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

The other day the attachment/Auger belt jumped off the pulley of my Ariens 824.  (Thankfully it happened after I had cleared the whole driveway).  The belt is still intact. According to the manual, I have to remove the whole front housing to replace the belt.  My questions are:


Thanks in advance,.

Steve

I finally got the chance to address my problem today and found that both approaches (taking the housing off and not taking the housing off) were right.

I first removed the belt cover and bottom plate, drained the fuel, and tipped the machine onto the Auger housing.  Sure enough, it was easy to put the belt back on the pulleys and get myself back in business.  After I put the belt on, I tipped the unit back, added some fuel and started it up to check for problems.

 The Auger pulley was shimmying and the belt was dancing around.  Closer inspection revealed that the cast hub that attached the pulley to the shaft was cracked.  I followed the instructions in the manual and split the housing from the engine assembly (using the tailgate of  my pickup instead of a milk crate).  It wasn't a bad job at all.  Turns out my local dealer has the part in stock, so I should be back in action tomorrow.  (I will swap the belts as well.)

Thanks to all for your advice.  It made the job very easy and worry-free.

Steve