Ariens rapid track snowblower?

Anyone here have experience with these?

I have several drives to do in SE Wisconsin, possibly more in the future. Really find the large 32” Pro model attractive. Coming from an old 24” residential model I know I’d be impressed but looking for opinions on the track drives from those who have used them.

I have no first hand experience, but I have heard that they’re great if you have hills, but otherwise, they’re kind of a pain in the butt.

I thought the idea of tracks with a movable position with different angles would get around some of the typical disadvantages of old school track machines. Namely the old fixed track machines were hard to maneuver and had a longer base that made the whole machine longer and more difficult to store.

Ralph is right, the usual reason to get tracks was if you have to blow steep driveways.

But my concern would be all those additional moving parts… If there’s one machine I do NOT want to have stuff breaking on, it’s the snowblower because when I need it, I NEED it and they never break down just sitting in the garage between snowfalls. That’s why I’ve got a Honda. Also, I can just tell by looking at them that if anything goes wrong on those tracks, it’s going to be a multi-hundred dollar fix. I’ve never busted a wheel.

Finally, man that’s a lotta, lotta, lotta coinage for those machines. Those machines were running from over $2.5 k for the base 28 inch model to over $3.5k for the 32. Yikes. You can get their Platnium 30 SHO wheel model for under 2k. That’s a heavy hit in the wallet for those tracks unless you really, really need them.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I’ve never busted a wheel.

I have, but it was on my dad’s 70’s vintage, all-steel, 350 lb Simplicity. He had a guy at work weld the wheel back together, and my sister and her husband are still using that tank.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

I have, but it was on my dad’s 70’s vintage, all-steel, 350 lb Simplicity.

Well, first off, you were probably running ethanol in your gas, so you had it coming. Ethanol will eat those wheels every time as everybody knows. You should have been running 8 ounces of Sea Foam in every tank, woulda never happened then.

I love it when guys don’t maintain their equipment and then blame the manufacturer.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

You should have been running 8 ounces of Sea Foam in every tank, woulda never happened then

@thefamousgrouse

You should know that I run my blower on straight Seafoam! Time to stock up for the winter.

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