I purchased a used craftsman 10HP 32 wide 2 stage snow blower a few years back (seemed like a good deal at the time), and haven't had an opportunity to use it until the recent snow fall.
I did a basic check, put fuel in and it started first try with electric start. I thought great, looks like I might have gotten a good deal....
Then I head towards the snow and go to throttle up... no power. I quickly identified that there was an issue with the carb linkage. The throttle arm was installed upside down which prevented it from coming off of idle. Fixed that and reset the governor.... now the engine runs strong at full throttle.
Head for the snow again.... and pull the auger lever... it engages... but as soon as it hits the snow, machine bogs down and snow is backing in the shoot and barely falling out the top.
I have gone through a series of troubleshooting:
1. Checked and changed the auger belt. I thought it was loose because I didn't appreciate that the belt "tensioner" was actually the auger engage mechanism, so I replaced it probably unnecessarily.... this had no improvement. The engine runs well and the auger turns when engaged, but the shoot still backs up with snow and machine dies shortly after digging into snow. I initially had over-tensioned the belt when I didn't realize the tensioner pulley was actually the auger engage mechanism... but it didn't even work when i tried it over-tensioned.
2. Checked the shear pins... and ensured auger blades do not rotate independently of impeller shaft. All good.
3. It felt like there was some slop in the gear case, so I suspected the gear set might have been worn and was skipping teeth once it hit snow. I tore it all down, gears look perfect, no metal shavings. Inspected all woodruff keys on auger gear shaft, impeller shaft (both worm gear and auger pulley keys) and driveshaft. Everything looks perfect.
What am I missing here guys? The system doesn't seem that complicated..... the gearset is good, all woodruff keys are good, belt is good, engine runs strong, it should work.... but it doesn't.
I think my next step is to put it all back together and observe the auger rotation once it digs into snow to see if it is still spinning with the engine revving or if it stops. Everything is a solid mechanical coupling except the belt, so the only logical conclusion is that the belt is still slipping somehow.
Any ideas?
I did a basic check, put fuel in and it started first try with electric start. I thought great, looks like I might have gotten a good deal....
Then I head towards the snow and go to throttle up... no power. I quickly identified that there was an issue with the carb linkage. The throttle arm was installed upside down which prevented it from coming off of idle. Fixed that and reset the governor.... now the engine runs strong at full throttle.
Head for the snow again.... and pull the auger lever... it engages... but as soon as it hits the snow, machine bogs down and snow is backing in the shoot and barely falling out the top.
I have gone through a series of troubleshooting:
1. Checked and changed the auger belt. I thought it was loose because I didn't appreciate that the belt "tensioner" was actually the auger engage mechanism, so I replaced it probably unnecessarily.... this had no improvement. The engine runs well and the auger turns when engaged, but the shoot still backs up with snow and machine dies shortly after digging into snow. I initially had over-tensioned the belt when I didn't realize the tensioner pulley was actually the auger engage mechanism... but it didn't even work when i tried it over-tensioned.
2. Checked the shear pins... and ensured auger blades do not rotate independently of impeller shaft. All good.
3. It felt like there was some slop in the gear case, so I suspected the gear set might have been worn and was skipping teeth once it hit snow. I tore it all down, gears look perfect, no metal shavings. Inspected all woodruff keys on auger gear shaft, impeller shaft (both worm gear and auger pulley keys) and driveshaft. Everything looks perfect.
What am I missing here guys? The system doesn't seem that complicated..... the gearset is good, all woodruff keys are good, belt is good, engine runs strong, it should work.... but it doesn't.
I think my next step is to put it all back together and observe the auger rotation once it digs into snow to see if it is still spinning with the engine revving or if it stops. Everything is a solid mechanical coupling except the belt, so the only logical conclusion is that the belt is still slipping somehow.
Any ideas?