hp550c

Thanks Shryp, I'm hoping it's just the friction wheel itself and not the plate. How difficult is it to replace the friction wheel? I've seen some videos of other snowblower friction wheels being replaced, but they appear to be better designed in terms of being easy to replace. The Toro 524 seems to be in an assembly of some type, and getting it out seems to be a project -- but hopefully I'm wrong :) Do you/someone have a PDF that describes the process? Thanks!

Thanks for the info Knee_Biter. I guess I'm also wondering why does the friction wheel make good contact with the friction plate (pulley) in 1st, a little bit in 2nd, but none at all in 3rd? I can't see how that adjustment is made. The long rod simply adjusts how far down/up the friction disc touches the friction plate, but I don't see how it differentiates between 1st/2nd/3rd distance. Does the short rod also make minor adjustments depending on the gear it's in (I know it controls how far in/out the friction disc is on the plate, so maybe it makes minor tweaks to the friction disc as well?).

Shryp wrote:

Hi Shryp, I saw his videos of the MTD friction wheel replacement. It looks pretty easy, but the Toro 524 is built somewhat differently. I just wanted to see how much harder it was. I did try tightening up the long rod, but like the link i provided mentioned, the arm hits the top of the case and it can't go any higher (i.e., the wheel can't touch the friction plate anymore than it already is). Thanks!

Hi, Does anyone have a PDF that explains how to replace the friction disc/wheel in a Toro 524 (Model 38040) snowblower? My snowblower goes in 1st, but the friction wheel slips on the drive pulley in 2nd and doesn't touch it in 3rd. My symptoms are identical to this OP's post: http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/32079-0-1.html Thanks!