Ariens Professional ST26DLE (26") 305cc Two-Stage Snow Blower

We received our Ariens Professional Snowblower via Priority in 3 days and we were amazed at the service, choice and ease of ordering! (Although, it's easy to be skeptical ordering via internet but have no fear with this company here!)

There were absolutely none to be had on the east coast after all the snow we've had. Reports of stolen snowblowers abounded, too...they are like gold in times like these! The freight company Snow Blowers Direct uses was AMAZING, too....BEST service we've ever experienced! Very professional and very accommodating! We purchased the lift gate service (well worth it) and the Ariens was placed right into our garage...safe and sound.

Since receiving the snowblower, we haven't had a chance to try it out as the snow storms pretty much subsided but you never know what's next! The great thing about Ariens is the peace of mind 3 year warranty that comes with the snowblower after registering online (or by mail). Great service center nearby, too, that we already us.

The Ariens professional is amazing quality...best I've ever seen in a model. Very sturdy, thick and heavy...built like a farm tractor! At the moment it's in our garage and looks better than our Toyotas in there! Not complaining at all that we haven't had a chance to use it for lack of more snowstorms....that's OK! (We also have a 5 year old Husqvarna machine from Lowe's that was in carburetor repair and received it back the same day our Ariens arrived).

Snow Blowers Direct products are way better than the big-box store models. From experience, one word of advice is to have the machine professionally maintained once per year to keep it from what our Husqvarna ended up as during one of the worst storms we had...which had us shoveling out ourselves! With 2 machines on hand, we now have a backup because it is just impossible to get someone to plow a long driveway during a snowstorm, not to mention a huge dollar amount that it would cost. You can't beat a snowblower at your disposal...and Ariens is definitely the best.

We highly recommend Snow Blowers Direct. My husband found it during our desperation while the Husqvarna was in the shop. It's also great to see they sell all kinds of other power equipment and accessories for everything they sell, too.....a homeowners and professionals, alike, paradise! Why go anyplace else? The service, speed, freight, and quality is unsurpassed!

We received our Ariens Professional Snowblower via Priority in 3 days and we were amazed at the service, choice and ease of ordering! (Although, it's easy to be skeptical ordering via internet but have no fear with this company here!)

There were absolutely none to be had on the east coast after all the snow we've had. Reports of stolen snowblowers abounded, too...they are like gold in times like these! The freight company Snow Blowers Direct uses was AMAZING, too....BEST service we've ever experienced! Very professional and very accommodating! We purchased the lift gate service ... more

I bought mine from Snow Blowers Direct. Ordering was easy, email communication was good and the product arrived at my house 3 days after ordering. R&L shipping was great! They communicate well, call you at least a couple times before they deliver it, and the driver knew what to do when backing down the long cul-de-sac that I live on in town with a full sized semi trailer. He said he had delivered a dozen snowblowers in the last week.

I upgraded to this from a 13 year old 24" 6HP Husqvarna. I had great luck with my old one and was on the fence as to buy this or a new Husqvarna. Everyone tells me Ariens is the best, so I took the plunge and bought this.

It has been a rough start. The unit arrived, the driver and I took the top of the box off and gave it a once over. Everything looked okay. After he left, I started putting it together and discovered a broken chute lock cable. I called Ariens Customer Service and left a message (I don't think you ever get a person on the phone, they must always need to call you back). Someone called back an hour or so later and said they could ship me a new one, which arrived a week later (New Years was in between).

I put the new cable on and adjusted it. Ready to go. We have had spotty snow, so I have only been able to use it a few times. I noticed it always wanted to pull to one side. After 3 uses, I checked the tires (which were fine when it arrived) and one tire was flat. I filled it up, came back 3 hours later it was flat again. Bad tire. It cracked open between some of the treads (probably a thin spot in the rubber). I called customer service again, but no call back, even the next day. I then emailed them asking if they could send a replacement and 3 days later they responded saying I needed to take the tire to a authorized service center to get it fixed. I did not want to go through that hassle and add more down time, so I took it to a local tire shop and they put a tube in it. The owner of the tire shop told me "there are 2 kinds of snow blower tires. Those with tubes and those that will need tubes." So now that is fixed.

The Ariens Pro 26 is much longer than I had anticipated. It is because both the auger and the impeller are both larger in diameter than the mid range units. The length makes it hard to take corners and go around things. It is also heavy. I quit trying to teach my wife to use this as I don't think she could get it out of the garage let alone steer it around. My fault for not doing more research on size and weight before buying.

