Ariens Platinum ST30DLE (30") 369cc Two-Stage Snow Blower

I bought this snow thrower and I love it.

It's a Beast of a Machine and a pleasure to use. Hand warmers aren't that useful through your gloves, and with all of the controls, its a two handed operation that reminds me of driving a stick shift.

Throws the snow in a beautiful Arc. Fun to use and a big help in a storm!

Two things can make a walk behind difficult to use. They are spinning tires and the front end climbing up in heavy or packed snow. This blower has those solved in the design. The weight on this machine is favoring the heavy front end design because of its wheels are located more to the rear, compared to other machines. In the show room this makes the machine feel less nimble and heavy and might scare away some sales. Out in the snow plow berm at the end of the driveway, this machine's front end should stay down better then machines with lighter front ends.

Now the taller tires with a newer thread design, and extra soft rubber compound should help keep decent traction to keep pushing forward.

That being said, I have more hours blowing snow then I want to admit. The last 20 years was with an Ariens ST824. It is still going as strong as new, in the hands of my niece. I bring this up, because the Ariens quality has been proven to me, by not necessarily being the most high tech, but simple in the basic design, and hefty in the components that matter. Also this 414cc engine calculates out to be 13.5 - 17 HP depending on the RPM Ariens has it set at. This very high HP for a 30 inch machine.

If I will be allowed to update this review in the future, I will be happy to add my experiences as winter progresses.

Two things can make a walk behind difficult to use. They are spinning tires and the front end climbing up in heavy or packed snow. This blower has those solved in the design. The weight on this machine is favoring the heavy front end design because of its wheels are located more to the rear, compared to other machines. In the show room this makes the machine feel less nimble and heavy and might scare away some sales. Out in the snow plow berm at the end of the driveway, this machine's front end... more

I purchased this snow blower in October. It has been used in the past three 2014 Northeast snowstorms. It is powerful enough to handle the worst snow we have had here in New York. Obviously, YOU have to realize this snow blower, like any machine, does have it's limitations. You should know how to work the snow blower within these limits. On that topic this Ariens ST30DLE is more powerful than any snow blower I have used. I am completely satisfied with my purchase thru Snow Blowers Direct. I would be very comfortable ordering from them again, if a need arises.This is an amazing snow blower! I would recommend it to anyone.

I purchased this snow blower in October. It has been used in the past three 2014 Northeast snowstorms. It is powerful enough to handle the worst snow we have had here in New York. Obviously, YOU have to realize this snow blower, like any machine, does have it's limitations. You should know how to work the snow blower within these limits. On that topic this Ariens ST30DLE is more powerful than any snow blower I have used. I am completely satisfied with my purchase thru Snow Blowers Direct. I... more

I purchased this Ariens Snow Thrower from SBD using the pay by check option. That worked pretty well and we saved a little bit of money. We did not spend the extra $50 for "Lift Gate Service" . It was shipped UPS ground and all of those UPS ground freight trucks have elevator gates on them. The driver was happy to lower it to the ground and help me get it up my driveway with his manual forklift. No problem. Not sure what the extra $50 would have got me? The UPS driver even stayed while I opened the box and inspected the blower. No damage, no problems.

We assembled it using the included directions. That was fine and we had no problems, but you did have to actually read the instructions and make sure that you were reading the instructions for your particular unit. That was fine, however there was one mystery star washer that was not referred to in the directions. I got on the Ariens website and opened up the chat window and the representative helped me out. It goes on the chute control handle mount in the form of the control panel. He admitted that it was not in the instructions and said they were going to add it. No problem really. It should have been in the book but he helped me figure it out. No big deal.

So we got it all assembled and tightened up and fueled it up then started it. It started right up, no problem. 2 pulls. Also tried the electric start. So I let it idle then run for an hour or so before using it just to break it in without a load on it. It ran fine. Then I just had to wait for snow. Last night it snowed about 8- 10 inches but it was super wet. Not like our famous Rocky Mountain Powder, but more like Sierra Cement. Wet, thick and sticky. Keeping that in mind, and the fact that I have a pretty large driveway on a hill and a pretty big parking area, it worked great. Plenty of power. Threw the snow very far and out of the way even with a 30 knot wind. Everything worked very well however the chute direction handle could be more fluid. I'm not saying this one does not work well but if I could point out one place for improvement, the chute control would be it. I could even see it being hydraulic. Its just a little tough to use with one hand that is connected to a less than perfect elbow. My wife will probably need to use 2 hands to direct the chute. And yes, I did adjust the cable to maximum performance and optimum tension. Its still just a little tough but not problematic.

Now I can't wait to get some of the deep powder that we are known for. As I write this I'm watching my neighbor use his black colored blower and it blows this wet snow about 3 feet total. He looks frustrated. I know he was spying on me using the new Ariens and now he hates his blower. Ariens rule, and my neighbor can just drool ! I love this blower and would recommend it. It is a bit heavy but I did not feel that one of the smaller lighter units would meet my needs. 3 years ago I got 600 inches in my yard total so I needed a larger unit to "git er done". The larger units are heavy but there is really no way around that. My house is at about 10,000 feet above sea level so we need extra power up here. Its got the 414cc Ariens motor in it and it runs like a champ and has plenty of torque in the wet heavy snow. It goes up my driveway hill with no problems. This wet yucky snow was really a true test. Love it, great unit, great customer support, buy one!

