snowblower issues

[wingplow]

not sure this is the right place for this and if it isnt, then feel free to move it

heres my issue, i picked up an older 5 hp ariens snowblower, well after doing the carb over and getting it to run like a champ, i was all kinds of excited to try it out sunday after our 5 inch storm...got home fired her up, and then...nothing, it didnt blow the snow farther then a foot...what gives ???
seems like everything is turning and moving as it should

any ideas ??????

[john mc]

belt slipping?wet snow?shear pin broken?

[wingplow]

the snow was light and fluffy

this is the first snowblower i've owned so....as far as the shear pins, the auger and the impeller ??, both turn

i guess it could be the belts, didnt give that a thought

[chtucker]

Just went through all this.

Belt slipping? Broken pulley on crankshaft? There are two belts, one drives the snowblower the other runs the fan and impeller. Are both side of the impeller turning? The fan is run off the crankshaft with no gearbox or sheer pins. On my craftsman the belt was the wrong one and then I realized that the keyway on the pulley was cracked. It is not a replaceable key, it is welding into the pulley.

I am sure that ariens/mtd/ whatever are ALL the same design.

Let us know what you find out and ask more questions..

[SCB]

If it's running well and not throwing snow very far, my vote would be the belt slipping under load.

I've been working on the same thing for the last couple of hours. I had a 3.5 hp Yard Master (MTD) given to me with the same issues. This one has a separate handle with a cable to tighten a tensioner pulley and engage the auger. Belt was stretched, so I replaced it. The cable was frozen so I lubed it up and got it to move slightly but it still wasn't moving far enough to put sufficient tension on the belt. Now the handle broke where the cable connects (guess I should've gone a little easier on it). Figured it was a good time to call it a night. I'm about ready to install a spring to keep tension on the belt all the time.

[chtucker]

Add on, the tensioner pulley has an adjustment to make the belt tighter

[SCB]

Add on, the tensioner pulley has an adjustment to make the belt tighter

Only adjustment on mine was a 2nd hole on the handle to move the cable end to. Thing probably worked well until the cable froze and the handle broke
.

[chtucker]

Only adjustment on mine was a 2nd hole on the handle to move the cable end to. Thing probably worked well until the cable froze and the handle broke
.

I did not see the slot at first.. But the arm on mine has about a 1" slot to slide the pulley. There should also be an adjustment rod that goes through the spring on the cable.. But that should be just to get to the edge of the impeller spinning. Just remember that the fan spins so much faster than the impeller.

[Mike Fronczak]

Is it a single stage or 2 stage. I have 2 of the 522 single stages, the paddles wear out causing what your talking about, replacement paddles are about 125 a set.

[wingplow]

i,m gonna try and tighten the cable that engages the auger, maybe its not throwing far enough to fully engage it...thanks for everybodies help here

the problem is its an older machine and i dont want to sink to much money in it



and yes it is a 2 stage