Billbobboy42 Loc: Center of Delmarva

Last winter I posted a problem using my 24” Ariens blower: snow would clog the shute and impeller, even after spraying the area with silicon. One or more posters suggested to spray the area with Teflon. I did that, but no more snow for the season. Blower remained in shed until the day before the 12” snow bomb that arrived on Thursday. Put it in garage, ready to roll on Friday. SUCCESS. Teflon worked. For the first time since I have owned the blower (about 13 yrs) I was able to put it to the test. On undisterbed snow it worked fine, shooting out to about 30’ or so. It is challenged traction-wise when confronting compacted snow, such as what is left at the end of the driveway after the road plows have been by. The blower does not lose power; the one traction tire loses traction requiring me to push/pull the unit to get it unstuck. So, I get tired from man-handling this thing.
I said last year that perhaps my Ariens is not designed for such large snowfalls. Am still looking at getting a larger unit, but worried about traction. There does not appear to be a two-wheel drive unit. All I can find for added traction is a tracked unit. Those appear to be too large to fit in my shed. Like many people, my shed capacity is maxed out.
Thus, the clogging problem solved; traction is now the issue.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

4uiprnt Loc: Iowa

I have chains on both wheels of my 32 inch Sears snow blower. Never had a problem with traction. You might check with a retail store or an ariens dealer to see if they have chains available. Here in Iowa, we used to get huge snows, but last year and so far this year the most we've had at one time is about 3 inches and thats not enough to even get the blower out, so we've not had it out for 2 years.... it does still work, but not needed for the light fluffy stuff we've been getting.

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

As far as the traction goes, the wheels can be locked in or out. Check the one that does not get traction and see if it is locked in. If you are not sure how , check the manual. I have had an ariens for 14 years and only had the traction problem once. The wheel was not locked in. My blower works beautifully. I hope that helps.

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

We have a Honda 24 inch with tracks. It works better than tires and chains but I still horse it around if I fall behind. The hydrostatic drive is well worth it in my book. It is about 10 or 12 years old and still works fine. Good luck.

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Szalajj Loc: Salem, NH

I've seen some folks add chains to the snow blower tires.

My father bought an Ariens snow blower somewhere between 1955 and 1961. The body was still in use through 2001 and beyond, the motor had been replaced at least twice in that time.

I started using the machine around 1974 myself. I found that the treads on the tires were often not enough to power through the snow, but I would manhandle(womanhandle) the machine and get it where I needed it to go. I found that putting it into anything beyond 1st and it would tend to run away with me, so I always used either 1, N, or R. To get through the bankings that the the plows had left took some ingenuity. When it was deep, I would have to take it in stages. Bite into the lower snow, back up, knock down the higher snow and blow that out. What got the worst work out on me was my shoulders, and my right palm from changing gears so often.

Our family always widened the road right in front of our house and the mailbox, because we needed the swing to back into our driveway. It was usually close to 3 feet that we had to move back with each storm. We even moved some of our across the street neighbors snow bankings back right in front of our driveway. Because of widening the road for most of the length of our property, by the time the plow got to our driveway, there was very little banking left at the end of the driveway. To say that the town didn't plow our road wide enough was an understatement.

During the Blizzard of 78, we used our snowblower to open a single path from our house to the end of our street. Because it was at least 4 days before the town plows got to our street, and our house ran out of oil, with that path the oil company was able to put cans of heating oil on a sled that we provided, and we hauled it up to the house. Thank goodness for our fireplace and the scrap wood my father had in the basement. We had some heat to keep the pipes from freezing.

Bill Munny Loc: Aurora, Colorado

In the high mountains of central Colo. the snow remains either sugar snow or powder. This does not allow for traction, like walking on ball bearings. Our track drive, 36 inch Yard Man handles the slick stuff very well. We just traded it in for a track 3 stage and what a great machine. Here is a pic of our driveway during snow removal. We always get drifts at the end near the road, about 5 ft in this pic.

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Billbobboy42 Loc: Center of Delmarva

You are absolutely right. Right wheel not locked. I wondered what that pin was for🤔. Had not read manual since first use. I am ready to rock n roll. That will ensure it will not snow anymore this season.
Thanks

Billbobboy42 Loc: Center of Delmarva

Yes, I understand western powder, having skied a number of Colorado resorts over the past 30 years. I am now retired from skiing, declaring victory with no broken bones or joint injuries😎.
By the way, nice looking white wolf in the foreground 😃.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

When my chute clogs it is because of a heavy slush base and all the traction in the world won't prevent clogging.

Bill Munny Loc: Aurora, Colorado

I too did not break any bones in my 60 yrs of skiing. Most of my early years of skiing was at Crested Butte, bitter cold place (-20 was common) and we did not have the really nice insulated clothes of today. The dog was one of 3 Eskimos we had at the time. They love the snow, would sleep on the deck at night, keeping us safe from any unwanted visitors with their mighty bark.

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

At'ta boy. That's what I like to here. No more snow.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Can you put chains or something like that on the wheels?

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

Chains, made for most blowers. I use Honda's HSS828's & HSS928's with tracks, the 828's are 23 yrs old and I have never sprayed anything in the shutes and never had an issue regardless the density, slush, powder, compacted plowings. The newer 928's I've had to spray the shuts...as far as traction, nothing stops these machines (well maybe a 4ft wall of ice.) I even climb steps to clear off decks.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Clogging can be a problem with wet snow, and sprays have never solved that problem for me. My big 1987 Toro has two drive wheels with no differential, so they both turn all the time. I've never needed chains.

PRETENDER Loc: Micanopy,Florida

I moved to Florida. Problem solved.