# Recommendations for an Ariens Rookie...



## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

Hello. I’m new to the forum and just purchased my first snow blower. This site provided some great information to help me make my decision when I was researching used machines. I ended up buying an Ariens Deluxe 28, Model No. 921022. From what I could tell it’s in very good condition.

I live in the northern Midwest and recently moved into a new house with a long gravel driveway and concrete parking area so it was time for some help with snow removal.

I’m no mechanic but do most of my own maintenance and repairs on my small engines (chainsaws, ATV, snowmobile, lawn tractor, etc.). I’m a stickler for maintaining my equipment as best I can to get as long a life out of it as possible and I have been pretty successful.

Wondering what I should be doing to my new snow blower? What are the critical maintenance needs? What are the wear parts? Are there known issues with this particular model I should be looking for? Other things to avoid or look out for?

Basically any general tips would be welcomed and much appreciated in getting it ready for winter and also when storing it during the off-season.

Also, is there any way to find out what model year it is?

The only thing I noticed when inspecting it and running it was that the light did not come on. I didn’t notice a switch so I’m assuming it runs when the motor is running? Probably needs a new bulb.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

:white^_^arial^_^0^_
You got a nice one. I think they were around the 2012 year give or take. Lots of good stuff can be found on our moderator Scot's own Ariens page here. your model should show up somewhere on page 9. The Ariens 1960's and 1970's Sno-Thro info site.
My personal check list is to make sure the augers are free to spin on the shaft by removing the shear pins and spinning them. If they do spin great, hit the zerks with some grease and put the pins back in. I like to pull the wheels and grease the axle shaft and wheel hub beginning season and end season. The only time they rust to the wheel is when you need to remove them to fix something else, greasing prevents this:facepalm_zpsdj194qh Inspect the belts for slop or cracks. May as well pull the chute off and slide some grease where it rotates on the auger bucket while it's warm out. Used I'd definitely change the oil and drain the gas, swap for known good gas of my own. Put it on a really flat surface and make sure your scraper bar is even as well as the skids/runners (could be put on wrong, worn or uneven tire pressure which will cause it to wear uneven). I'd pull the belly pan and look at the shaft the friction wheel slides on make sure it slides nice and easy and no crap has built up on the shaft. Lightly grease it (usually lithium white). Look for cracks or wear on the friction wheel rubber. Then take a few pictures and share them here:wavetowel2:


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*ALOHA from the paradise city.*


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Welcome to SBF. Look forward to hearing more as you get familiar with your Ariens and how you like it on your new driveway.


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## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

Thanks for the warm welcoming all and for the good information jtclays. I called Ariens today and they told me it was built on October 28, 2010 so it's a 2010 model.

I'm assuming just normal grease for everything you mentioned other than the friction wheel slides? I'll have a chance to start taking a closer look this weekend and learn more about the parts of a snow blower. Any other recommended maintenance tips from anybody? Thanks again.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

I use Amsoil blue marine grease on the lawn tractor and the snowblowers. I've never had a problem with it getting caked or hardening like wheel bearing grease. My parents have a boat/trailer and we ran that grease in my dad's old LX188 tractor (1996) that I have at my house now. It's never had replacement deck spindles and the front wheel bearings were just replaced this year. I like the stuff.


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## Motodeficient (Aug 22, 2015)

White Out said:


> Thanks for the warm welcoming all and for the good information jtclays. I called Ariens today and they told me it was built on October 28, 2010 so it's a 2010 model.
> 
> I'm assuming just normal grease for everything you mentioned other than the friction wheel slides? I'll have a chance to start taking a closer look this weekend and learn more about the parts of a snow blower. Any other recommended maintenance tips from anybody? Thanks again.


Actually I think that would make it a 2011 model year


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Motodeficient said:


> Actually I think that would make it a 2011 model year


Yes, that's definately the 2011 model year.

Scot


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

jtclays said:


> I use Amsoil blue marine grease on the lawn tractor and the snowblowers. I've never had a problem with it getting caked or hardening like wheel bearing grease.


It's likely the synthetic. Same reason I use Mobil1. Seems to stay soft forever. I used to try a save a few bucks on grease but when you think about how long it is between changing out cartridges or how long you've had that tub, :huh: I finally wised up and started buying synthetic. 
Works great on automotive lift motors or heater blend door motors that get slow. You open them up and the factory grease is usually like dried up chewing guy. Clean them out, coat with a little new grease and you're back in business.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

White Out, On your light issue. I know some people complained about some of the newer style Ariens headlights shedding too much light up toward the operator while in use. I think Ariens made a fix which blocked it a bit (like a shroud for the top, can't find the posts right now). I read a few people just ran duct tape across the top edge to accomplish the same thing. Perhaps the previous owner unplugged it or pulled the bulb to defeat it. Just FYI.

