Ariens Platinum 24 SHO (24") 369cc Two-Stage Snow Blower (2015 Model)

So 10/2015, I bought the ARIENS for the engine CC size for a 24inch unit and ARIENS reputation.

Twiddling my fingers and thumbs for the past 3 months till 01232016 when NYC got hit by the 2nd largest snowstorm ever.

I live in Queens and got over 28 inches with drifts in my driveway of over 3-4 feet high. I cleared my 80 foot driveway, my walkways and my rear yard in about 8 hours.

Wow 8 hours you say that is too long. But my driveway does not allow me to pile snow on the sides. I have to move it all the way to the front lawn, about 65 feet from where I start.

Think about that 28 inches and drifts as high as 4 feet.

So 10/2015, I bought the ARIENS for the engine CC size for a 24inch unit and ARIENS reputation.

Twiddling my fingers and thumbs for the past 3 months till 01232016 when NYC got hit by the 2nd largest snowstorm ever.

I live in Queens and got over 28 inches with drifts in my driveway of over 3-4 feet high. I cleared my 80 foot driveway, my walkways and my rear yard in about 8 hours.

Wow 8 hours you say that is too long. But my driveway does not allow me to pile snow on the sides. I have... more

Purchased the snow blower in Fall of 2015. I only needed it twice that winter and it performed well. I was very happy.
The first major snow of 2016 was about a week ago. Within a few minutes of clearing the driveway, I lost control of the speed.

I was left with only "high speed forward" and the shifter became unresponsive. This was a Friday evening and tech support was unavailable. It was late at night and I was able to manage to complete the clearing job in high speed forward only, pulling the machine in reverse by hand when necessary.

The next day, I took the cover off the bottom and saw that the fork that pushes the slider back and forth to adjust speed/direction was bent and off the slider. With a pair of pliers and some muscle I was able to get it back on, sort of, and it works again. There are some parts (a washer and little square guide of some sort) that I am not positive how they belong. The engineering drawings I have found do not express these parts well.

It works fine now after I fixed it, but I am dismayed that I had this trouble so soon. That mechanism is far too flimsy and of poor design for a $1500-$1700 machine.

I am an engineer, machinist, mechanic, fabricator. I will re-engineer this thing and modify it if it gives me trouble again.
I could still use a decent copy of the engineering drawings to see how these parts are supposed to fit.

Purchased the snow blower in Fall of 2015. I only needed it twice that winter and it performed well. I was very happy.
The first major snow of 2016 was about a week ago. Within a few minutes of clearing the driveway, I lost control of the speed.

I was left with only "high speed forward" and the shifter became unresponsive. This was a Friday evening and tech support was unavailable. It was late at night and I was able to manage to complete the clearing job in high speed... more

This is my second review of this snow blower. I continue to be stunned at what a cheap piece of junk I purchased. After the slider fork fell off the axle early this winter (see my other review), and I fixed it by bending the cheaply made stamped steel fork back on and into a better shape... I have had another issue that involved a cheaply made, stamped steel part. Interestingly, it is a fork of another type.

I bumped lightly into a small branch of a tree hanging over the driveway with the chute. The small force on the chute bent the little fork that holds the chute in the location set by the user via the cable. It was a pretty easy fix with a hammer, tapered drift punch and a vise but this is not what I feel like getting into halfway through a driveway clearing job.

Again, I am a mechanical engineer and long time mechanic with an "awesome set of tools" at home.

I don't know what I would do if I were the average "Harry Homeowner" who had these issues.

This is my second review of this snow blower. I continue to be stunned at what a cheap piece of junk I purchased. After the slider fork fell off the axle early this winter (see my other review), and I fixed it by bending the cheaply made stamped steel fork back on and into a better shape... I have had another issue that involved a cheaply made, stamped steel part. Interestingly, it is a fork of another type.

I bumped lightly into a small branch of a tree hanging over the driveway with the... more

Although I have only used this blower once when we had over two foot of snow and was heavy and wet blower worked well the only thing is I wish that you could adjust the handle bars a little lower.

Just bought this snow blower and at this time with no snow yet have not used it. We chose this snow blower because of brand name, is built in USA and is a family owned company. One of the features that we like is how easy it is to change the snow discharge chutes direction. One thing that I would have liked to have had on this blower is a hour meter. Because it did not have one, I installed an after market one on this blower.

