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Who Makes Ariens AX Engine? LCT. (Liquid Combustion Technology)
LCT is one of the best snow blower engines on the market. When Tecumseh quit making engines, they took that technology and gave it the refinements that were sorely needed for snow engines. Today’s LCT engines are arguably the best snow engine for dependability, starting, and power for cc’s.
They are fuel efficient and quiet. Of course use good, fresh fuel and always use a fuel stabilizer.
Ariens AX engines are serviced warrantied through the Ariens dealer network. You do not have to contact the manufacturer or another servicing network for warranty repairs.
By the way, LCT is a U.S. company and has been around for over 25 years. LCT has a proven track record of quality and engineering excellence with hundreds of thousands of engines sold to world-class OEMs and retailers in North America alone. Their extensive service network is supported by the Lauson Power Company who is well known for providing the highest standards of customer satisfaction. LCT engines are engineered in the U.S. Just like the Briggs & Stratton snow engines and Powermore snow engines they are made offshore. LCT makes their own engines and they own their own factories. LCT is engineered as a new generation of power and reliability for all of your power equipment needs. (Lauson is America’s oldest engine company)
Ariens Polar Force engines are B&S. According to the Briggs & Stratton website the following engines are NOT made in the U.S.A. 800, 900, 1150, 2100 Snow Series™ Source: Briggs & Stratton Engine Manufacturing Locations
You can read more about the LCT StormForce snow engines here: LCT USA
I have no problems recommending the LCT engines labeled as the Ariens AX. (LCT also makes the Husqvarna Snow King engines)
Click on the picture below to see the features of this motor!
Arien AX
I do want to say that LCT like the other engine brands makes different quality engines for different applications. The Ariens AX and Husqvarna Snow King engines are best LCT has to offer. The other LCT motors you may find on other snow blowers do not have the same specs.
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jerry Davis
Hi Paul , I have a ariens 24″ snow blower AX208 engine that I am very unhappy with . lt is lacking in power. thicking on getting a larger engine. Any recommendations? Thank you for taking the time to answer all the the questions that owners have! Happy New Year! Jerry
Paul
Hi Jerry, 10 years ago we switched to 208cc because the old 179cc engines didn’t have enough power. Today the better 24-inch snowblowers have a 250cc engine and one even has a 369cc!
My first choice for you is the Ariens Deluxe 24. It has a lot more power than your Classic (or SnoTech?) and also handles heavy, wet snow without clogging. It will throw most snow twice as far as the Classic.
Mike
LCT engines are junk. I bought an Ariens “Deluxe” 28″ in 2015. Came with the LCT 254CC engine. 1st season. No issues. 2nd season, carb leaked gas. Replaced carb, Why? You can’t buy carb parts! You need to spend $110 on the carb, when the engine machine was $1100. Next year, oil all over driveway. PTO main seal was leaking. Took back to HomeDepot and demanded new unit. New unit, same PTO main seal leak! Replaced PTO seal. Worked fine that year and next. This year, won’t start. Removed carb, cleaned, etc.. No go. I’m done. I bought a very expensive Honda HSS1332ATD. Track/Hydro. I owned a 928 Honda 20 years ago, owned it for 12 years, and sold it for 100 less than paid. Bye-Bye LCT Crap.
Paul
Hi Mike, Carb parts for new small engines are not available because the government won’t let us rebuild carbs anymore. I’m actually surprised they don’t require tamper-proof screws so we can’t tear them apart. So, you have to keep your storage containers clean and use a fuel stabilizer or SeaFoam when you store your snowblower.
Did you check the oil in the snowblower before you used it? Since BOTH engines had the same problem my first guess is they were overfilled. I’ve seen engines from the big box stores that have been overfilled because the kid at the store couldn’t see the new oil on the dipstick. The 254cc engine only uses 20 oz of oil and comes from the factory with the proper amount. If you pour a full quart into that engine it will blow oil out the main seal.
Wilson Grande
Bought the Ariens snow blower today and used it in slush snow but some reason only the left wheel seem to have power? Am i missing something,?
Thank you in advance.
Paul
Hi Wilson, You didn’t tell me which snowblower you purchased. Various Ariens have different ways to mount the wheels.
Ariens Classic or Compact. There are pins in the axle on the outside of the wheel. The pin goes through the hole in the wheel and through the hole in the axle. If the pin just goes through just the axle that’s why there is no power. Read your operator’s manual for more info.
Ariens Deluxe/Platinum/Pro – Did you happen to take the right wheel off? If you did the woodruff key fell out of the axle.
Steve
No more Ariens for me, you can’t buy parts for the carburetor, I needed a float bowl, can’t get it, need to buy the whole carburetor! No thanks!!
Paul
Hi Steve, Try here. http://www.lctllc.com/service_parts_catalog/.
Bob Hatcher
Hi Paul,
If Joe got a lemon (November 12, 2019), I must have gotten a double lemon. Bought a Compact 24 (#920027) on November 6, 2019. It sat in my garage until today (1/18/2020). There was a decent snowfall overnight. When I went to start my brand-new Ariens it refused to turn over! This was the first time the machine was ever used.
