Forums Archive Index > Snowblowers-Reviews Only Please > '05-'06 Ariens 7524e Compact Sno-thro Review
Date: 12 Feb 2006 8:38 pm
The 7.5 HP 7524E from Ariens is the top of their compact line. Weighing in at 160lbs, the 7524 features electric start, an OHV engine, 6 foward and 2 reverse speeds, and a quick chute control. The rest of the specs are available on the Ariens website.
My property has 150' of sidewalk, a 30' wide driveway that's 25' long, 3 car spots in front of my 2.5 car garage. Given our limited snowfalls on LI, my desire to make storage easy, and my sub-$1000 budget, the 7524 was the way to go for me.
That was until HD started dropping their prices... all the way down to 50% off. Then machines that were outside my budget but bigger than I wanted to store suddenly became more affordable than my $759 7524 was. Like others, I started wondering if I should go buy a huge machine just because I could, and then sell my 7524. Then it snowed, the machines sold out, and I did not have to worry about making that choice anymore.
And so it snowed. And so the Ariens 7524 showed me that I did not need a bigger machine.
Starting is a breeze, the controls work well (fuel tank petcock is opposite of the manual for ON and OFF, thought I'd mention that). Point the machine at some snow, put the chute where you want the snow to go, pick 1st or 2nd gear, hit both levers and off you go.
This compact unit - smaller than even the MTD 5.5HP machine but with a bigger impeller - is perfectly capable of chewing up snow that is taller than the bucket, without a sputter, chug, or a marked decrease in engine speed. All this while it tosses the snow 25' or more.
For me, 25' means from my sidewalk to nearly the other side of the street. If I'm doing my EOD, it'll hit the opposite curb. If I aimed the other way from my sidewalk, I could hit my house.
It throws powder even further. But then you end up looking like a snow encrusted nanook of the north if the wind happens to blow it back at you.
There were times when the machine was set to 3rd gear that my attack speed was too fast and it rode up and onto the snow rather than through it. I found that when I slowed down, and applied some upward pressure to keep the nose down and diggin in, I was able to clear down nearly to the pavement. There are situations where adding the optional weight kit to weigh the front end down might help.
The machine seems as though it will be easy to maintain, hold up well, and last a while. There were a few issues when I got it where paint finish was missing in certain areas left bare during finishing, but I touched those up. There's also a missing pad under the left control lever, so that when it snaps back on the handlebar, there is metal to metal contact. A little more touchup paint and a new pad to stick on and that'll fix that.
I did not get my machine at HD. I got it from a local OPE dealer. I brought my machine back to him the day after I bought it because the machine rocked when sitting on level pavement. Skid shoes and scraper bar being adjusted made it somewhat better, but it's the way this one was built that made it uneven. I checked tires for being evenly inflated, and fine tuned the adjustment of the scraper bar and shoes myself, and after blowing a foot of snow, I can see no problem at all with the setup.
The quick chute works well. One side to the other in very few turns. The issue I can see is you'd need a third hand. Or some other talented appendage. There is no control interlock, so both hands are in use if you're throwing snow. There were times that I just stopper forward motion and kept the auger going, and it was still throwing snow that it was busy chewing up when I stopped, and before it ran out of snow to throw I could adjust the chute to aim it elsewhere and get my hand back to the drive lever and get going again. As far as the little thing on the top of the chute to change the throw angle... I left it high. More fun that way.
The axles are locked by default. Both wheels drive. If you want to unlock a wheel, pull an axle pin and put it in the hole at the end of the axle. But why? This machine is light, for me, anyway. It weighs 160, I weigh 200. I win. In snow the machine is easy to spin around if you need to. On dry pavement, you can still spin it. It's easy to move around.
A 24" bucket is narrow, but I go to one end of my property and back anyway, so I am making two passes. I can clean the whole sidewalk a half at a time if I want. But it also gets into small places and walkways that other machines might not.
I sprayed the machine's chute with liquid floor finish and it never clogged the chute. I sprayed the impeller and inside of the bucket too, but not very much, so a little snow stuck there. But not enough to stop the machine from thowing snow.
At this point, I don't see why I'd need a bigger machine. Sure, I'd like a big brute that I could look at and make grunting sounds. But I don't want to have to store it. Muscle it around during the off season every time I have to work in the garage. This compact machine will not pose a problem for me, storage wise. Oh, and using a couple of ramps, I'm able to push it up into the back of our Honda Odyssey, and close the door. And last time I did it without having to fold down the bars. Makes it so I don't have to have anyone come and pick it up if I need to bring it in. Or if someone I know needs help, I can load up and go. Not gonna happen with a bigger machine.
So, all in all, I'd recommend this machine to anyone like me, who figures they are not going to need it weekly during the winter, do not have a large property, big snowfalls, don't want a machine that'll occupy a great deal of space and need to stay under $1000 in cost.
This machine no doubt COULD:
work on weekly snows
move feet at a time
handle a big property
because it's built well enough to handle it, BUT it'd take longer and require more patience and energy on the part of the user, so take that in to consideration.
Price Paid: $759 plus tax at an OPE dealer