Hello.

I have an older two-stage Craftsman 8 hp snowblower. The engine
starts great, and the wheel drive works fine in all forward gears and
reverse.

I was using it for the first time this season last night, and managed
to clear a small part of my driveway before it crapped out on me.
What happens is this: when I engage the auger drive, the engine comes
to an immediate dead stop.

I tried cleaning the augers and thrower mechanism, and opened the
shroud covering the drive belts. Everything seems fine (belts all
free to move, nothing visibly blocking the auger/thrower from turning,
etc.) except for a small frayed part on the auger drive belt, but I
can't see that causing the engine to seize up on me. BTW, my driveway
is graveled, and some gravel was thrown out while I using the
snowblower. I'm not sure if this could have caused some kind of
damage or not (it worked fine all of last winter, except for some
shear pins going).

I'm going to open up the main drive part to see if there could be some
kind of problem with the clutch discs tonight, but I'm wondering if
anyone else has had this problem or knows what the cause might be?

Thanks,
Corey