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

I have a 7 year old Ariens 824 with drive problems.  I replaced friction disk and that didn't fix issue.  The axle bearings themselves are ok - but they are loose in the opening in the housing.  The gap that exists allows the two gears inside to not contact each other.  If I take the weight off the wheels by supporting from underneath, I can push the axles down, thus making the gears mesh fine.  But the weight of the machine on the wheels during use pushes the axle up in that gap, allowing the gears not to mesh.  Is there a shim or something I can use to take up the space between the outer surface of the axle bearings and the orange housing through which they are mounted ?

From looking at the part breakdown.  You just have bushings that are as you say pushed into the housing.  If the steel of the housing that supports those bushings is worn.
There isn't a whole lot you can do other than have a bead of weld added to the hole.  Then reshaping the hole to fit the bushing tightly again.
Or you could make a plate say 2 1/2" square.  Drill out a hole in the center so that the bushing fits tight in the hole.  I realize that the bushing is not round so you would have to drill the
hole smaller and then shape it to fit the bushing.  Then weld the plate to the blower housing over the old worn out hole.  If the hole in housing steel itself is worn away there really isn't an easy fix.
There is one other possible fix that would work that doesn't involve welding.  And that would be to get a pair of flange bearings and mount those to the housing.
Eliminating the bushing setup.  You would just have to get a pair with the correct bearing ID to match your axle OD.  There could also be a clearance issue between the
bearing and the wheel hub.  But that could be resolved by shortening the wheel hub on the inner end.  Just an idea.
JB weld will not fix the problem.  It's hard, tough stuff, but not harder than the steel that has already been worn away.

Thanks for the excellent analysis and bearing link. 

I sent a PM to the OP with some other links to read of a similar situation someone else was having.