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

Hi all,

First snowblower, and first post to go with it!

I just purchased a John Deere 928E at the local John Deere dealership.  I figured that spending the extra cash on a JD would get me a top notch machine with top notch performance.

I have used it twice.  The first time out the motor began jerking a few different times, but would then start behaving again. 

The second time out (this morning), it jerked a couple times, but then the chute started having trouble turning.  When turning it to the right, it would only go about 3/4 max and then get stuck, where I couldn't turn it either way.  I would grab and turn it enough for the gear to start working again and it would turn the OTHER way, but still get stuck when going to the right.

After finishing up, I decided to take a look at it a few hours later,  and now it has ceased to work altogether.  We are supposed to be getting another large snowfall Sunday /Monday.

Anyone else have this problem?  Anyone have any suggestions?  Anyone else feel as though they got taken for a ride when they bought a John Deere?

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Does anyone have any experience with tire chains on their snowthrower?  I find my wheels start to slip when I run them over packed snow, would tire chains help ?

Spaceman wrote:
Before Snow Hog tires became standard I used chains all the time.  The tires before snow hogs were generally narrower and didn't have deep treads.  Chains fit and worked great.

With machines today that use snow hogs you have to be careful of two things when attempting to use chains.  One, make sure that you have enough clearance between the tires and the snow blower or the chains will rub against the machine and potentially damage it.   Two, chain links of certain designs have a tendency to slip between the knoby treads on snow hogs, minimizing their effectiveness.

Snow hogs without chains should be adequate in most instances.  The exceptions are icy slopes and really packed EOD snows.

I've had the John Deer 928E for years. Good machine but you absolutely have to read the directions and do preventative maintenance. I read the complaints and all were preventable except the guy that got a new one that wasn't assembled correctly but then he didn't oil nor grease it when he got it home.  Traction "won't go Forward: Per the Directions when your done with the snow blower at the end of the season you must loosen the tension of the belt so it doesn't stretch out. Then you must remember to tighten the adjustment on the drive rod at the beginning of the Winter. This will save you burning out a $28 dollar belt. The second cause for no or slipping dive is debri from mice in between the  friction disc and drive plate.  Remove the rear maintenance plate and Tilt the snow thrower forward against a solid wall. A ruler wrapped in a rag soaked with alcohol will quickly clean the friction plates. Good tension with clean friction plates will make it drive perfectly if the adjuster goes to the correct gear speeds. The only exception is after many years of use the brass bearing is not really an axil bearing but a brass bushing.  These $55 bushings are just hammered in place. There was no evidence that the factory ever greased them. The drive chain pulls the  axil rod forward and the round hole becomes elliptical and the axil becomes sloppy and can't adjust the traction drive with the axil moving around. Put 2 news ones and greased the shaft before I slid it through. starts right up and worked fantastic again last year.
Always spray white lithium grease or silicone spray on moving parts and silicone spray on moving handles slide cables so the don't rust.  At the beginning of the season Spray TFE (Teflon Dry lubricant on the augur, impellar and inside snow chute so the wet snow doesn't stick. Oil or White lithium grease on the chute turn mechanism and angle adjust.

HP the answers was correct the only difference between the 11HP and 13 HP is the air fuel set up on the carburetor.  I saw a U-tube clip on how he changed a jet to get more fuel.
 However the reason people thought they needed more horse power was because they were having trouble throwing wet snow especially when there is only a few inches.
The answer for this is simply that the wet snow isn't getting packed in the second stage. Simply drive into the snow and pulse the throw handle to let the snow build up and get pressurized, then it will shoot out. With the Teflon dry lubricant so the snow doesn't stick helps a lot.