I first thought it went too fast at it's slowest drive speed, but after using it a while the slowest speed seems fine as it has a lot of throwing power. The hand warmers are nothing special. They get mildly warm. Tonight when it was -6 F out, I did not get much benefit from them, especially through gloves. The light is good and bright. I love the chute turning mechanism. Steering is accomplished via a real differential, not wheel lock levers like the mid-range models use. One oddity is that it tends to shoot a stream of snow out of the upper left corner of the mouth. I would be curious to know if others have seen this. Overall it seems to be pretty well built. It cut through 12" of compacted snow with no problem.

I am expecting 13 years of hard work from this Pro unit. Don't let me down Ariens!

I bought mine from Snow Blowers Direct. Ordering was easy, email communication was good and the product arrived at my house 3 days after ordering. R&L shipping was great! They communicate well, call you at least a couple times before they deliver it, and the driver knew what to do when backing down the long cul-de-sac that I live on in town with a full sized semi trailer. He said he had delivered a dozen snowblowers in the last week.

I upgraded to this from a 13 year old 24" 6HP Husqvarna. I had great luck with my old one and was on the fence as to buy this or a ne... more

Well this Ariens machine has officially been broken in and it was all snow baby. 22" medium moisture content snow with 28+" drifts and 36" end of driveway plow pack. Right now she is in the garage melting down after a 3 driveway road test.

The price and weight differential between the Pro and Platinum models was substantial so my expectations were also exceptionally high. I have to say that the Ariens Pro26 is a quality, well-built machine and I would not hesitate to recommend this product to anyone in the market for a new machine.

She pushed right through 22+ inches without a hitch but when it came to the 28"+ drifts and 36" plow pack at the end of the driveway it did tax the machine a little. If I ever had to replace the engine, I would definitely be looking to beef up the torque a little.

Date Purchased: 11/2010
Price Paid: $1849
Recommend: Yes

Pros:
The quick turn chute control was fast & responsive. The Traction control worked well & maintained directional control without slipping or sliding and the overall maneuverability was exceptional. There is absolutely no need for tire chains on flat or semi-flat terrain and the snow did not pack up in the treads of the tires.

She threw the snow clear into my next-door neighbors driveway (a solid 25 feet) and the chute never clogged once.

The Hand warmers are a nice feature and kept the handles from freezing up when she was at idle.

The halogen headlamp was bright and did a nice job illuminating the clearing area.

The Briggs power plant started quickly using the pull start method after only one or two primes. She ran smooth and like a champ without missing or backfiring.

Truly a well-built, heavy-duty machine that is built to last.

Cons:
The 305 Briggs did the job but without a doubt the machine could have benefited from few more horses. With drifts over 28" I felt I was pushing it and when I attacked the end of the driveway plow pack (which was every bit of 36") I felt that it would have stalled it out if I pushed her too hard so I backed off and feathered the drive control a little.

As for Briggs, I am a little tired of trying to decipher the hieroglyphs of 1-2-3 easy start procedures. CHOKE ON or OFF is a lot better than tiny little pictures of choke mechanisms that are barely legible to begin with and tiny little rabbits and turtles to show the speed in lieu of OFF SLOW FAST. If it's Briggs intention to offer bi-lingual friendly products then I suggest they attach a copy of Rosetta Stone English for dummies along with the rest of the documentation.

The drift cutters were not easy to loosen in order to attach them and the bolts can fall out and into the auger mechanism if they loosen up. Searching for the wing nuts that will most certainly end up somewhere in the snow is also not my idea of a good design. For safety purposes you really need to shut the unit down in order to set them up or disable them. I am going to captivate the bolts so they can't fall out but the drift cutter design should have incorporated a safer, more user-friendly method to activate or deactivate them.

The reverse shift lever detent positions are only good for 1 speed. Even after the adjustment process the only way to get a useless slower reverse speed is by placing the shift lever between neutral and 1st reverse detent which by design was not an intended detent position. All though high inclines may prove me wrong, but the 6th forward detent position is for marathon runners. There could have been a much better match between the shift detent positions and the friction wheel so you actually get 2 reverse speeds. As for 6th forward, it will certainly get you back to the shed in no time at all.

Well this Ariens machine has officially been broken in and it was all snow baby. 22" medium moisture content snow with 28+" drifts and 36" end of driveway plow pack. Right now she is in the garage melting down after a 3 driveway road test.

