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

Hi everyone.
I have a good friend who was given an older ariens 7 hp 24" snowblower.
He thinks he used it once last year, but does not remember. He did have a local shop replace the big impeller shaft last year, which must have been an expensive hardship for this family.
It is the really old style with the v shaped handles and the white bracket across them.

This man has disabilities and reallly needs this to work, and I want to help him out and be a blessing to him. He asked me to come over to solder a loose wire that was on the switch to his starter. I did that, but the electric starter still did not kick over the engine...it sounded funny like something was not right.

I told him let's forget about the electric starter for now and let's make sure that the engine starts. I installled a new sparkplug and new gas, and it started up on the second pull and ran great....(it ran the best on 1/2 choke.)
I next tried the auger lever, and the auger and impeller started going around fine.
I next tried to put it in gear, and......nothing. I tried everything, but nothing.

I'm going over there again tomorrow......here is what I think I'm supposed to do.

1) Take off the skid plate on the bottom so I can see if there is a linkage or a spring problem......

2) Take off the plastic cover over the belt pulleys and see if there is a broken or loose belt.

The shifter knob seems like it is not loose or anything, and the lever on the left hand side seems like it is moving something down in there.....but I'm not sure until I take stuff off to see.

Am I on the right track? Any suggestions on troubleshooting this? I'll take my digital camera with me tomorrow and take pictures if the fix is not evident.

I look forward to your help. Houses I can fix....OPE is still a bit new to me. Thank you in advance with your assistance in helping me help this good and deserving family.

Frank D.