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

Hi gang. With more snow coming down right now, I went out to the shed this morning to do a pre-check on the blower to make sure it's ready to go tomorrow morning when I get home from work. Started ok, and ran ok for a couple minutes. Out of nowhere it just stopped going forward or reverse. Auger is working and drive belt is working. It's not making any funny sounds either. I didn't have time to pull the back cover off to check the chains or drive disk yet. I had to eat and now it's off to get some rest for tonight. It's a circa 1990 JD 726. Here's a pic, with my back up next to it if I don't get it running. It's supposed to be another sloppy mix. Snow now, sleet later then rain all day tomorrow. This stuffs no fun!  LOL
                               Any help or what to look for is appreciated,    Kevin

Don't know your machine so this is my "shotgun" attempt to fix your problem.

I am assuming you opened the machine up and saw the wheel drive v-belt is not broken and has tension. Also assuming the machine worked previously.

I wonder if you have a friction disk and it needs replacement?

Or the friction disk needs an adjustment for wear?

Or you have 2 click pins and you accidentally placed them both  on the outer holes on both axles which will disengage both drive wheels?

      Your JD 726 is a heavy duty Ariens model where it shows the cast  gear case in the photo.  Does it have the lock out differential also? Try to adjust up the linkage to the drive.  I don't think it would stop dead  if just a little out of play. The drive disks on these machines are somewhat involved to replace. If it runs good fix it.

When I was lubricating the drive I had some oil drip onto the plate that the friction disc contacts   . This stopped the drive  from working.     I cleaned off the oil and it started working. 

Jgreen,

               When you put oil on the friction wheel, it became a slick wheel, thence no movement!

 Glad you solved the problem!

                                           Fred

jgreen wrote:
By gum, that'll do it everytime. 

Thanks for the heads up on possible problems guys. I did have the belt cover off yesterday and the belts were fine and had tension. I do need to tight up the auger belt a touch though. I got home late this morning from work and didn't have a chance to pull the back cover off yet. It does have the lock out differential. One thing to check. Actually I was thinking on the lines of oil on the drive disk. I will report back as soon as I can get to it. Tomorrow should be better. It's supposed to get close to 60 degrees here tomorrow. Most of the snow will be gone by Friday.  LOL

                                                                         Thanks again,     Kevin

Hi Gang. I found out what the problem is. The left wheel axle is coming right out of the blower. As I was getting ready to put blocks under it, I noticed the the left wheel was sticking out more than the right. I put the blocks under there and was able to just slide the wheel right off the blower .  I slid the wheel all the way back on and was able to run it around with no problem. Well, now the problem is....What holds the wheel into the gear case. This axle goes through a chain sprocket, then into a gear case on the inside wall. This is the wheel that has the differential lock out wing nut on it. The machine runs great and  I would really would like to solve this one.  Heres a few pics. any help is appreciated.
                                                                                                   Thanks,  Kevin

 

 
                                                         

VG,

    Looking at the axle, appears there was a pin holding axle in the Diff. You may have to open the Diff and see!

                                                                                                Fred

Hi Jubol. I guess  the diff would be what I'm calling a gear case.  LOL  I've stated on the forum before my mechanical knowledge of OPE is limited, but I suprise myself sometimes. Is the pin actually like a shear pin? Looks kind of involved to get the diff apart, but I'll check it out more over the weekend.              Thanks,  Kevin

Vangellis wrote:

Vangellis:  Don't open the differential !!  It is full of gears and with the limited knowledge that you stated, you could create more problems than you need.

What you need is to replace the small roll pins that hold the axle (actually called the differential connecting rod) together.  They are 1/8" x 1" long.  You should need 2 of them.  I keep them on hand always as they have a habit of shearing from time to time. 

From your picture, you can see them at the top of the axle. Drive them out, reconnect your axles and install new ones.  They should be about 10 cents each.  You may need a helper to hold one of the 2 axle/wheel combos to slide the 2 together.

If you need more info, I'll check in later tonight or you can PM me.

HTH

Ken