My wife bought me this monster for my retirement gift before the winter of 2014-15. I live in Massachusetts and we were buried. Unfortunately, the control chute for the snow broke down and I had to hold with one hand while trying to control blower with the other. The store I bought it from had to pick up and repair it.

Received it back and during the next big storm the same thing happened halfway through my efforts to blow driveway. With the non-stop forecast of more storms I just lived with it the rest of the winter. Had store pick up and repair again. During the first storm of 2015-16 same thing. I told the store if it happened again they could keep the blower and return money. They stated they could not do that and we would have to discuss issue if it happened again.

Unfortunately/Fortunately the remainder of 15-16 was mild and I did not have to use blower again. I am fearful of what will happen this winter if I continue to have problems since I will be three years out from purchase. I noticed the new model now has a different chute mechanism. Has anyone had similar issues. This machine cost $1400.00 and has been nothing but a headache.

My wife bought me this monster for my retirement gift before the winter of 2014-15. I live in Massachusetts and we were buried. Unfortunately, the control chute for the snow broke down and I had to hold with one hand while trying to control blower with the other. The store I bought it from had to pick up and repair it.

Received it back and during the next big storm the same thing happened halfway through my efforts to blow driveway. With the non-stop forecast of more storms I just lived with... more

I have used my brothers 2 year old platinum 24 in the past and when I bought my house I was sure I had to have one. This year for the same price this more powerful engine was available so it was a no brainier.

I shopped around at the local big box stores, sears and independent distributors. It was exhausting to find so many different features and price points. For me I needed power and dependability since the plow trucks point the plow to my side of the street. Most cheaper snow blowers I looked at had a 12" auger and only the bucket and engine power increased. In addition the chutes and other various parts were almost always made of plastic. This model uses a 14" auger and it was the only one that I could find at this price.

After receiving the product, the first thing I did was upgrade the skid shoes since the area I am blowing has lifted and uneven cement. The new shoes should be the first point of contact when hitting these areas and not the bucket thus preventing paint chipping and rust.

Another upgrade I did was the light to LED. The unit comes with a 20 watt halogen bulb mounted near the controls. It is borderline useless due to its light output and in addition, it's blocked by the chute. I mounted an 18 watt LED fog light on top of the bucket using the predrilled hole by Ariens. Not sure what the hole was designed for since there were already other holes on the side of the bucket for the drift cutters. This hole was on the top corner. If there was one thing I would ask Ariens, it'd be to change their design of the light and its placement. Honda blowers have the right idea by placing it in front of the motor.

Overall I am very satisfied with the unit, and I would buy it again, especially considering its shortfalls are easily remedied.

I have used my brothers 2 year old platinum 24 in the past and when I bought my house I was sure I had to have one. This year for the same price this more powerful engine was available so it was a no brainier.

I shopped around at the local big box stores, sears and independent distributors. It was exhausting to find so many different features and price points. For me I needed power and dependability since the plow trucks point the plow to my side of the street. Most cheaper snow blowers I... more

Pros:

Snow Blowers Direct: Highly recommended. Ordered Sat & shipped on Monday. They answered my call & addressed my delivery service issue promptly.

Shipping: Used lift gate, on a pallet & totally enclosed in heavy duty cardboard, perfect condition, shipped with oil.

Assembly: 30 minutes, controls & chute, not hard.

Start up: literally 1st pull

Cons:
None, would order from Snow Blowers Direct again.

The past:
For past 10 years I used the Ariens 8524 (8.5 HP). Used it 100+ times, self maintained (oil, tuneup, carburetor , belts, skid plate, shoes, etc), minimal rust (dried, stored indoors), still works perfectly, bringing to parents house for another ten years of service.

The 24" works best for in & out my door opening, and easily navigates between cars in the driveway.
The 8.5 HP was perfect for my drive, totally capable of throwing any weight & wetness snow, no problem clearing 16+" snow plowed snow at driveway entry.

Pros:

Snow Blowers Direct: Highly recommended. Ordered Sat & shipped on Monday. They answered my call & addressed my delivery service issue promptly.

Shipping: Used lift gate, on a pallet & totally enclosed in heavy duty cardboard, perfect condition, shipped with oil.

Assembly: 30 minutes, controls & chute, not hard.

Start up: literally 1st pull

Cons:
None, would order from Snow Blowers Direct again.

The past:
For past 10 years I used the Ariens 8524 (8.5... more

SBD is fantastic as is the bottom line price compared to getting it from other sites or locally.

