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

Hello All,
First time on here.  I have an older MTD and I pulled it out to use it the other day and it started up just fine.  It was used a couple weeks ago.  When I pulled the lever to engage the auger, the engine died and it would not start back up.  The pull cord is hard to pull and the auger won't turn by hand.  Any ideas?  Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

OK, got it started.  I looked at the auger and there was a small piece of rubber wrapped around the pole where the auger is bolted in.  Now it makes a loud squealing noise when it's running and dies as soon as i try to engage it. Any idea what may be causing this? 

Thanks again,

Mark

Sounds like you picked up a piece of rubber debris or perhaps your machine threw a belt and it somehow wound up in the auger. A picture would really help. I would think at a minimum the rubber thats entangled in the auger has got to be removed and you need to check the shear pins.Squealing usually indicates a slipping belt or a shaft turning in a seized bearing.

Marc

I took the rubber piece out, that seems to be what was stopping it from starting before. It was too narrow of a piece to part of a belt though.   Where is the shearing pin located?  I suppose it would be useful if i had a manual.

tiltonm10 wrote:

Shear pins (bolts) if they are present will be  found passing through the tube the auger rakes are welded to. CAUTION!!! They may look like common hardware but they are not. They are designed to protect your gearbox and engineered to break at a certain stress. Do not replace them with anything but the specific shear pin (bolt) required for your machine. 

Marc