Frog, that's the stuff on the right in your first pic


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

The main stuff was covered already but I didn't note one important item. Are you planning on using your blower on the gravel portion of the drive? If so, set the skids so it raises the bottom of the housing up or you'll be ingesting rocks into your blower. They can become missiles or jam the auger rakes by getting between them and the auger housing.

Sold a blower the other year to someone with a gravel drive (which I didn't know at the time of the sale) and it came back a couple of days later. Auger wouldn't turn and found a rock jammed between the end of one of the auger rakes and the housing.

Just a FYI just in case.


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## JJG723 (Mar 7, 2015)

Link to the thread on the headlight fix. 

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/#/forumsite/20674/topics/50442


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## loneraider (Oct 26, 2013)

You could give it a nice coat of wax. Chevy orange 1620 if it needs any touch ups. 
++++1 on adjusting those skid shoes so your not throwing stones.


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## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

Thank you for all the responses. When the Ariens rep told me it had a build date of 10/28/10 I said so it's a 2010 model and he said yes... but I like the 2011 number better anyway  Thanks for clearing that up.

I'll have to look into getting some syn grease. I don't know if the light is in a bad position yet or not, it doesn't work but I'll hopefully have a chance to look into it soon.

As far as accessories that have high value, are any of them recommended?

Thanks again.


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## loneraider (Oct 26, 2013)

Just throwing some pics at you. Things I have added to my Deluxe 28.

First on my list would be to add heated grips, Ariens sells a kit for your snowblower. It comes with the two heated grips & a toggle switch and all the wiring and its pretty much plug and play. I use mine all the time as I have finger tips that go white in the cold so the heated grips really help!! If you have a garage with cement floor I would get a floor mat for your machine as it prevents stains from the blower and it also traps snow and ice melting. Adding LED lights
makes a huge difference. lots of write-ups on this forum about it. Use a good synthetic oil 5w-30 like mobil 1. I added An Ariens melt buddy which holds salt for your sidewalks or driveways and releases the salt with a handle trigger. If you get one of these drill out the holes on the bottom so more salt falls out. It looks cool and it does work.
In a couple of the pics you'll notice I replaced my skid shoes with a 2 wheel setup, I've had these for a couple of yrs now and I like them & have no issues in the snow. They might work well on a gravel driveway also.


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## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

loneraider - Thanks for the great information and the photos. I noticed that you’re single LED light just replaced the stock light up by the handle bars. Is this an easier switch out than adding the multiple LED’s shown in the LED thread? Is the LED light you used sold in a kit and was the switch out plug-and-play more or less? I quickly reviewed the first 10 or so pages in the LED thread and saw that it was a little more complex project that requires some electrical knowledge. That thread has 50+ some pages and there’s no way I’m going to read the whole thing. Did anybody ever do a how-to video on it to better explain the process? I’m definitely no electrical expert.

I certainly like the heated grips on my snowmobiles so will consider those as well. What about drift cutters or a front weight bar, any value to either of them or should I wait and see if I have a need? I’ll be using it on pretty level surface, some concrete, but mostly gravel like I mentioned previously.

As far as spraying and wiping down all exposed metal parts, etc. for storage would just a silicone spray or WD-40 work or is something else more recommended?

Thanks again guys.


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## loneraider (Oct 26, 2013)

My Ariens model is 921022 ser- 010898 a little older than yours. 2011 model yr -- So it already came with a light on the right side




 not my you tube video but same machine.


Light, Halogen Assembly [04136200] for Ariens Lawn Equipment | eReplacement Parts

when I ordered the heated grips it came with another headlight harness so I ordered another headlight & mounted it on the left side. The girlfriend & I stopped by a flea market one day and they were selling led's ( the one's in the pic ) much brighter so that worked out great. The Ariens 28 pumps out
about 50 to 60 watts of juice so heated grips take about 35 watts so any extra lighting your going to add should be LED LIGHTS. I throw a cover over mine to keep the dust ect.. off and a good coat of wax in the fall.
You can spray all the linkages with fluid film or wd40 and if you bought your machine used, before winter you could tilt the blower onto the bucket
( place cardboard down ) take off the bottom pan off and spray the linkages in there ,grease the gears with low temp grease but make sure you clean the friction disc & plate so there's no oil spray on it.
One thing I did this year was adjusted the auger pully belts ( dual belts )
just tighten them up a bit. That's it


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

That thread on LED lighting will tell you all you need to know in the first two or maybe three pages. Had I been a moderator back then I would have locked it and made it a sticky because all the other pages are some refinements, people asking about their specific machine and conversations about different sources, brands, quantity of LED lights along with options to engine run LEDs, meaning some good bicycle LEDs that can be used if you don't have a charging system.


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## White Out (Aug 12, 2015)

Thanks again for the information.

Loneraider – any idea what make and model LED you found at the flea market to switch out the OEM halogen light? If not, does anybody know a specific make and model that would work? Did you just have to “unplug” the OEM light, take it off, and replace it with the LED light?

 Do a lot of you guys use either the drift cutters or the front weight bars?


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