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.

UPDATE-
Well, I went to my local OPE dealer, a good guy, and started to buy the part.  He told me that he thought I could easily do the job, but offered to do the job at a very good rate since I was just trying to help the real owner of the ariens snowblower.
Thinking how cold my garage is this week........single digits here, and that we are supposed to get a big storm Thursday or Friday, I decided that the smarter thing to do would be to let him do it.

I just picked it up from him, and he ended up having to do more them we first thought. He replaced the friction wheel, but also found that the main jet in the carb was plugged.....carb needed a good cleaning, etc. He changed the oil, adjusted the carb, etc, and installed the broken friction wheel. He did this all at a good price, and now the owner has his blower back.

I would have really enjoyed this job during the summer, but not in the cold.  If it were just 20 degrees warmer, I think I would have done it, but it is just too cold here not to take my dealer's offer.
I paid the bill, took the blower, and the owner is now set for the winter.

Thanks again for all the help. I hope you who helped do not think it was now all in vain. It really was not. i learned some stuff, and more importantly, helped someone who needed it.

Frank D.

Just admiring the sheet metal on that old machines. Looks darn near 3/8 inch thick. Rubber parts aside, good luck trying to break one of those things.

Hey Frank, I really admire your dedication to help an elderly out. It really goes to show there is still great people out there in this world.

I'm glad the blower is working great now. I assume the plugged main jet was the cause for the engine running best at half choke.

Yep...That is what America is all about....the goodness of it's people.