My thoughts are that the electrical system chassis feed should begin at the battery side of the starter solenoid, in the form of a 12 gauge wire on the same post as the battery positive cable, or else as a 12 gauge wire coming out of the same crimp that makes up the positive battery post cable end terminal at the battery post itself.
If you do not see a 12 guage wire at either of the places I described, trace out the positive cable to see if Ariens has (for unknown reasons) used an intermediate junction post where 2 short battery positive cables, and a single 12 gauge wire join under one nut (instead of having just 1 longer cable).
Ariens might have used a rubber fuse holder that has a water-tight cover, so you might be missing it if you are looking for a yellow fuse standing out in the open.
That's about all I can offer.

Last Ariens I saw was made by Husqvarna and the fuse is in a holder, you can see the yellow top. The holder was clipped to the side of the panel on the right side of the machine that is in front of the dash. Almost to the engine. No fusible link on the solenoid.

Yup after feeling all around and following the wiring harness I found it about 6" from the engine connector, just would have expected it to be closer to the battery rather than farther down the line, I had seen the shiny clip and thought it was a ground or tinnerman clip never expected a fuse hiding back around the panel.

Now the next quest begins, I am trying to locate the male half of the connector for the hour meter/DC accesory plug. Went to Napa Auto this morning and didn't have much luck, well over 3000 to chose from, finaly determined it to be a Delphi/Packard 56 series after I got home P/N 02984883 for the shell @ $.49 ea from Mouser, but with minimum order, having to buy a bag of 100 terminals I think I'll pass, I just have this aweful time cutting a perfectly good connector off when I know somewhere I can find the mating part and do it right.

Kind of like when I bought a ford taurus in '95 and wanted to tap power from the electric seat for my ham rig, had a friendly ford dealer parts guy had a scrap wiring harness and wire cutter and for the cost of a box of dougnuts... I was set.

Don't get me started on !@#$%@$! proprietary $#@%#$&* electrical plugs and connectors and the #@$%*(%^$#@@#% OEM will not furnish individual replacement items of the wiring harness.
Some years back, my wife's '95 Altima inline 4-banger developed the typical oil leak into the distributor cap that is quite common on OHC engines where the distributor is driven off one end of a camshaft.
As I unplugged the wiring connector at the distributor, the locking tab just broke off. Because this is a weatherpack connector, there is enough rebound off the sealing pack gasket to separate the connector unless it is locked in place. I was never able to find a new connector or even a new "empty shell" to transfer the wire terminals to. Searched salvage yards and guess what! Every vehicle checked either also had a broken locking tab, or the connector had already been cut off (a bunch of other people running into the same shoddy connector problem.
For the short term, I fashioned a bracket and fastened it to the head via an unused bolt hole near to the distributor plug. Then I connected the plug to the distributor connector and used the bracket to keep it in place.
Ultimately, I found out one of my friends knew a guy who worked at the Nissan plant in Smyrna as a technician in the post assembly line troublshooting department (you can't get any closer to being a "new car mechanic" than this). My friend carried my complaint about the unavailability of replacement connectors to his friend. His friend's boss told him to "cut a connector" off of one of the wiring harnesses that had been replaced for other reasons and send it to me.
I was satisfied that my case came out OK but for crying out loud...........why don't they sell replacement connectors?
Anyhow, like I said "Don't get me started."

Mownie,

LOL not even propriatary but standard issue Delphi connectors, however nobody seems to stock them, or know what they are (series 56, weatherpack etc).

Now you got me started, when we were kids you could go to the Western Auto and test the tubes in your radio or TV, half the time a few buck tube would save a service call, then came transistors, after a few years even them things could be fixed if you tried, nowdays all the TV & Radio guys are gone, even the commercial radio guy here just tosses broken fire/police radios and puts a new one in.

Think it all comes down to 'product liability' I called Napa Auto and a Chevy dealer to get the torque spec for tightining the auto-transmision pan a few years back, both politly refused saying they 'might be liable' if I broke a bolt or it leaked, finally found a torque spec for 6mm bolts online and snugged em up to about 75%.

Guess it's the world we live in now, everything is a throwaway item, use it abuse it and buy another.

Well I feel better now, going to take my 25 year old Weller temp-controlled soldering iron out back, grab the wire cutter, wire stripper and heat shrink tube and do the deed! Not going to use ROHS solder either, may even remelt the 50# of wheel weights just for fun on the Coalman stove.

Well I feel beter now.

***"25 year old Weller temp-controlled soldering iron"***
Pull over and let me pass with my Snap-on/Blue Point/ Weller soldering iron I bought in 1970!!! First one I bought after striking out on my own. And it is still working as well as when it was new ('course it has had a few tips replaced".

Mownie,

Duhh I solved the 'problem' with connectors, forgot I had about 50 pieces of 15A Anderson Power Pole connectors left over from a few years back when I made a big order for the local ham radio club. So with those I can configure any combination of connector (they are the Leggo Blocks of connectors) and have everything polarised should I have to disconnect in the future.