Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Today i picked up an older John Deere 1032 snowblower. The unit starts on the first pull and is pretty clean with minimal rust. When you put it in drive it goes with no problem but when you engage the auger there was a terrible noise like a metal grinding. My first thought was the bearing in the auger housing was bad so i removed the tractor from the auger housing. The auger turns smooth and there is no play so that proves the bearing is fine. I found that the idler pully that puts the tension on the belt when you engage the auger is mounted to a little bar that moves up and down and at the bottom there is a weld that holds it to the shaft. The weld has a crack and the idler is off kilter. The brake looks worn like it was not disengaging when it was supposed to so i think that was the loud noise.      The unit seems to be like an Ariens the way it is set up. My questions are, How do i get info on this unit to find out the age ? The only numbers on it are 1032. I am going to weld the pully and try to bend the bar to get it in line with the belts again and replace the belts. The numbers on the old belts are worn so i need info on the unit in order to purchase new ones. I will try and get pics up this week. Thanks in advance for any help.

That looks like a great machine, clean.  I see it also has a differential.   What are you going to do with this one?

I think im going to sell it and use the funds for some other ope i want. if i do not get any good bites i will keep it as a backup. how do you lock the differential on this machine ? it looks like a large wingnut . do i just tighten it ?

Did you find out who the OEM was? Or did Deere engineer it themselves?
When was it made?
Boston craigslist is pretty good for selling that stuff.

Oops - disregard I see you've already discovered that....

The john Deere dealer told me it was John Deere made with input and design by Ariens. They did not know the the year. It is made just like an Ariens except for the dash controls. Garandman wrote:

I'm really not sure, I know mine is like a knob and you just pull out and turn.  I think Kevin has one, and I'm sure others here will know exactly how to engage it.  Maybe loosen the nut and move the plate?  Report back as I'd like to know how it's done. 

Hi Knee. Ajace has a good memory. Mine is the 726, but it looks about the same vintage as yours. That  wing nut gets tightened to put the diff lock on, loosen to turn it off. Only problem is that some of these stay locked and have to be "worked out" somehow. Mine is stuck on the diff lock, but thats ok with me. Mine also has that noise when I engage the auger, but seems to stop after its running a bit. Two winters now and it runs real good. Heres a pic I posted on here last winter. It was throwing the dry powder nice that day.

Kevin

 

 Vangellis,

      I can't wait to look like your photo!!!!

                                              Fred  

Thanks for the help. How does yours do with wet heavy snow ? I had an old Ariens 8hp 32" last year that would not throw the snow 3 feet. It was horrible. If this thing can toss the wet heavy stuff good i might just keep it.  Vangellis wrote:

I knew it was done someway, I just didn't know exactly how.  Again, great picture.  Were the belts tight Knee?

The belts were tight and everything was functioning as should except it would only throw snow a few feet at best. I was baffled.  AJace wrote: