Got a little carried away with a new snowblower...

Ariens Kraken. Stupid expensive. Every bell and whistle thinkable. 32" cut, onboard battery electric start, 2 gallon fuel tank, LED lighting everywhere, electric track adjustment, power chute rotation / spout deflection and EFI. Been on backorder all winter but I took it anyway because next year will be more money and longer wait. It's a strange world we live in where a depreciating asset goes up in value when you bring it home... Anyways, a few pics after a rinse to removing shipping/dealer dust...

 

Very cool. You'll love it when it actually snows again.

I question why ariens would call it "the kraken" when that's a sea creature. "The yeti" or "almasty" would be more apropos.

 

Nice.

I see three light sources. Very cool.

 

Looks like it should have a couple grenade launchers on it for destroying stubborn drifts

 

That’s not carried away at all!!!

says the guy with a 78” meteor on back of Kubota as avatar

 

Thanks guys! I think the Kraken name was just because it was a beast to be released. There are actually 4 LED sources. The three you see plus one under the controls facing down on your feet so you can see where you're stepping.

What really surprised me was how easy it was to maneuver it. Coming from a geared/wheeled machine, I thought a hydrostatic/tracked unit would feel big and heavy to move around. I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case at all. It's just as easy to maneuver... maybe even easier and feels like it has power steering. You're not freewheeling it anywhere but I'm fine with "driving" it around. I plow the upper part of my driveway that is in front of my garage and barn. However, the rest of the driveway is twisty making it impossible to plow to the edge. This guy will take a run up and down each side to clean up after the plow and do sidewalk and patio duty as well. It will also get me in when I come home from sled trips we take in the winter. It seems like snow storms love to happen when I'm away and I need a way to clear a path to get my truck up to the house to get the plow on. This should fit that bill nicely...

 

Nice machine. Did it come with a remote?

 

System also have a tracked hydro Honda 724.
On snow blowers tracks are the best

 

Nope. No cupholder either.

 

Nice! No drift too big... . Now it's just a matter of getting enough snow to really use it. I had mine out and prepped it but nothing this year was deep enough to justify firing it up.

 

Thats a beauty!
You do know since you bought that there is a good chance it doesn't snow this upcoming winter.
So we all thank you for that.

 

No heated grips?! What a POS!

 

I bought snowmobiles to prevent snow next year. This purchase is to reverse the curse.

Of course it has heated grips! My old one had those... LOL

 

So the two negatives make a positive approach. That's using the old knoggin! I like your thought process.

 

How long will this beast run on 2 gallons of gas?

 

Good question. I doubt I'll ever run it long enough to find out but I'll have a better idea next winter...

 

I see 3 winters of record dry weather ahead!

 

Just how much snowfall do you get every annually?

I'm guessing it's not much since your yard looks completely bare.

Quite the machine.

 

We get plenty of snow to justify the purchase. It's currently spring though, so not much snow to show...LOL

 

Definitely the cadillac of the ariens line, no?