I purchased this Ariens Snow Thrower from SBD using the pay by check option. That worked pretty well and we saved a little bit of money. We did not spend the extra $50 for "Lift Gate Service" . It was shipped UPS ground and all of those UPS ground freight trucks have elevator gates on them. The driver was happy to lower it to the ground and help me get it up my driveway with his manual forklift. No problem. Not sure what the extra $50 would have got me? The UPS driver even stayed... more

I have yet to use this monster of a snow blower. So my PROs and CONs should be taken with a grain of salt.

There are some assembly videos of earlier model Ariens snow blowers on YouTube. They help by providing a visual, but this machine assembled slightly differently than the videos. So read the instructions carefully, even if you think you've got the video down cold, which I thought. As a consequence I assembled and disassembled the handle bars a few times before I got it right. Also beware of cables that are not routed correctly or are routed around something they should not be before you get all the bolts tight on the upper and lower sections of the handle bar.

After spending about 3 hours putting it together, it started literally on the 2nd pull. It's relatively easy to push around on a flat surface. I tried the self-propelled and Auto Turn functions on flat, dry concrete. It propelled OK but the turning function seemed a bit kludgy. That may be a function of a learning curve. We'll see.

It did seem to move a bit better when I adjusted the scraper bar a bit higher. I used two thicknesses of packing cardboard as my height above the concrete. That appears to be about the prescribed 1/8".

The most difficult assembly activity was the insertion of a push-nut for retention of the chute control on the control panel. It's a tight fight for large hands. In the end, after several tries and about 45 minutes, using a 3/4" socket on a 6" socket extension worked to push the nut into place (as suggested in the assembly instructions). But it was a fight and the socket at first was not the obvious way to do it.

We had 30"+ of snow the first weekend of October, That was two 3 weeks before the new machine arrived. As my brother told me, the city extends its sincere thanks to me for now insuring against any large snowfalls for the rest of the season.

We'll see.

I have yet to use this monster of a snow blower. So my PROs and CONs should be taken with a grain of salt.

There are some assembly videos of earlier model Ariens snow blowers on YouTube. They help by providing a visual, but this machine assembled slightly differently than the videos. So read the instructions carefully, even if you think you've got the video down cold, which I thought. As a consequence I assembled and disassembled the handle bars a few times before I got it right. Also... more

Received the Ariens snow blower yesterday with lift gate service and was able to assemble with no major glitches and tested engine which all seem to work great. The assembly video is good to watch and the only thing it misses is the assembly of the auto adjusting chute. Just waiting for snow now. The power of this machine is over 2X my previous one.

Ariens Snow Blower:
I nearly didn't buy this product because of negative reviews, the comments about the assembly instructions, the auto turn feature and poor factory support, Which is Very Important.

As a result, I became interested in another unit, a three stage unit, which delayed my purchase. After a trip to my local Mega hardware store, and looking at an Ariens' unit, I decided to give one a try.

I have friends who've made purchases from Snow Blower Direct (SBD), they were satisfied, so I chose SBD to make my purchase.
I'm pleased with SBD and would recommend them.

My Snow Blower arrived with just a little damaged and almost ready to use.
The assembly instructions, as critiqued, weren't the best however, assembly wasn't difficult.

Today, Feb. 3, 2014, we receiver 10 inches of wet, heavy snow, it clung to the trees bending some branches to the ground. Very difficult to shovel.

I live on 2.3 acres, with two parking areas, two long driveways, and other places to clear, so there was plenty of snow to give this unit a good work out.

Even though I received the Ariens a week ago, this is the first time I put gas into it. It started immediately with one pull, ran quietly, without excessive vibrations. The controls, which took some getting used to, and needed some fine tuning, worked OK, they will need some more fine tuning.

The Ariens cleared this wet, heavy snow with ease, it never stalled or faltered. The machine blew the snow 20 feet or more. My other snow blower is incapable of clearing this type of snow.

I was spending an average of 3 hours removing six to eight inches of powdery snow from my property. The Ariens cleared this 10 inch plus snow fall, with areas as high as 21 inches, in two hours.

Also ... My previous snow blower could not clear the slush and snow left on the driveway apron by the town's snow plow, that area always had to be cleared by hand. The Ariens cleared it in minutes, and did a credible job of throwing the snow over the flower beds onto the grass, no mounds of snow at the driveway's edge. This unit has plenty of power. I also appreciated the metal chute, seems very sturdy. All this work was performed using about a tank and a half of fuel. The hand warmers, also criticized in some reviews, kept my hands nice and warm and I'm glad they were there.

