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

           Impeller drive belts wear out mostly when you are   engaging the impeller. You  will hear the belt slip a little until your impeller gets up to speed. Doing this over and over again wears out the impeller drive belt.   I only engage my impeller once for each snow  blowing  job.  I squeeze down the lever and hold it in place with a plastic cable tie  (set at a size so I can easily remove it and use it again ) until I am done the particular snow blowing job . Of course if anyone (particularly children) come to the area where I am snowblowing I slide off  the cable tie to release the lever.  I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS 

        A few years ago, on my old Murray snow blower , the cable operating the impeller broke on the end where it attached to the idler pulley under that belt cover.   It  was in mid winter , and snowing nearly every day,  and with no garage, I wasn't  in a position to replace the cable.  I  used a strong wire attached to the bracket on the idler pulley and fastened it securly to to a bolt nearby engaging the impeller.  Of  course when I started the snow blower the impeller and auger turned as well, but it started as easy as usual.  If anyone came near, I shut of the snowblower. When the weather got better I replaced the impeller drive cable.