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

split my snowthrower last fall and installed two new drive belts getting it ready for winter. had a chance to use it a couple of times in light snow and a 6" + snowstorm that hit on the 23 rd right before xmas. snow blower is stored in an unheated garage and the last couple of times I got it fired up to use upon engaging the auger drive I get a light squeal and it really drags the engine rpm's down. after a couple of attempts easing into engaging the drive it finally frees up and every thing seems ok. while operating the snowblower I do however notice it engages like it's picking up a heavy than normal load even trying to engage the lever slow and easy . im pretty sure there is grease in the differential and when I put the belts on last summer the idle pulley bearings seemed to be ok. I thought maybe it was ice built up between the auger shafts and differential housing that had frozen. anything else it could be besides differential , idle pulley freezing up or bad bearing idle pulley bearing? first instinct was the new belt and pulleys being dry and clean were causing the abrupt lockup during auger lever engagement but now I'm not so sure? am I missing something on the auger drive that could be going bad I could check?