An annoying feature of this unit is the auto turn. Not a good design. It was difficult keeping the unit going in a straight line when I came upon the compacted snow left by my truck. The auto turn feature would go nuts. The unit would turn, suddenly, and I would have to really hold on to it. I even bent the handle bars holding on to it. I'm almost 63 years old, used a lot of snow blowers in my time and I didn't expect this much difficulty. I'm sure most people would send this unit right back but that's always a pain and it's not a deal breaker for me.
I'll have to figure where the Ariens designers went wrong and fix it. Oh Well ...

When The job was done, an inspection of the unit reveled little wear. In my opinion, this is a fine machine, it looks durable, feels sturdy, runs smoothly, the Auto Turn feature needs work, but ... I would recommend the Ariens to a friend, with reservations.

Ariens Snow Blower:
I nearly didn't buy this product because of negative reviews, the comments about the assembly instructions, the auto turn feature and poor factory support, Which is Very Important.

As a result, I became interested in another unit, a three stage unit, which delayed my purchase. After a trip to my local Mega hardware store, and looking at an Ariens' unit, I decided to give one a try.

I have friends who've made purchases from Snow Blower Direct (SBD), they were... more

This bad boy will move snow. I've been using the same old blower for 34 years and thought it did a good job ..... until I used my new Ariens. This moved heavy snow so far that the only people that can still it, are my neighbors when it landed in their yards. Great for me, not so good for the neighbors.

Assembly is a nightmare. I didn't think there would be so much to assemble. Instructions are out of order and confusing. The chute direction control mount is difficult and Ariens cheaped out on the securing method. I still don't have the chute control adjusted correctly, which makes changing direction difficult. I have three bolts left over so I called Ariens and they have no idea where they belong.

Hand warmers are terrific.

This bad boy will move snow. I've been using the same old blower for 34 years and thought it did a good job ..... until I used my new Ariens. This moved heavy snow so far that the only people that can still it, are my neighbors when it landed in their yards. Great for me, not so good for the neighbors.

Assembly is a nightmare. I didn't think there would be so much to assemble. Instructions are out of order and confusing. The chute direction control mount is difficult and Ariens... more

I used my Ariens for the first time yesterday. It worked perfectly. It started on the first pull, and the controls are very simple and easy to handle

My driveway is about 200 yards long and very steep in two areas. I was concerned that I might have problems with grip and was originally looking at the track version of this blower. A Snow Blowers Direct technical guy told me that the wheel version would be able to manage the slope without a problem and would be easier to use. I went with his advice and I am really glad I did.

Clearing the whole driveway including a turn out area took about 1 hour, and was really easy work. The slope was no problem in either direction, although I did put the speed down to quite low on the way down just to stay in complete control.

I would definitely recommend this unit to anyone with a large area to clear.

I used my Ariens for the first time yesterday. It worked perfectly. It started on the first pull, and the controls are very simple and easy to handle

My driveway is about 200 yards long and very steep in two areas. I was concerned that I might have problems with grip and was originally looking at the track version of this blower. A Snow Blowers Direct technical guy told me that the wheel version would be able to manage the slope without a problem and would be easier to use. I went with... more

The good: It does throw snow an incredible distance. I previously had a 6 HP Snapper that lasted 20 years and it never let me down. This machine, is in a whole different class of snow blower with the larger engine, impeller, auger, and tires. I clear my driveway and a path to an oil tank and a shed in half the time of the Snapper. Besides the time savings, it is the ease with which the machines just clears a path effortlessly. It throws snow so far, many times I had to deflect the snow downward because it was being thrown into places I did not want it. The other features that I really like are auto turn and the heated handles. Both of the features just made the job of clearing snow easier. I was also impressed with Ariens Customer Service. I had a question on assembly and a suggestion to create how-to assembly videos. I received a response the first thing the next morning via email. They thanked me for my suggestion, advised me they would pass it on to their Marketing Department , and told me some one from their Tech Support Department would be calling me. Tech Support called me shortly thereafter and answered all my questions quickly and easily.

The bad: As stated in the other reviews, the assembly instructions could use improvement. I found quick start PDF files on the Ariens website that were fairly helpful, however, it would be nice to view some how-to assembly videos on their website.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the performance of the machine. It is a heavy machine but given it's capabilities, I think it is a good trade off. It does seems to be well built and time will tell if it will hold up as well as the Snapper snow blower I owned for 20 years of hard use.

The good: It does throw snow an incredible distance. I previously had a 6 HP Snapper that lasted 20 years and it never let me down. This machine, is in a whole different class of snow blower with the larger engine, impeller, auger, and tires. I clear my driveway and a path to an oil tank and a shed in half the time of the Snapper. Besides the time savings, it is the ease with which the machines just clears a path effortlessly. It throws snow so far, many times I had to deflect the snow... more

Waited forever to get snow blower and kept getting delayed for a month and a half. Once I received packaged, nice no damage. However the Instructions to assemble were very vague. I'm pretty good around the shop and I had to just use my brain to put it all together. Over all started right up and everything seems to work. Just need snow to let this beast do its job.