The price and weight differential between the Pro and Platinum models was substantial so my expectations were also exceptionally high. I have to say that the Ariens Pro26 is a quality, well-built machine and I would not hesitate to recommend this product to anyone in the market for a new machine.

She pushed right ... more

I ordered this snowblower online and it came within a week. Big box!

Most of it was put together and I just had to install the handle and snow chute and some cabling and it was ready to go. I made sure everything was greased and added some gas and it fired right up on the first try. Nice controls and I like the shoot control as my old snowblower had a hand crank that was slow and inconvenient compared to the one lever control this Ariens model has.

I had to wait a month for some snow to blow but once we got some snow this machine cleared it very nicely and easily. This model is also very easy to maneuver for a machine this size. I am sure I will be more than pleased with the performance of this snowblower as we get more winter weather. It is smooth running too. I am waiting for a big snow next.

I ordered this snowblower online and it came within a week. Big box!

Most of it was put together and I just had to install the handle and snow chute and some cabling and it was ready to go. I made sure everything was greased and added some gas and it fired right up on the first try. Nice controls and I like the shoot control as my old snowblower had a hand crank that was slow and inconvenient compared to the one lever control this Ariens model has.

I had to wait a month for some snow to blow but once we got some snow this machine cleared it very nicely and ... more

I received my Ariens Snow Blower in late August. Unwrapped it, did the minor assembly, put a little gas in the tank, followed the instructions on starting and guess what? It started on the third crank.

At this point I see an absolutely wonderfully designed and constructed machine. I shall write a more detailed review when winter hits me with some snow.

I had no choice but to order the Ariens early, last year there were none to be found in December. A friend of mine bought the same model last year and was so happy with it, he cleaned his entire street (50 yards).

That was enough for me.

I received my Ariens Snow Blower in late August. Unwrapped it, did the minor assembly, put a little gas in the tank, followed the instructions on starting and guess what? It started on the third crank.

At this point I see an absolutely wonderfully designed and constructed machine. I shall write a more detailed review when winter hits me with some snow.

I had no choice but to order the Ariens early, last year there were none to be found in December. A friend of mine bought the same model last year and was so happy with it, he cleaned his entire street (50 yards)... more

I was a little more than hesitant about buying a snow blower on the Internet. But it was a smooth transaction. I got the lift truck option due to the weight of the snowblower. It came on a pallet and they put it right in my garage.

I assembled it in about hour to hour and half. I had pre-printed the owners manual and went over the assembly instructions prior to arrival. By assembling it myself I feel more confident in making minor adjustments now.

One section in the instructions was about greasing the chute if there was none. There was maybe a few drops of grease on that part so I added plenty of Mobil 1 synthetic grease.

This blower is quite powerful and I have had the opportunity to use it. I can easily and did blow the snow across the street unto the neighbors yard just to prove I could.

The hand warmers do work well, I was surprised that you could notice them through the heavy gloves but that is a nice feature.

The machine allows adjustment of the chute in many different positions right from the control area. This is great feature as compared to my previous 17 year old machine. As you're blowing snow and the wind changes or hits you it's nice to be able to move the chute in various positions without stopping.

Prior to the 8 inches of snow we had after I got the machine, I was using it on the previous very hard pack snow and it cut through it quite well. End of the drive and sidewalk plow material is not a issue.

I am not sure if the extra charge for the cast iron drive case is necessary over the Platnium model, but with me getting it a little cheaper, I thought I would put the money back towards this upgrade. I never had a snowblower with a light and this is a great feature.

Overall the machine is great, and buying online was problem free. Save shipping charges on shear pins and buy them at locally. Looking at shear pin replacement, it is much easier then my previous machine which would require quite a bit of disassembly.

It's a much bigger machine then my previous unit, but my wife can handle it with no problems. When she uses it, we turn the power and speed down and this is more then adequate to move the snow.

I suggest you print out the Owner's Manual prior to receiving the machine and understand the installation instructions ahead of time. If you need more assistance you can go to Ariens and print out a schematic which shows the complete machine in a schematic form.

I was a little more than hesitant about buying a snow blower on the Internet. But it was a smooth transaction. I got the lift truck option due to the weight of the snowblower. It came on a pallet and they put it right in my garage.

I assembled it in about hour to hour and half. I had pre-printed the owners manual and went over the assembly instructions prior to arrival. By assembling it myself I feel more confident in making minor adjustments now.

One section in the instructions was about greasing the chute if there was none. There was maybe a few drops o... more