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

Bought the machine late 2008 but had little snowfall 2008 and 2009. All was fine until this year . About the 3rd time I used it the auger belt came off. Put it on, looked for cause, moved the belt guide closer,but came off again. It appears the belt first turns inside out on the pulleys then jumps off. One thing I noticed is that the engine drive pulley and auger drive pulley are not in the same plane. When I put a strait edge on both outside edges of one pulley and extend the strait edge to the other pulley it appears one of the pulleys would need to be tilted a little to get alignment. Not sure if this is causal but if it is I am not sure how to correct other than shimming one side of the engine to tilt it.Any suggestions. A search of this site does not seem to indicate this is a common issue.
Gary

Belt drives can take a little bit of misalignment as long as it isn't too bad.  Do any of the edges up the pulley look bent or rusted?  Does the belt look frayed or missing pieces?  Is the belt properly routed under the brake on the bottom pulley?  Is your idler pulley seized?  Is everything tight on the blower?  Maybe the wheel part and the blower part vibrated loose.  Maybe the bearings on the lower pulley are bad?  Does anything wiggle?

I checked everything and all looks good. I took the belt off and when you look at and sight down the top you see a definate angle. It seems to me that something has been misaligned from new and has been imposing a sideways force on the belt. As it wore it just then rolls over. I moved the  auger big pulley out about a 1/8" and it seems pretty well aligned now. I replaced the belt and works ok. I guess I will have to wait to put some use on the machine before I know if that fixed it. I was quit surprised to read in other posts that many users experceince slippage that seems to be caused by water dripping on the friction disc. Now that I have seen the design first hand I see the issue.
The belt issue is quit frustrating as I replaced my 25 year old blower with this JD to get away from maintenance. The JD was about twice the price of others but I thought I was buying a good maintenance free machine.
G

I just sent my 1130 back to Scharber & Sons with the exact same issue.  My blower was also purchased in '08 and I am lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) that this happened right before my warranty ran out.  I love this blower when it is working.  Unfourtunately it has spend the majority of it's winter life at Scharber & Sons repair shop -this is the 5th time I've sent it in for repairs.  My problems to date:

1.  Primer cap fell off of the underside of gas cap and blocked the fuel line.

2.  Water got on the disk and the blower wouldn't engauge the wheels.  They fixed it with a gasket that was the 1st recall.

3.  Water got onto the disk drive again and the wheels wouldn't engauge.  They fixed it with a 2nd gasket and somekind of sheet seal under the engine (2nd recall).

4.  Gas got into the piston/carburetor and seized up the engine.

5.  Belt came off the auger assembly - I'm guessing a shaft or wheel is bent.  I'll let you know when i get it back from the shop.

That being said, my neighbor just  bought a brand new 28" Arens and only one of his wheels engauges so he had to take his back.  I'm beginning to loose faith in American products...

Tell your neighbor to check the pin lock on his wheel before making the trip.

ccginmn wrote:
ccginmn,
I have both an 1130 and 1330 and have been lucky so far.  Well the 1130 needed sealing and after that it's been fine.  I never had the gasket put under the engine mounting bracket on the 1130 and I wonder if it could have been misaligned during that process. Let us know what you find.

Beyond the engine pulley not being in the same plane as the pulley below it could also be possible the engine is not straight on the mounting plate.  I'd make sure the engine is not slightly twisted on the mounting plate or if it's sitting higher or lower on the crankshaft end.  I suppose the idler pulley could also cause a problem if it isn't straight.   I can't think of anything else that might cause this.

I have a new JD 1330SE and the drive belt came off after 2 hours use. It turns out the bolt holding the auger and drive pulley was lose and out about 1/2 inch. I tightened it down (need 2 wrenches) and re-installed the belts. It appears to be working now.

I would say this bolt holding the auger and drive bely pulleys was not tightened at the factory.

The only thing I can figure is the pulleys are misaglined and as it is used the belt had undue pressure on one side causing it to wear unevenly. I aligned the pulleys by moving the big lower pulley . Had to move it about a 1/4" and replaced the belt with a kevlar replacement . I really won,t know until I get some hours on it
Gary