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mel541


Joined: Dec 9, 2008
Points: 16

My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Original Message   Dec 9, 2008 8:06 pm
Tonight we were out finishing up snowblowing... As we finished our snowblower stopped self propelling.

Any suggestions???  Any advise would be great!

Replies: 1 - 8 of 8View as Outline
borat


Joined: Nov 10, 2007
Points: 2692

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #1   Dec 9, 2008 8:31 pm
Had that happen a couple of times with my last old Craftsman machine.  Broke a shear bolt for the drive system to the axle.  You'll have to pull the cover off of the bottom and closely look at the axle for the hole(s) where the bolt went through.   It might be a tough search so you'll have to look closely.  When mine sheared, there was no portion of the bolt exposed and the surface of the driven axle/hole was flush & smooth where the bolt had sheared.  When I found it, I had to use a hammer and a nail to drift it out.  You might need to clean the driven axle with WD40 and a rag to find it.    

I don't know why the bolts started shearing but it became fairly frequent.  I finally put a hardened bolt in it and never had any problems for the last five years of ownership.   I don't know why a shear bolt would be used in that application anyway.   If the wheels spin, so what?   It's not the same as with the auger where bad things can happen in a hurry.  But on the wheel drive, why bother with a shear bolt? 

This message was modified Dec 9, 2008 by borat
Clay


Location: Wis
Joined: Dec 3, 2008
Points: 111

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #2   Dec 9, 2008 8:33 pm
My new unit stopped, I called tech support and they thought it was a drive belt.  When I broke it down and checked the drive belt, the belt was fine.  The problem with my unit was a hairpin or cotter type pin fell out of  a connection which controlled the drive lever.  Check all linkages first to the drive lever, then you can check the drive belt which is a little more difficult to check than the linkages.  If these two aren't it, at least you will have checked them off of your list.  Others will have some more ideas for you soon.

Rick

bjulian


Joined: Jan 1, 2009
Points: 2

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #3   Jan 1, 2009 8:48 am
My 3 year old machine just developed this same problem.  It worked fine in the last snowstorm of 14".  Tried it last night and it wouldn't propel.  Luckily it was only a 4" storm and I was able to 'self'-propel it and cleared most of the driveway.  I looked at the linkages and I don't see an obvious problem.  This model doesn't use shearpins and the chain belt looks to be intact.  Any thoughts?
JeffM


Joined: Dec 27, 2008
Points: 20

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #4   Jan 1, 2009 9:57 am
My three year old Toro did the same thing after I let it sit out for an hour after blowing the driveway.  Turns out the bellcrank which the traction clutch cable attaches to had frozen up.  It should be on the left side. 
MacLorry27


Joined: Dec 23, 2008
Points: 54

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #5   Jan 1, 2009 10:31 am

After checking all the external linkage and making sure the wheels are engaged to the axle on models that allow one or both to be disengaged, the next thing to do on any snow thrower that uses a friction wheel drive system is to remove the belt cover, which is easy to do. With the belt cover off, make sure the drive belt is ok and properly adjusted. If you pull the starter rope (with the ignition switch off) you should see the belt and it’s top pulley and bottom pulley all move as the engine is rotated. If not, the top pulley has broke it’s key, bolt or other means of keeping it from turning on the shaft. If the belt and pulley look ok you need to remove the bottom panel to get access to the friction drive mechanism. That usually means removing the gas from the tank and then standing the machine up on the auger housing. On some machines you also have to remove the engine oil before you do this.

With the ignition switch off and with the bottom panel off turn one of the wheels manually. If all is ok, the friction wheel should also turn. If not, look for a break in the motion. That is, look to see where there is motion on one shaft, sprocket, gear or pulley, but no motion on the connected shaft, sprocket, gear or pulley. That’s the location of the problem. If the friction wheel turns, pull the drive engagement lever, which should cause the friction wheel to come into contact with the friction disk and you (or a helper) shouldn’t be able to turn the wheels manually. If you can, look for the break in the motion. If the friction wheel doesn’t engage the friction disk, then look for a break in the linkage between the drive engagement handle and the swing plate (or other mechanism) that moves the friction wheel into contact with the friction disk. If that all looks good and the friction disk turns, but the bottom pulley of the drive belt doesn’t then either the pulley or the friction disk has broke it’s key, bolt, or other mechanism that keeps it from spinning on the shaft. On some machines the drive pulley and the friction disk are a the same part. Check the shaft the swing plate pivots on to make sure it’s ok.

Also look for oil on the friction wheel and the friction disk. If you find oil, use an alcohol based cleaner to remove it. Some machines use chains and sprockets to reduce the speed to the wheel axle (Simplicity), and if these chains have too much oil on them it can get on the friction wheel and disk and cause a loss of drive. If water gets on these parts you’ll also have a loss of drive but it won’t be complete and it will dry on it’s own. You can spin off most of the water by putting the machine in its fastest speed and running it up and down the driveway without throwing snow a few times. This won’t work if it’s oil.

Snowmann


Joined: Dec 3, 2003
Points: 494

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #6   Jan 1, 2009 10:49 am
mel541 wrote:
Tonight we were out finishing up snowblowing... As we finished our snowblower stopped self propelling.

Any suggestions???  Any advise would be great!


Friction disk is the first thing to check. Also, I believe the drive systems on the very early Toro Powermax snowblowers had a recall to the drive system. Not sure what the problem was though. How old is it?

PK
Snowmann


Joined: Dec 3, 2003
Points: 494

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #7   Jan 1, 2009 10:54 am
From 2004...



Dear Toro Owner,

Toro has monitored the "first season" performance of the Power Max snowthrower and has identified several areas that have not consistently met our high standard of performance. Toro has prepared a package of updated parts which includes a new impeller housing cover and seal and parts for the traction drive system. These improvements will increase safety, overall durability and the performance of your Power Max snowthrower.

Replacement of the impeller housing cover is a particularly important part of this update, as this component has been subject to stress cracking and breakage when struck by stones or ice chunks. This could present a thrown object hazard to bystanders if a broken cover is not replaced immediately. The impeller housing cover is now made of an improved material that corrects both issues.

Please contact your Toro dealer to set up an appointment to have this update package installed free of charge. Toro will pay the full cost of parts and labor as well as pick up and delivery within 15 miles of the authorized dealer.

To avoid the winter preseason service rush, we suggest you make a service appointment now.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause. Should you have any questions we encourage you to contact us toll free at 866-336-5205 (USA) , 866-854-9033 (Canada).

Sincerely, Toro Consumer Customer Care
bjulian


Joined: Jan 1, 2009
Points: 2

Re: My TORO 826LE won't self propell
Reply #8   Jan 1, 2009 11:08 am
Appreciate the responses.  I'm sure MacLorry is right on target and once the weather warms up I'll start in and see what's not connected.  I just tried to see if my machine could 'heal itself' and when that didn't work I looked at the Right wheel and saw that the cotter pin was missing, causing the wheel to move on the shaft.  Thinking that was my only problem I replaced the pin temporarily with a screw and nut.  Still though not getting any 'drive' action but possibly with the missing pin the axle has moved out of alignment ???  So once I get the covers off maybe the problem will be easy to see.  Happy New Year !!!! 
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