We have a 24 inch Ariens snowblower, with one of the last Tecumseh Snow King engines. Maybe it will be a collectors item someday? It has the same control layout that you describe. My last snowblower had rubber augur blades, and was not able to dig out and throw the compressed snow that the city plow leaves at the foot of our driveway. The Ariens, however, has a steel auger, and enough power to handle this job, so I have a generally good impression of this machine. It helps that the Ariens starts on the first pull, I have yet to even try the "plug in" electric start feature. With regard to the control layout, I am used to stopping the machine, with the engine running, and re-setting the chute, as needed. With a city lot, I do a lot of stopping and starting, to keep the stream of snow away from windows, sidewalks, and the street. But I can see your point. If there was some way to pivot the chute, on the fly, while moving forward, that would certainly be an improvement.

Well, Sir, i don't want to appear uncaring, but those machines have been that way for a number of years. I'm assuming that you might be left-handed? If so, do not think they design those machines to P.O. Lefties!
The controls are installed in such a way as to be easier to use, and to avoid a bunch of bell-cranks, levers, cables, and whatever it might take to make the machine work!
I could understand your consternation, if auto makers suddenly started to build cars with the brake pedal on the left side, and the clutch pedal on the right foot position, and maybe the accelerator (gas) pedal in between them.
Snow blowers are rather simple to operate. Turn on fuel valve, set choke lever, squeeze one handle, and pull starter rope. (Not necessarily the way to start yours)
Must have fuel in fuel tank. If electric start, plug in extension cord, to wall plug and to plug on machine. Set choke, press button, and it should turn the engine and start!
Before all of that, you must read the instruction manual, and absorb the various instructions there-in.
Might i ask?--before you bought it, did you carefully inspect it, and did you see what each handle does, and where the various controls are? HMMM???
An honest question session, by Rusty Jones

To ericwi, right, all of the other blowers I've used make it much easier to handle the chute while in motion.

Rusty, you'll note in my original post I said "shame on me" for not taking notice of that. I made the classic assumption mistake. Actually, I'm a rightie and as I note to eric, every other blower I've used, the auger and drive controls were reverse of what Ariens has. Think about it. If the chute rotation control is on the same side as the drive control, you have to reach across your body to use the rotation control if you want to rotate the chute while in motion. That is a poor layout. Likewise, the gear shift is over by the auger lever so you again have to reach across body to change gears OR release both the drive and auger controls and change gears with your auger control hand. If you've used machines where the auger is left and drive right and all other controls laid out as on the Ariens, then you'd see how much more comfortable the other layouts are. And yup, I should have paid closer attention. My bad. At the same time, Ariens could make a good machine better by making that one change. I have to wonder if there is a patent issue involved.

Maybe someone with a pre-war Ariens will enter the discussion. I suspect that the Ariens snowblower control layout was established around 1935, and has never been changed. I don't find the control arrangement awkward, since I am accustomed to stopping the machine and making adjustments to the discharge chute, as necessary. I suppose that driving a car with a clutch/manual transmission seems awkward to people who learned to drive using an automatic transmission.

I just bought the same machine after running an older obsolete Bolens. The new Ariens is a huge improvement over the Bolens in that I can do everything with one hand instead of stopping and making adjustments. Since I have only had one chance to use it this season I found that sometimes I would make my adjustments "on the fly" and then next time stop and adjust.

Runny, same here. I've used it once and sometimes I was stopping make changes and other times on the fly. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I know the other layout pattern used by other manufacturers is more natural.

Which ever way I do it, it is still better than the POS Bolens I was using.

After many years of operating cars, truck, and motorcycles that were equipped with manual clutch, I have learned to expect that the clutch is normally engaged, or normally closed. The operator has to depress the clutch pedal to open, or disengage the clutch. But the Ariens snowblower is opposite, for both the drive wheels and also the auger drive. Operating the snowblower feels a bit like being in a foreign country.

I can understand the reasoning for having to hold the handles to remain engaged in the event you slip and fall, releasing the handles. The part I had to get used to was that when the handles are released, the machine "Free Wheels". I was going up a steep hill with my Ariens, and released the drive handle part way up. The machine immediately coasted back down the hill, pushing me backwards all the way to the street. When this happened, I found myself holding on to the handles, trying to keep the machine from going over me, instead of letting go of the drive side handle to re-engage the foward traction. My machine weighs about 300lbs, and it just slid me backwards down the hill. If the engaging levers were under the holding handles, it would have been easier to just pull the engaging lever back up with my fingers, instead of having to let go of the handle to reach the engaging lever on top of the handle. I wondered many times why they put the engaging levers above the handles, instead of below the handles like the original machines, making it easier to re-ingage with your fingers. I had to write to Ariens for that answer. It is a safety issue I had never thought about. If the engaging levers were under the handles, and you decided to pick up the front end and rest it on the handles to clean out the snow with the engine running, the handles would touch the ground, engaging both the auger and the foward motion. I would not like to be in front of my 300 lb machine during that fiasco. Take care everyone, and remember to always think about what can go wrong whenever you operate power equipment. Charles Ranheim

