Ariens Auto Turn

We just bought a 2.75 acre lake property. I need a bunch of new toys. I just bought an Exmark zero turn for the yard. Now I need a bigger better snow blower. We have a long driveway (compared to our current Eden Prairie suburban driveway) and I want a quality machine. I am leaning toward the Ariens Deluxe 30 but I am not sure about the Auto Turn. There are a lot of bad reviews but that seams it may have been when it first came out. Does anyone know if it has gotten any better?

Hire a local to plow it open.

Dutchboy wrote:

Hire a local to plow it open.

Then you have to turn in your man card.

Well if you want to bust through hard snowbanks at the end of the driveway that have been there since the last time you were there then by all means buy a snowblower.

It will be our permanent residence. And I really don’t want to be beholden to anyone waiting on them to get the driveway clear. So I don’t think having a service is the answer for us.

The auto turn works good. I have a platinum 30 blower. Nice choice on the mower, I have a laser Z myself

Ariens are a fine unit for sure. No experience with the auto turn since I have a simplicity. It doesnt have power steering per se, but there is a trigger under each hand grip and you pull the trigger on the side you want to turn and it spins right around. Pretty slick. It powers through snow and I really have to watch what I am doing because I have filled my neighbor’s driveway multiple times because of how far it throws snow.

I have a 600′ long driveway that drifts really bad in 2 different spots, I use a Ariens Deluxe 30 to clear it out. For the most part it does a really good job, the auto steer sucks though since you have to stop and backup for the mechanism to reengage the other drive wheel. So I really never use it, also for the hard drifts I have break it up with a shovel for the first pass, then I can take chunks off it.

I have the Ariens 28 SHO model and like it. The auto turn works fine for me and I really don’t notice a big difference between that and the trigger system I had on my last snowblower.

Broth82
When you say “you hardly ever use it”, do you mean the machine or you use the machine but hardly use the auto turn? Can the auto turn be turned off?

My dad bought a Deluxe 28 a couple years ago. He hasn’t had any issues with the auto-turn.

He did say that the dealer mentioned that it needs equal tire pressure on both sides, or it can cause problems.

Good reason to get a side by side and a plow. LOL

Any other real world experience from recent purchases? It just seems there were a ton of bad reviews several years ago but not many recently. Wondering if maybe they changed something and it works better in more recent models.

I have a two year old Professional 28. Auto turn, hydro, fuel injection and all. Have been doing 8-10 small drives a snowfall with it for customers. While the pro model is more powerful and the hydro is unreal, the auto turn takes a little to get use to. It is different in certain traction on one wheel situations… where it may want to pull a bit. That said, get use to it… learn not to fight it and it is good. The machine as I have it is a beast. Power, fast and if I was dealing with my own big drive and wanted to blow it…. This is the machine I would buy over again without a hesitation!

Personally, I love the hydro and reliable ease of starting of the fuel injection. That said, I haven’t ran into the time when the little injection battery dies yet…. While rechargeable, it has a life cycle. I’ll swap mine out down the road just to avoid any issues.

I never use the auto turn, use the snow blower all the time and it works great.

The auto steer now isn’t something you turn on or off, or re-engage, at least not on any models I’ve seen.

broth82 wrote:

I never use the auto turn, use the snow blower all the time and it works great.

How do you not use the auto turn? Everything I’ve read it is always there/on.

Mine has a level you hold to disengage the one tire, I just never use the lever so both tires are always spinning.

I have the auto-turn model from three years ago and for the most part it’s good. I run into problems when one side of the blower gets into a tougher pull than the other and the unit tries to turn itself. My biggest complaint with my Ariens is the headlight. Shines right into the eyes in low light. Going to change it this year for sure.