Ariens Adjustable Drift Cutters

If you are in an area that brings heavy snow, than I highly suggest getting these adjustable drift cutters for your machine. They definitely help with getting the machine through the high snow.

I'm a Firefighter here in Colorado. I work a 48 hour shift and sometimes come home to lots of snow and drifts that try to keep me from getting up the driveway. The drift cutters are well made and easy to engage. A thing you may not need all the time, but why be without.

I purchased an Ariens Deluxe online when no other local dealers had any snow-throwers available. Price was very competitive and included shipping. Snow Blowers Direct is rated by Ohio BBB ..... so buy with confidence.

Excellent service and fast shipping ...... so it arrived before the forecast storm. Only recommendation I have is that the machine starts so easily ...... you really don't need the 120 volt electric power cord ..... the pull starter is sufficient.

Have fun with your new toy!

I purchased an Ariens Deluxe online when no other local dealers had any snow-throwers available. Price was very competitive and included shipping. Snow Blowers Direct is rated by Ohio BBB ..... so buy with confidence.

Excellent service and fast shipping ...... so it arrived before the forecast storm. Only recommendation I have is that the machine starts so easily ...... you really don't need the 120 volt electric power cord ..... the pull starter is sufficient.

Have fun with your new... more

I order drift cutters for my Ariens ST824. The drift cutters I received look great, but I'm not convinced they are the right part.

The bolts have a square fitting to attract to the base, but when the cutters are installed, I only gain about 4 or 5 inches. The cutters have to be installed into the lower 2 holes because of the square fittings.

I was expecting the cutters to extend much more than 4-5 inches.

My last blower (an MTD product) came with drift cutters. Seems like a high end product could do the same. I like the idea of being able to move from up to down without tools, but the hand cranks are too hard to turn without a big wrench!

Good new and bad news, first the Ariens 30" Platinum arrived today, about a week early. It arrived with the box in excellent condition and R&L the shipping company was wonderful (very cooperative) to do business with. Snow blowers direct was exemplary to do business in every way.

Then the nit picking starts, the two bolts that hold the chute in place were missing. I called Ariens and tech support told me they were 5/16" x 1.75" NC, they are not, the two bolts are 3/8. Of course Lowes does not sell 3/8 x 1.75 NC so the 2" long bolts will work. Ariens promised me two platinum spark plugs in exchange for the two missing bolts I had to buy on my own. If they arrive great, it has only been a week I would not expect them yet. Should I not get them, I will update this report.

It took a while to assemble the chute turning control. The direction are abysmal. The directions also tell you to put the snow blower in service position. Then the snow blower arrived with the oil fill stick not snug so all the oil ran out. If you are not going to snug the oil fill stick that, at least tell me to check it before "assuming the position".

The assembly directions are full of meaningless important warnings in bold print like: "Be careful not to damage the cable spring hooks when the rotating the handle bar upward." Ok, what is a "cable spring hook" what does it look like? Where is it located and what would it look like if it is or is not damaged? I would think a reputable company would at some point give their directions to some off-the-street non-expert and watch them fight to assemble the snow blower. That exercise would help documentation quality enormously. Maybe for a retail small engine shop whose mechanic who preps 2 snow blowers every hour this is easy. But for a do-it-your-selfer it was a lot harder that it needs to be, all because of very poor and incomplete instructions.

How is it that when I go to the Ariens website and down load a "quick set up manual" for my year and model the photos don't match my year and model? I printed out the directions on 13"x19" paper. Even blown up to that size the quick set-up manual is not what it should be. In fairness to Ariens their tech support does speak English and perhaps the best tech support I have spoken to in 20 years? I'd give them a solid "B". I'd like to have Ariens put a video on for example you-tube. One such video does exist for similar but not identical model on you-tube and it is helpful.

The assembly instructions frequently refer you to one page or another in the manual for details that you must check and when you do the illustrations in the manual are not the same as the model you own. For example I know how to firm up the chute swivel by tightening up the nut under the spring. Fine my model is not like that and my chute flops all over the place and I don't know how to fix it. (Ariens support closes at 4:30 pm EST) Again next day the Ariens Tech support did help and stayed on the phone until I got it worked out.

The included Briggs & Stratton operators manual is the quality I normally associate with products from 3rd world countries. It is worse than the Ariens documentation. It does not tell you where the engine SN and model is? (I know it is on the cylinder head, I found it on my own.) Does this motor have an air filter? That and whole lot of useful stuff just is not included in the Briggs & Stratton operators manual. It might be nice to know where the air filter is, the part number and how to clean or replace it?

The engine did start on the second pull. Now all I need is snow, I believe long term I will be very happy with my Platinum SST30DLE, and I will forget all about the initial set up problems. However I would encourage anyone who is not handy to perhaps arrange with someone who is for initial setup and assembly. Ariens has a lot of work to do on their out-of-box customer experience.

In conclusion, Ariens may be the king of snow blowers, but the directions are not. Everyone complains only about the directions, but not the product itself. When will Ariens listen? If you are mechanically inclined you will eventually figure it out yourself, but you should not have to do that.

Two missing bolts and lose oil cap on one machine may not in the long term end up being major product issues, but it makes a customer wonder about else may have been overlooked?

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Because I have a paver driveway I purchased Ariens non abrasive skid shoes for my Ariens snow blower, the new shoes don't come with bolts and the OE bolts are marginally just long enough to work with the thicker non abrasive skid shoes. How hard would it be to ship these with (4) ten cent quarter inch longer bolts?

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The illustration in directions were just flat out wrong for the drift cutters showing the wrong bolt in the slotted hole. The top most bolts accept the slots not the bottom bolts.

Good new and bad news, first the Ariens 30" Platinum arrived today, about a week early. It arrived with the box in excellent condition and R&L the shipping company was wonderful (very cooperative) to do business with. Snow blowers direct was exemplary to do business in every way.

Then the nit picking starts, the two bolts that hold the chute in place were missing. I called Ariens and tech support told me they were 5/16" x 1.75" NC, they are not, the two bolts are 3/8. ... more

This is one great machine! I had initial questions on how it would steer, but I'm here to say that just by raising up a little on the handles it spun on a dime.

I have always wanted to go into the commercial snow removal business, so I am starting small with my own neighborhood. This machine gives me a professional appearance so my neighbors gave me a try. I had a good year last year and I'm sure my business will grow this year.

This Ariens machine is the way to go. It's the perfect size and eats through snow quickly. It was a great buy and I'm sure will give me many years of service........ Thank you Ariens.

This is one great machine! I had initial questions on how it would steer, but I'm here to say that just by raising up a little on the handles it spun on a dime.

I have always wanted to go into the commercial snow removal business, so I am starting small with my own neighborhood. This machine gives me a professional appearance so my neighbors gave me a try. I had a good year last year and I'm sure my business will grow this year.

This Ariens machine is the way to go. It's the perfect... more

Winter 2007 we had one of the worst winters ever since I have lived in the State of Missouri.

We had a great ice storm with 6 solid inches of ice (and more). Trees where falling down and driving was impossible.

A couple of days later it snowed on top of that, and I was so glad I had my snow equipment ready!

It hasn't snowed since I received the cutters but I paid more than your 29.95 price