I thought so as well. But my Ariens has electric start and it works perfectly everytime.

The FI seems to be problematic - dead batteries, etc.

... except you just had to disassemble a carburetor to clean it :lol:

...after 16 years.;) I'll take that. It took 30 minutes and I had never opened a carburetor before. It took me longer to find the right parts to order.

Also, FI is a $300 premium. :ack:

Wow they had the feature 16 yrs ago, I had no idea :dunno: Snowblowing is not supposed to be a workout, the machine is supposed to do the work for you ... I do admit this winter the snow was not heavy and the Ariens did very well but I still don't like how heavy it is.

$300 is a premium I'd happily pay to never have to disassemble a carburetor again. Or to never have to struggle with a poorly running engine.

Alan, they make pretty light snowblowers. Why did you buy such a heavy one? The really heavy ones are designed for the task of moving really heavy snowfall. Weight helps in that endeavor.

I had a similar size craftsman before this one and it wasn't heavy so when I did my research I didn't even think of looking at the weights. I have a pretty big driveway and the Craftsman wasn't doing a good job and I read great reviews on the Ariens which is why I went with it.

Next time around I will definitely look at the weight though this is my first Ariens so based on Fernando's experience it will be a long time before I shop for a new one.

You didn't, I dunno, try to push it around a bit before buying it?

I'm trying to understand a scenario where you are spending all that money on a machine and you don't check it out first and see if you can physically move it?

When I went to the store I did check it out but it never occurred to me that weight would be an issue until I had our first storm and I really used it and was like damn this thing is heavy. The thing is the heavy part doesn't bother me as much as the automatic steering, it really doesn't work as well as a manual system.

Prior to stowing it away in the spring, do you drain all the fuel out of the tank, float bowl and run it till it’s out of gas ??

I do that to my TORO ever since I got it about 12 years ago and never had a problem.

It fires right up after 1 or 2 pulls at the start of the season.

I do that to my Honda mower, Stihl weed wacker and blower as well in the fall after the leaves are off the trees.