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

I have an Ariens 8524 snowblower with a Tecumseh engine. It starts and runs great. Tons of power and can pull your arms off (no slipping). The problem is, it’s slow. At forward speed 6, it’s about a third slower than my old Ariens 5hp (walking/drive speed). In deep snow its fine, but anything less than 8” its painfully slow. I already check the speed lever adjustment and it is maxed at the 6 setting, I even pulled the lower cover and the friction wheel is as far out on the disk as it can go. I bought it used a few years ago and it has always been this way. I’m considering trading it in for something faster. Is it worth buying a tach and checking the RPM? It seems like it’s revving plenty high. Any suggestions to speed it up? Mark

Looks like the 8.5hp engine on this revs at 3600 rpm +-150 and the 8HP, which appears to be identical, is setup to rev at 3200 RPM. So swapping pulleys, might work. I'll look into that.