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.

My Ariens used to clog with the heavy, wet snow we seem to get all the time and I was advised to spray the inside chamber and discharge shoot with silicone spray but in a pinch, Pam cooking spray would work, too. It didn't. I found out the cooking spray instead built up a gummy coating that actually caused the snow to stick worse. This past fall, I took a solvent to remove the cooking spray coating and I bought a can of silicone & teflon spray. What's crucial with this product, is that it has to dry before you use the snow blower. I let it dry and actually buffed the surfaces with an old rag. This made everything smooth as a freshly-waxed car and it worked great. I even went so far as to bring all my snow shovels inside, spray them and set them by the wood stove to dry prior to a good rub down (pretty anal, huh!). That works great, too and neither slush, ice nor snow stick to them.

The silicone did the trick. Never thought of spraying shovels. Good idea.

My Ariens has a limited slip differential so it's easy to maneuver but I have the same problem with traction, in heavy dense snow layers. My next door neighbor has a blower with rubber tank treads and they offer much more traction but he says it's a bear to turn the machine... the treads only wants to go straight.

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.

My Ariens used to clog with the heavy, wet snow we seem to get all the time and I was advised to spray the inside chamber and discharge shoot with silicone spray but in a pinch, Pam cooking spray would work, too. It didn't. I found out the cooking spray instead built up a gummy coating that actually caused the snow to stick worse. This past fall, I took a solvent to remove the cooking spray coating and I bought a can of silicone & teflon spray. What's crucial with this product, is that it has to dry before you use the snow blower. I let it dry and actually buffed the surfaces with an old rag. This made everything smooth as a freshly-waxed car and it worked great. I even went so far as to bring all my snow shovels inside, spray them and set them by the wood stove to dry prior to a good rub down (pretty anal, huh!). That works great, too and neither slush, ice nor snow stick to them.

My Ariens has a limited slip differential so it's easy to maneuver but I have the same problem with traction, in heavy dense snow layers. My next door neighbor has a blower with rubber tank treads and they offer much more traction but he says it's a bear to turn the machine... the treads only wants to go straight.

For what it is worth, I also have a 24" Ariens Deluxe. As you found out from others, you have to have the D-ring engaged for both wheels to get maximum traction. Also check tire pressure otherwise you'll be losing power and traction. Also make sure that the axle bearings are well greased (you'll have to pull the shear pins to make sure nothing is blocking the grease when you pump it in so this should be a fall job rather than now). As for the chute clogging up, started with a teflon spray but went to using good ol' Pam cooking spray. Costs a fraction of the teflon variety and won't build up in the chute since the snow wears it down.
I also changed the skids to the plastic ones. They seem to glide more easily than the stock metal ones and won't scrape up your driveway. If you really need to add more traction, then you may have to get the weight kit that goes on top of the opening.
As to Pretender's comment about FL, I'm trying to convince "the Boss" that there is intelligent life outside of the NY-NJ metropolitan area, but it's been an uphill battle for years. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.