Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I've got a 3 year old Ariens 8524 that's been used a whopping 4 or 5 times, maybe 2 hours total machine time.  Needless to say, we haven't had much snow in the past couple years!

It starts and runs great.  Auger works great.  But it wouldn't go forward.  I removed the plastic belt cover, and sure enough the belt had slipped off.  I managed to get it back on, and it will run in reverse but not in forward.  After tipping the machine forward and removing the bottom cover, I found the problem.  The pulley that the drive belt attaches to is loose and wobbles.  Looks like it's going to be a big pain in the arse to remove everything to get it out of there. 

I'm guessing a bad bushing.  Anyone have any advice or ideas?  Anyone had similar problems with their Ariens snowblower?

I'm not familiar with that machine but in general a pulley is held on a shaft by two things, a bolt and a woodruff key ( or similar). The bolt may be on the pulley for low RPM applications or on the engine shaft for higher RPM use. A woodruff key is a little bit of square metal rod that fits in a grove in the shaft the pulley is on and sticks up to engage a matching groove in the hole the shaft goes into on the pulley. If the pulley isn't rotating freely on its own and the wobble is only slight then it may not be the problem. If it is then the woodruff key  either broke ( unlikely) or fell out ( only slightly more likely). If so you will have to remove the belt, pull the pulley, replace the key and retighten the mounting bolt.

I'd check the adjustment of the cable attached to the traction clutch. The belt may have worn a bit and the pulley is slipping when it is set for forward. A quick check is to have the engine running and pull the cable by hand. If the blower moves let go. If it is the cable then there is an adjustment you can do to tighten it until it engages properly.

Given that you have a reverse the only other suspect is the friction wheel/disk assembly. If it has been contaminated with grease or oil then you will get slippage. If the rubber rim of the friction wheel has been seriously damaged then you can also get slippage.

Good luck