Agree the auto turn is a nightmare. Looks like there might be room in there for a much stiffer spring as well. If it took 50 lbs of handle bar force to initiate a turn sequence this auto turn might be salvageable.
I used these shims from mcmaster carr, 5 at 2mm thick, 2 at 1mm thick and 1 at 1.5mm thick to get a total shim pack of 13.5mm or .531". The shims fit perfectly in the differential with the 55mm od and 45 mm id. 98089A480 18-8 Stainless Steel Round Shim, 2mm Thick, 45mm ID 98089A156 18-8 Stainless Steel Round Shim, 1.5mm Thick, 45mm ID 98089A420 18-8 Stainless Steel Round Shim, 1mm Thick, 45mm ID
Ya, apparently some people have difficulties with it. AFAIK, that unit is third party and there may even be different units that might be direct replacements. I know before they had "auto turn", they had an "auto" something else, and that may have been more aggressive and less likely to wander than the "auto turn". Ariens had tried LOTS of different traction devices over the years, each with their own quirks. Locking it up will at least make it consistent, but even that requires equal tire pressure or it will always pull to one side. Turning under power with a solid axle is easy, tho, with practice. Whatever direction you want to turn, you push the handle the opposite direction under power and it will steer itself right around. For example, you want to turn left, put it in gear, engage the drive, and push the handle to the right. The machine will turn left with it's own power.
Your instructions were a good only difference is you suggested inch and 1/4 ABS you were wrong it does not fit I had to use inch and 1/2 ABS to make the job work
I knew there was a way! Can I get an ID and OD of the 13 mm shim please. What are the other guys using for a shim? PVC? Get something turned down at a machine shop? Billet? $
This is awesome! Thank you! I hate that @#&&$&@&# auto-turn. I have a 24" model. And my fixed-axle Toro (circa 1978) worked much better. I curse the thing every time I have to take it out. So, if I'm correct, the drive plate is always connected to the splines in the right-hand side of the axle? If so, do you think there's any concern with the splines always putting pressure on the inside splines, when it may not have been designed for that? Finally, I suppose you could use a steel or iron shim, as long as you grease it up? Thanks again for this!
Great video. At last, a solution to the dreaded auto steer system. I just ordered a snow blower for this coming winter season. Won't get it until September or October. Before I decided on which manufacture, I was going to go with, I did my research. Before looking into the pros and cons of the big snow blower manufactures, I was leaning towards a commercial grade Ariens. That was until I started searching around about auto steer, which Ariens uses exclusively on their two stage blowers. Toro also uses this same system on a lot of their machines. But not on the HD commercial grade models. Trigger steer is used instead. Simplicity makes great machines as well, but I wanted to stay away from electronic shoot controls. Great when working correctly, but when they stop working, $$$ to fix. Simplicity also uses trigger,steer at least on their commercial grade machines, I am not sure about their other stuff.
I like my machine a lot better with my mod, but I've noticed that the machine now leave black tire skid marks on the pavement when I drag it through turns. If I were shopping now I'd only put trigger steer models on my short list.
Could you please post a video using the snowblower after the modification, I'd like to see if it is that much difficult to turn now that both axles are always spinning. Thank you very much!
This video is brilliant. Thanks for posting it. My yamaha is getting old and worn out. The closest thing to replacing it is ariens or honda. Ive been checking out the ariens, but the autoturn function turns me off. Thanks for doing the footwork so I can modify one and enjoy its other features. I can't believe I'm only the 14th "like". great job.
Glad o be of help. The snowblower seems well made but the autoturn feature is flawed in my opinion. I think Ariens is overly invested in this technology as a market differentiation "feature' and that is why they ignore negative feedback and have persevered with this design over many years.. I think the situation is similar to that of Nissan with their Jatco CVT transmissions. Chronic customer complaints build over time and will ultimately damage the company, it's brand, and sales. If I were shopping now I'd seek out a manual trigger based steering machine.
First snowstorm since doing this this mod... 2 feet of snow! Snowblower worked perfectly. First time since I purchased this unit that I didn't want to scrap it after using it.
Thanks for the info... I keep seing vidéos about people not liking the auto-turn. My Craftsman/Murray had some type of differentiel that worked really well... I'll have to see if i like the auto-turn when i'll get mine... If not... i'll be doing this mod... Cheers!
I thought there must be others who felt the same regarding this "feature". I debated selling the machine but decided to try this mod first. I was disappointed that no one else had posted a video like this so took it on. If I ever go shopping for a new machine I'll only consider trigger-based steering.
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