Ariens must really be starting to slip.
Paul
Hi Bob, Just two questions. Was there gas in it that whole time? If there was – was the fuel shutoff closed? If that is true please remove the sparkplug. Does it turn over now? If it does – with the fuel shut off still turned off pull the starter rope until the gas is out of the cylinder. Also, change the oil. Gas may have seeped around the piston rings and gotten into the oil. Check your manual but I think it takes 17-22 oz of 5W30 synthetic.
If that does not fix the lock bring it back to the dealer and have them check it out.
Joe
Well if this is so, I must’ve got a lemon then. I bought a Compact 22 back in December 2014. Got it out last weekend to get it ready for the season and it would start. So I took the plug out to check it for spark and when I pulled the cord to check it for spark, the dam thing locked up tight. Spent $900 and only got 4 seasons out of the dam thing.
Paul
Hi Joe, With the sparkplug out it locked up? Did something drop into the spark plug hole? Even a small pebble or twig or even a pice of the spark plug could cause it to lock up. Did the recoil lock or the engine. Pull the belt cover off and rotate the engine backward. Check your oil. Is there oil in it?
Jeff
I bought a poulan pro with an LCT engine, and after little use, as we go away in the winter, the cylinder head broke around the spark plug. I’m looking at an Ariens, but not sure if I want to buy another LCT. The original snow blower I had was a Jacobson, with Tecumseh engine lasted 29 years, the next was an MTD lasted 10 now this one at 6. I’m starting to think the next one will be 3. The guy that clears my drive when we are away recommended Ariens because they are all metal. That is another thing with the last one the control deck was plastic and it broke after only 3 winters, I just used plastic tie wraps to control the chute.
Paul
Hi Jeff, LCT like Briggs makes many different engines for different applications – and price ranges. The Ariens AX engine on a $1000-$3000 snow blower is a very different beast than the LCT you find on a Poulan Pro or PowerSmart.
An Ariens Deluxe, Platinum or Pro with the Ariens AX will last you as long as your old Jacobson/Techumseh.
Eric Rentschler
Paul, Thank you for the informative site! Looking at the high-end Ariens snow blower machines, they appear to be available with either a B&S engine or an LCT engine. Which would you recommend?
Paul
Hi Eric, I have no preference for between the Briggs and the Ariens AX. They are both good engines and will last you the life of the snow blower.
gil
hi Paul i can not seem to find a straight answer on were are the ax lct engine are made
Paul
Hi Gil, the straight answer is LCT is an American company. They own their own manufacturing plant in China. The AX engines are made there.
Richie
Hi, Paul….A Google search for info about the Ariens AX engines brought me to your site.
I have to commend you for a very informative site.
I spent many hours researching my next snowblower purchase, but I wish I had found you earlier in my search.
Excellent info….!!!!
I finally made my decision to purchase an Ariens snowblower 24-inch “Classic” (Model # 920025).
While getting acquainted with the machine, I noticed that there appears to be 2 models of the AX (LCT) for the same model blower.
The most obvious difference is the oil filler location.
One has the tall upright tube with the long dipstick and the other has the old style short one which screws into the bottom of the block.
My engine was built in March of this year (2018). I’m wondering if this is a recent change and are there any other differences that you know of in these 2 engines..??
Just curious….
Thanks, Paul, and I’ll be sure to click the links you provided for future purchases.
Rich >>
Paul
Hi Richie, Without talking to Ariens I can think of two reasons for the difference. 1. Ariens does a very good job of keeping up with technology. Carb changes, emissions changes, cooling/fuel efficiency improvements, etc. So, they change the engines as needed. I do know the current engine starts a lot better than the same size engine they used on the SnoTek snow blowers. 2. The other reason that happens is the buyer who ordered the engines forgot to add the oil filler tube.
Patrick J. Huot
I’m sure you’ve been asked this before: What does the 254CC equal in HP?
I need to know what the HP is before I buy anything.
Why do they do that nowadays??
Paul
Hi Patrick, Why do they do that? 1. Because all brands now sell globally and the U.S. is the only country left that is stuck on HP. Everyone else uses a different measure of available power. 2. A lawsuit. HP as rated only measures the engine HP and is not an accurate representation of the available power of the machine to do the job. For example, Farm tractors are rated in engine HP, PTO HP and ground HP. The older tractors were also listed with belt HP. 3. There are different standards that can be used so the HP ratings really are messed up. For example, Kawasaki uses a different government standard to measure HP than Briggs.
Here is my article on figuring cc to HP: Snowblower/mower engine cc to torque to hp conversion 2018 Update
Mike Neuenschwander
Paul,
I live in Saint Joseph, MI and my driveway is 35′ x 70′. It has about a 10% grade. Which would you choose, an Ariens Deluxe 24 or a Toro Power Max 826 OXE? The Ariens is about $100 more.
Paul
Hi Mike, in all honesty I would pick either one. If I had to chose for your driveway though I’d pick the Ariens because it has the taller tires. They will give you a little better traction.