Product design
Ariens Company entered the snow thrower market at the urging of an Ariens distributor in the Northeast who wanted a two-stage snow thrower for home snow removal. Product design began on December 15, 1959, and by March 1960, a prototype was complete. Test models were demonstrated to distributors throughout the Snowbelt. The company started production in July 1960, producing 1,865 units in the introductory season. These first units had issues with their drive systems and had to be replaced with a friction drive system, which is still in use today. The recall put great financial hardship on the company that year, but Ariens survived.