Glad it wasn't just me that this issue bothers. I have an Ariens, and a MTD Yardman that I keep at my sisters house. It makes you a little nervouse running them because I am not mentally sure which controls runs what. Takes a little fun out of blowing snow.

cranheim.........Are you blowing smoke or what.
You are telling us that Ariens oks the cleaning of the blower with the engine running and the blower tilted back and resting on the handles.Thats the reason for the controls being mounted on the top....Isn't that a HUGE SAFETY ISSUE???????????
Also ,With the blower resting on the handles ,the engine cylinder goes from vertical to horizontal.
All the oil would be laying in the cylinder and gas would be leaking from the tank And it is still OK to leave the engine running.
Come on..something not right.
If the controls were mounted underneath ,your fingers would do all the work.
With the controls on top,the weight of your arms and hands do most of the work.

dynamike59
I think you are the one blowing smoke! Perhaps you should read my post again and find where I said, "You are telling us that Ariens oks the cleaning of the blower with the engine running and the blower tilted back and resting on the handles". If you have a problem reading my post, try reading it slower, being careful not to add your own ideas until you finish. If I may quote you, you said: "If the controls were mounted underneath, your fingers would do all the work". Guess what. I would prefer my fingers to be in control of the levers without having to let go of the main grip. My hands are not large enough to hold onto the grips, and reach up to pull down the lever at the same time.
Now, the truth: I would never have guessed anyone would even begin to clean the auger area with the engine running. I suspect Ariens may have done some safety studies, looked for problem areas, and decided to relocate the handles to eliminate the situation described to me. I never would have guessed why they moved the operating levers from under the grips to over the grips until I heard their reasoning for doing it. It sure surprised me!
If you still do not believe me, feel free to contact Ariens and ask why the operating handles were moved from underneath the grips to over the grips. Their answer may "clear the smoke" from your eyes. Peace to all, and take care, Charles Ranheim

Interesting Charles. When I saw the manufactures change to over the bar grips- seemed easier to me and thought that was why. You were quite descriptive in your descent down the drive. Yikes! Makes sense what you're saying.

Charles...Just E-mailed Ariens Costumer support.
I'll update as soon as I receive a reply.

dynamike 59
It will be interesting to hear what they say. If it something different than what they told me, I would have to assume they were the "Smokers", and I was the "Smokie".
Thanks for your time and response. Charles Ranheim

dynamike59
Just for the fun of it, I called Ariens Tech Support to ask why the handles were changed from being below the grip to above the grip. The person I spoke with said that was done back in the 70's before his time, and never thought about it. I then told him what Ariens said to me about what would happen if you lifted up the machine from the front with the engine running and the handles were below the grips. Before I could continue, he came right back and said it would probably activate both the auger and the forward motion, resulting in a real safety problem. I then described my experience where when I was going up a steep driveway and made the mistake of letting the left (Drive) handle snap up, not realizing the drive would go into freewheeling, pushing me backwards down the driveway to the street. His suggestion was that I should have turned the machine at a right angle to the hill before releasing the drive handle (which I learned real quick). Based on our conversation, there was no doubt in his mind that having the handles facing up is much safer than down, in the event someone picks up the auger by the front with the engine running. I know my engine runs fine tipped up on the grips. I did not do this with the intension of sticking my hand in the auger area. I was looking at something else at the time. I also tipped the auger up from the grip end, and was not standing in front of the machine. When Ariens told me about the safety issue with the handles facing down, I could just picture what it would be like if someone were standing in front of the machine, and lifted it up by the auger frame with the engine running. It would be like being attacked by a wild animal. This is why I remember so vividly about what Ariens told me. Take care, and let the readers beware. Charles Ranheim

I just recieved a reply from Lee Wicker at Ariens.
"When you push them down, if you slip they go up and stop the unit. If
they were on the bottom and the unit tipped backwards they could hit the
ground and push up and the unit would keep going. You also have the hole
hand to hold then down, not just your fingers."

Dynamike59
Thanks for getting back to us about Arien's response. It sounds pretty much like the discussions on this thread. As I said before, the thought of the operating handles contacting the ground if they were still underneath the grips, and anyone was in front of the machine, burned a picture in my mind. One other interesting thing about my blower. After it was delivered, I noticed it had heated grips. It is something I would not even consider asking for, but they sure work great. My fingers used to freeze after blowing snow on a windy day. With the warmers, only my thumb gets cold because it is being held away from the grip by the top control handles. Take care, Charles Ranheim

On the new Craftsman,the drive lever is on the right.

I own a Toro 824XL and it is laid out just like your Ariens. Though this might freak some people out, I simply lash down the auger with a bungee when I am blowing snow. There is simply no reason to keep shocking the auger belt, and it eliminates right hand fatigue. I yanked out the wire guard the idiots put in front of the ejection chute, as it caused the chute to clog almost immediately. I guess they put that in to appease the lawyers. Anyone who would stick their arm down a chute where a rotating auger lives should not own a rubber band, let alone power equipment, IMHO. Anyway, lashing down the auger drive free up the left hand for drive, and the right for chute orientation. Works for me, might for you too.

JimA

NO THANKS