"Ron" wrote in message ...
It could be that the drive belt for the wheels has come off the pulley. My
old snowblower which was similar to the Craftsman models had a vinyl cover
just behind the discharge chute and in front of the engine. Remove this
cover (snowblower engine OFF) and inspect the belt drive system by having
someone helping you by engaging and disengaging the drive clutch on the
handle of the snowblower.

You should see which belt is being engaged, or should I say, attempting to
be engaged. There is an idler arm assembly that keeps the belt on the
pulleys and also engages the power when the clutch lever is engaged. This is
where I would look for the belt to be disengaged as it is a place where a
lot of wear could have happened to the parts on a machine 20 years old.

If the belt assembly is engaging ok (belt gets tight when the clutch is
engaged) then as one other person suggested, look for the drive shear pin
assembly which will require the removal of the rear cover on the snowblower.
Good luck
--
Ron
Port Dover Ontario


Hi again. Thanks to anyone who posted to help me out, as I managed to
identify and fix the problem!

I first opened up the shroud on the opposite end of the motor from the
pull cord. This shroud covered two belts - one for the auger system
and one for the engine. Both belts were in good shape, and were under
good contact pressure with the engine in gear and the auger drive
engaged.

I then opened up the cover over the wheel drive assembly. The problem
was immediately clear, as one of two chains in this housing had come
off it's gears. Apparently a free flywheel with gears that is used to
keep proper tnesion on the chain that drives the wheel had slipped
(not tightened enough during the tuneup, I suspect), giving two much
slack. The chain slipped off and so the snowblower wouldn't go! I
put the chain back on the sprockets, adjusted the small
flywhell/spocket as needed, and could tell even before I started it
back up that it was working fine as I could hear the sprockets turning
as I pushed the snowblower in neutral.

It started up with no problems, and went like the wind when I put it
in gear.

Thanks again for the help and ideas! It was a great learning
experience for me, and it was fascinating to see how simple the whole
drive system was (with the rotating disc and rubber wheel).

Regards,
Corey Dale
Edmonton, Alberta
"Home of the Heritage Classic Outdoor NHL Hockey Game!!"