On Sun, 4 Jan 2009 12:33:22 -0800 (PST), terry
wrote:

Snow blower stopped 'driving' after two passes. Its a very ordinary
about 6 HP horizontal shaft Tecumseh (very similar to B&S) and about
28 inch wide.

Expecting it to be a 'drive chain off' problem, as in the past, took
bottom plate off.

No problem, both chains were on their cogs and the job I did last year
replacing the main wheel bearings and getting the position of the
chain drive cogs in line (so that the chain would not drive off) is
fine.

Everything appears to work; when the drive handle is operated the
friction disk moves (backwards in this case) in whatever position it
is in from Fast Forward to Reverse (all that works OK). The friction
disk does contact the rubber drive pulley and the rubber pulley is
properly attached to its cross shaft and turns it. There is spare
travel so it is not that the friction disk is not moving far enough or
anything is restricting its contact with the rubber pulley.

However and this is the question. The friction plate is pretty shiny
in most areas, also the rubber pulley is also shiny. So much so that
at first thought it was polished or even oily. It's not.

So should I 'roughen up' the friction plate, sand paper or grind/sand
disc it off? Same with the rubber pulley wheel (it's about 4 inch
diameter and has like a rubber tire on its perimeter.

Because the only thing at moment is that while we do need to tune up
the motor, adjust the carb, we have installed new plug, and brand new
belts of the right type etc. The main problem was that it stopped
driving (moving ahead or back). Could 'slipping' cause all that even
at lowest speed?

Moving it manually into garage to work on, I noticed we have a very
bad skid plate on one side; that was also 'hooking' into the ground
and causing part of the problem too!

Any advice welcomed (begged!).


When the friction drive gets wet, it doesn't drive if the rubber and
the plate are glazed. Try a shot of oven cleaner on the plate - the
caustic will remove any oil and etch the glaze. It also puts a bit of
"tooth" on the rubber. Rinse well about 20 minutes after application
and let dry before using.