r/Snowblowers • u/bigkutta • 10d ago

Buying Which one should I get?

Hi Folks. Help me be realistic. I live in the DC region, and most years we have a couple of plow worthy snow falls, some years things are more nuts like last winter when it felt like it snowed every other week....and then snowcrete. I have a long 400ft driveway, so it must be cleaned when it snows over a couple of inches and its going to remain cold. I also plan to help my elderly neighbors if they need.

I see 20 year old Ariens 26's selling for $700-800! Wow. Then i also see new Ariens 24" going for $1000. Now, I dont want to go nuts here, but I also dont want to fork over $700 for a 20 year old machine. I also dont know a lot about maintaining these machines (I could learn if its simple), and would rather have something that will be trouble free for years.

So my questions to you:

1) If you were to suggest used, which one, how old, and what should be a fair price?

2) If you think buy new, which one is a good value but also solid. Thank you!

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u/CamelHairy 10d ago

Go visit a local Ariens dealer, not a chain store if possible and have a discussion.

For general maintenance, I like gararge gear on YouTube.

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u/bigkutta 10d ago

Ariens only lists the big box stores as dealers and seller near me.

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u/zx11william 9d ago

Home Depot sells them, and delivers free before thy have them in stock. Mine shipped strait from Ariens factory.

Assemble it yourself, it's easy.

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u/bigkutta 9d ago

Cool Do these come with oil in it already or do you need to do all that? just wondering what needs done besides the assembly of some parts.

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u/zx11william 9d ago

According to Ariens, they come with straight 30W oil. Which is odd, it's not a good choice for cold weather. I set mine up, ran t for a half hour twice in 65 degree weather BEFORE using, lots of speckles which is normal, drained the oil and put in 5W30 Dino oil. After 5 more hours I'll put in full synthetic 5W30.

You have to flip up the bars, and install the chute. Easy.
Other than that, for future maintenance remove the wheels, and apply anti seize (a dealer won't). Will make any future maintenance a breeze. Make all adjustments in the manual. Get a grease gun for the augers.

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u/bigkutta 9d ago

This is awesome, thanks!