maybe the belt just broke , or the tension pulley isnt working and the belt
is just slipping on the pulley

"Bob M." wrote in message
...
A lot of the self-propelled snow blowers use a constantly variable drive
system that consists of a vertically-oriented flat plate, driven by a belt
from the engine on a horizontal shaft. Another wheel with a rubber tire on
it is pressed against the plate's flat surface and is arranged so it can
slide left or right. On one side of center, the machine will go forward,
on
the other side it will go backward. The further out toward the edge you
go,
the faster the machine moves. These components often get oil and/or grease
on them, so they only slip. Also, after 20+ years, the rubber has likely
dried out and no longer presses against the flat plate with enough
pressure
to drive the wheels.

First step would be to clean the flat plate and rubber surface with
something like isopropyl alcohol to remove all the oil and grease. If you
can find some rubber roller restorer fluid, often used on old typewriters
and even some printers and tape decks, you could apply some of that to the
rubber tire. I don't think there's an adjustment you can make that will
bring the rubber tire any closer to the flat plate, but it might be
possible
to loosen the plate's mounting screws and slide it on the shaft a bit
closer
to the rubber tire-equipped drive mechanism. If all else fails, you'd have
to replace the rubber tire and/or the wheel it's mounted on if they're
inseparable.

This same mechanism is used on Toro, MTD, and most likely all of the under
$1200 snow blowers that have a solid rear axle and several forward and
reverse speeds.

Bob M.
======
"Corey Dale" wrote in message
m...
Hello.

I have an older (about 20yrs from what I've read) Craftsman snow
thrower/blower (model "536-90520 HC2") with a problem. It is a
self-propelled model.

I bought the unit from the previous owner of my home. I tried it out
about a week ago (for the first time) and it wouldn't start. I took
it to a local shop for a tune-up, and they get it running great after
a minor carb cleaning.

I got it home and used it for the first time last night. It worked
great for the first half of my driveway, then all of a sudden the
wheel drive stopped working. The auger drive still works fine, the
engine still runs fine, but the 4 forward and 1 reverse gears don't do
anything anymore (no more self-proppeled)!!

Could anyone give me some advice/guidance on what the possible cause
could be? Would it be something I could fix easily myself?

Please respond by email and also here for anyone else that may be
having this problem.

Thanks,

Corey Dale
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