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

I ran into a problem while giving my snowblower a real workout here in MA.    After about an hour or so   the 1st gear and slow reverse lost most power  .the wheels would barely move!.   If I used any other of the 5 gears they worked fine  also fast reverse worked OK. 

the snowblower is a 1980 yardman with the 5hp tecumseh snowking.    it uses a friction disc type drive sytem. 

thanks for your help

Is the gear shift lever adjusted as per the instruction manual? Have you checked the disk for grease or oil? I'm wondering if that's the problem; part of disk could be oily or greasy.

Ii did have it adjusted  correctly before the storm.  I will recheck that.     .    Perhaps you are right about some grease or oil on the disc.    i check that too.

thanks

sounds to me like either your disc got wet, had a lube of some sort on it, or is wearing out.  Prior to my r3 upgrade when my disc wore out "gears" 1,2 and sometimes 3 wouldn't work at all, but 4,5, & 6 worked as did both reverses.

Hmmm   a wet disc is very possible.   The drifts were well over the top of the blower and kept colapsing on top of the motor.  this melted snow may have got onto the disc. ???

would that cause only some speeds not to work .  I would think they would all not work???   but i am not sure.

As far as the disc being worn out, How long do they last?? can they be adjusted or do they have to be replaced every few storms???  I got this machine used and the friction disc looked like the only brand new part on the machine!   what do they look like when they are worn out?

thanks

friction disc on your machine has about 3/16 inch of rubber on a steel ring.

if worn to less than 1/8 performance will suffer.

a quick check is to put it in the gear it slips in and then squeeze the engagement lever ,if it dosent move then try giving the cable that the lever operates a little tug while the lever is depressed.

if the machine moves then you may just have to adjust it.

on your machine i beleive there is a spring at the bottom of the cable.you will have to remove the cable from the lever at the top then slide the cable back through the spring and there will be an adjustment nut inside the spring on the cable.just go a turn or 2 at a time.you dont want to over do it or you will wear out the friction wheel to soon.

later chris

I would have to agree with them. Your disk is either wet, or ben worn, or is already worn out.