share with the community. Welcome to the community.


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

db9938 said:


> Yeah, but for $10 you have stories and cred to share with the community. Welcome to the community.


thanks


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Nice find! 
Is the Tecumseh engine tag still on the engine?
if so, post the numbers on the tag..
that will probably tell if you have a '63 or a '64.

Scot


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

guilateen02 said:


> Is it going to be a beater,or can we expect a resto mod in the near future? Bringing the truck to buy olives and cheese, Well played sir, well played.


thanks, will do any repairs needed and paint it
you know what? my wife hates my truck
so i can't take her there anymore


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

ELaw said:


> Not bad for 10 bucks? I'd say not bad for 5 or even 10 times that amount!
> 
> Those old Ariens are incredibly solid and I bet you'll have it working with a minimum of effort. Great find!


i hope so, i will work on it this weekend and see if i can get it to 
start
i have i murray with a 8 horse, i can always can swap the motor but like to keep the murray for a backup


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

sscotsman said:


> Nice find!
> Is the Tecumseh engine tag still on the engine?
> if so, post the numbers on the tag..
> that will probably tell if you have a '63 or a '64.
> ...


ok, i will look for it
thank you scot


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

sscotsman said:


> Nice find!
> Is the Tecumseh engine tag still on the engine?
> if so, post the numbers on the tag..
> that will probably tell if you have a '63 or a '64.
> ...


here's the numbers
h60-0038
3318-05106


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Thanks! you *probably* have a 1963 model..
although unfortunately we still cant be 100% certain about that..
I would say 1963 is more likely than 1964 though..

The number 3318 on the engine tag is a date code, it means the engine was assembled at Tecumseh on "the 318th day of a year ending in 3"

Unfortunately Tecumseh didnt use 2-digit year codes! so "year ending in 3" could mean 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993, and maybe even 2003. 
But in this case, because of the snowblower the engine is bolted to, and some features on the engine (the muffler type being a big giveaway) there is no doubt it means 1963 in this case.

the 318th day of the year is November 14th..
Thats fairly late for snowblower production..
these days we would say snowblower production is probably done for the season by November..but we dont know what Ariens was doing in the early 60's..they could have still been making snowblowers in November then..

so I would say its 70% likely to be a '63, and 30% likely to be a '64.
I am not aware of any physical differences between '63 and '64 models.

No other tags on the machine? no tag on the side of the scoop?

Scot


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## loneraider (Oct 26, 2013)

Great find and you did save it from the scrap heap! Funny, my girlfriend says the same thing about my old 922003 I picked up in a 40 mile round trip. I'm sure her thoughts were how many snowblowers do you really need ? lol.

Good luck with your new toy!


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

sscotsman said:


> Thanks! you *probably* have a 1963 model..
> although unfortunately we still cant be 100% certain about that..
> I would say 1963 is more likely than 1964 though..
> 
> ...


thanks scot for the info
i will look for more numbers on the machine
do you know what happen in november 1963?


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

loneraider said:


> Great find and you did save it from the scrap heap! Funny, my girlfriend says the same thing about my old 922003 I picked up in a 40 mile round trip. I'm sure her thoughts were how many snowblowers do you really need ? lol.
> 
> Good luck with your new toy!


thank you
women complain that we have 2 or more of the same in the garage
but then they have 150 pairs of shoes in the closetk:


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

sscotsman said:


> Thanks! you *probably* have a 1963 model..
> although unfortunately we still cant be 100% certain about that..
> I would say 1963 is more likely than 1964 though..
> 
> ...


ok, with a high power light and magnify glass i was able to read the first 2 numbers on the tag below the pull cord 33
so i guess it must be a 63


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## AndyW (Mar 10, 2015)

guilateen02 said:


> Bringing the truck to buy olives and cheese, Well played sir, well played.


+1 :goodjob: Smart feller!


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

mrjgc said:


> ok, with a high power light and magnify glass i was able to read the first 2 numbers on the tag below the pull cord 33
> so i guess it must be a 63


No, that wouldn't mean 1963..Ariens model and serial numbers never correspond to actual years..they can be cross-referenced to model years! But there is no number "3" in any Ariens model or serial that actually means 1963..no 4 that means 1964, etc. On Ariens snowblowers, only that Tecumseh serial number is dirctly tied to an actual year of production.

Scot


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## mrjgc (Sep 22, 2015)

sscotsman said:


> No, that wouldn't mean 1963..Ariens model and serial numbers never correspond to actual years..they can be cross-referenced to model years! But there is no number "3" in any Ariens model or serial that actually means 1963..no 4 that means 1964, etc. On Ariens snowblowers, only that Tecumseh serial number is dirctly tied to an actual year of production.
> 
> Scot


ok, i will assume it's a 63
but will i need a serial number when ordering parts?
right now i need the spring that goes on top of the carb linkage, (rotted)
because of the missing box, linkage on carb is rusty and frozen
the carb is a mess and need to be cleaned out and rust removed big time
oil is less than half full and black
i don't know if this engine will ever start 
i basically want to have the engine running so i can test out the machine
i have a 2004 murray with a 8 hp tecumseh to swap out next summer
thanks scot for your help
BTW where to go for the gear case oil?


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

yeah, calling it a '63 is fine! 
and odds are it really is a '63 anyway.

Tecumseh engine parts are totally seperate from Ariens snowblower parts..
you wont need any Ariens model or serial numbers when looking for Tecumseh engine parts, and you wont need any Tecumseh model and serial numbers when looking for Ariens parts..consider them completely unrelated.

JG, send me an email to: sscotsman at yahoo dot com
and I will email you back a Tecumseh H60 parts manual, and some other stuff.

Scot


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