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?

hirsh thanks for your response! I beleave the slack in the belt is there because of the play in the impeller bearing, I took the whole blower into a shop today for a second opinion and one impeller blade was hitting some frozen ice at the bottom of the bucket. the slower the rpm the more noticeable the clanking noise. while he was looking at it he found about 45 degrees of rotational play on the shaft that drives the gearbox and also quite a bit of in and out play. quite possible the impeller is drifting in and out hitting the back side of the impeller housing. I don't have the place to work inside that is heated and can't lay the snowblower up to do the work. the alternative is a week or more in a dealer to get repaired. based on my situation I decided to buy a 28"ariens 921030 that was on sale for $999.00 plus the tax. I will try and sell my 924 to get whatever I can get back out of it. the engine run's like a champ and starts first pull usually, the machine still looks good for 27 yrs old and worth fixing if you can do the labor to repair it. to get it running like new would take a new gearbox and shafts and the impeller shaft rear bearing. I'm guessing $300 just for parts if everything went well. I'm not going to fix it but sell it as is. thanks again for your response.