The major issue is setup but if you can handle that, then you get a good deal with no tax or shipping expensive except for the lift gate service.


The price is expensive for the unit but all my local and online dealers charged same price or even more along with shipping and taxes. So in my opinion SBD delivers the best price as long as you can handle the 2 hour assemble.

As others have said the pictogram chart leaves a lot to be desired. I used the chart, online videos and the actual manual to reinforced the pictogram diagrams. With another person took about two hours but I took my time. The procedure if you have your tools ready should take at best less than an hour.


My current ratings and review is based on setup, quality of ARIENS presetup, assembly instructions, my precieved concept of ARIENS reputation and the actual build of the unit I received.

Other than for some cosmetic damage to my chute and exposed metal on the chute which was CORRECTED by SBD, the presetup by ARIENS was top notch and the unit was flawless after full assembly.

ARIENS seriously needs to keep the pictogram but needs to add words to elaborate many of the pictogram ideas.

I can not rate unit performance until real snowfall which is at least another month if not longer away.

But have given it 4 to 5 stars based on the ARIENS reputation and other online reviews.

What I can say: this unit is heavy and very powerful. The features like the chute controls and easy steering help to reduce the diffculty of handling but make no mistake this is a very heavy unit and not easily manhandled. It will manhandle you...be careful and understand the controls. I suggest using the low engine setting as you learn the controls.

I weigh 170lbs and this unit will drag you if you do not understand the controls and how to respond as you engage the unit.

The engine controls work well as do the ability to regulate the engine power...great feature to help with handling this beastly machine.

My other snowblower machines about 18 years old, are under 150lbs and so this is a major setup in weight and features.

SBD is fantastic as is the bottom line price compared to getting it from other sites or locally.

The major issue is setup but if you can handle that, then you get a good deal with no tax or shipping expensive except for the lift gate service.


The price is expensive for the unit but all my local and online dealers charged same price or even more along with shipping and taxes. So in my opinion SBD delivers the best price as long as you can handle the 2 hour assemble.

As others have... more

Just ordered an Ariens Platinum 24 SHO between the major snow storms this year. The machine came just in time for the last storm which dropped about 18 inches of fresh snow on top of the many feet of snow we already had. The shipping times and delivery were as advertised. This machine was perfect! It powered through all of the new and old snow, allowing me to easily handle the snow banks left from the plows as well as widen the paths for the sidewalk and driveway. I was able to clear through the 3-5' EOD banks with ease.

This machine shines in tight spaces where you have to throw the snow in specific spots to keep the snow banks from collapsing on you (yes we have 6 - 8 foot snow banks right now). The 24" width and the extra power is the perfect combination to move heavy snow in this area. So glad I chose this model over lower powered models with a wider width. So far, this machine has been perfect for New England conditions.

Just ordered an Ariens Platinum 24 SHO between the major snow storms this year. The machine came just in time for the last storm which dropped about 18 inches of fresh snow on top of the many feet of snow we already had. The shipping times and delivery were as advertised. This machine was perfect! It powered through all of the new and old snow, allowing me to easily handle the snow banks left from the plows as well as widen the paths for the sidewalk and driveway. I was able to clear... more

Received and assembled the snow blower - no problem.

However, I could not control the speed adjustment lever - even though I would set it in the "slow" position, once in drive it would slowly creep into the "fast" position on its own accord.

I called Ariens. It seems the wrong control panel was installed, this model should have had notches to hold the speed in any given gear, but the machine I received did not -- even though the panel label had the correct model designation.

Ariens arranged for me to load and drive it to a local dealer. Once there, I compared with a fllor model -- and indeed the control panel had notches, and a rubber boot for nozzle direction that mine did not.

Now the dealer is waiting for parts to install the correct panel, the inventory is not available online with Ariens, so will see when I get it back.

I do not know if the issue lies with Ariens or PED -- in any case, the whole purpose of my online purchase was not hauling a heavy snow blower back- and forth. Seems like my purpose was negated regardless.

Received and assembled the snow blower - no problem.

However, I could not control the speed adjustment lever - even though I would set it in the "slow" position, once in drive it would slowly creep into the "fast" position on its own accord.

I called Ariens. It seems the wrong control panel was installed, this model should have had notches to hold the speed in any given gear, but the machine I received did not -- even though the panel label had the correct model... more