# I'm An Owner!



## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

As of today, my forum friends, I am the proud owner of a brand new Ariens Platinum 24 Sno-Thro. Serial number 0001992, which the dealer said means it is one of the first 1000 to roll off the line. A buddy of mine decided he wanted a Platinum 24 too, so we went in together and squeezed and extra $50 bucks per unit out of the dealer. That along with the extra 2 years warranty leaves me pretty well set. I ordered drift cutters and a cab while I was there too.
I must thank all of my forum friends for the all of the help and patience with my stupid questions since last March when I realized that it was time for a snowblower and found this forum.
Gracias Amigos!


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## mrplow (Jan 27, 2013)

Wow BH looks like a masterpiece of a machine.I'm a total newb when it comes to snowblowers but from the little I have read about it I bet it rocks!!! With 291cc and 14.5 lb of torque on a 24" ....wow!! That is even more than my Yammy has


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Thanks Mr.P. I'm pretty impressed with your Blue Beast as well.
Out here in the West, they used to have tractor pulling contests and plowing matches, where the farmers could put their machines and back in the real old days, their teams of horses, against those of their neighbours to see who could pull the most. Wouldn't it be cool to have a snow-blowing contest to see which machines, on equal footing, could move the most snow? I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat.


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## Colored Eggs (Dec 7, 2012)

Wow look at the shine! congrats on the new purchase. Might want to make sure its all greased up especially the augers. Do they come with the grease zerks on the augers?


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Yup, that's one of the first things I looked for. . I can tell the auto-turn is going to come in real handy too. It makes it so maneuverable, I could take it to a dance!


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

nice and shiny, congrats BH


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Sweet! nice choice!


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

Congrats Blue, she's a beauty! Nice choice, I'm sure you're going to love it. Hope you get plenty of snow to break it in with, enjoy!


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## SnowRemovalFan (Oct 12, 2013)

Looks great! I love the color (and shine)!


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## VintageYamaha (Oct 22, 2013)

Awesome machine Blue Hill. Apart from Honda and Yamaha, Ariens Platinum is right up there with the best of them. The regular Ariens I am not so fond of though.

Congrats on a great purchase, wishing you lots of snow.


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## deadwood (Oct 17, 2012)

Very nice, I trust you'll love it.


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## Notes (Oct 26, 2010)

I purchased this same machine a week ago. Perhaps this is obvious to you “pros", but the yellow oil fill cap is not supposed to have a dipstick attached. I asked the dealer because the bottom side of the cap has some flashing that looks like there might have been something attached there that had broken off. Dealer said they previously called Ariens to check.


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

No Pro here Notes. I was expecting a dipstick when I first took that cap off too, then I took the bottom one off and found the real one. I read somewhere, I think on the Ariens site, or maybe the LCT site, that the thinking is that it makes it easier when adding oil to the engine. I have a Toro lawn mower that has a dipstick in the fill hole and it's kind of hard when you're trying to make sure that you don't add too much. Add a little, check. Add a little more, check again.  With the Ariens engine you basically add oil in the top hole, until the bottom hole is full and you're done. If you have the bottom cap off, you can't add too much. Makes sense.
Enjoy your new machine. I know I will. Gonna put the cab and the drift cutters on tomorrow. 
Larry


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## Garnetmica (Oct 27, 2013)

My Hydro Pro has a dipstick attached to the yellow cap.


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Well at long last I'm completely ready for a prairie blizzard. . I got my cab and drift cutters installed on my machine today. I set up the cab in the house, because it was cool and breezy outside. Note to self: next time figure out if you'll be able to get the darned thing through the door once it's set up.  I made it, but it was touch and go for a minute there.


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## SnowRemovalFan (Oct 12, 2013)

Blue Hill said:


> Well at long last I'm completely ready for a prairie blizzard. . I got my cab and drift cutters installed on my machine today. I set up the cab in the house, because it was cool and breezy outside. Note to self: next time figure out if you'll be able to get the darned thing through the door once it's set up.  I made it, but it was touch and go for a minute there.


That is something I have considered buying. Can you still maneuver the machine well, and don't feel like you are stuck in a tight space?


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

SnowRemovalFan said:


> That is something I have considered buying. Can you still maneuver the machine well, and don't feel like you are stuck in a tight space?


Maneuverability is not impaired, but I have to tell you that my model is 39" wide and 80" high. That pretty much answers you second question in that you have lots of room inside, but if you have low hanging branches and that sort of thing, it could be an issue.
I see you are running a Craftsman 24. In Canada, Sears shows cabs for their machines in the catalog, but the one I saw didn't go down as far. There are lots of "universal" cabs out there. My advice would be to do your research and look at user reviews of the different models. I believe you usually get what you pay for so I would keep that in mind. My cab, from the dealer was $177 and was built for the Ariens machines. It is made by Classic Accessories and if you go on their website they have universal models that are similar to mine. I only seem to be able to attach 1 photo at a time, so I'll post a couple more. This one shows the inside of the cab.
Good luck.
Larry


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Here's another from the operators position looking through the front window.


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## Blue Hill (Mar 31, 2013)

Finally looking through the bottom window from the operators position. I'll have to look at some stickies to figure out how to attach more than one photo.


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## Simplicity Solid 22 (Nov 27, 2012)

Congrats blue hill....nice to finally have it Eh??? Enjoy!!!


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## SnowRemovalFan (Oct 12, 2013)

Thanks for all the info, Larry!! It is definitely "roomier" than I thought it would be!


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