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

Hello,

I have an Ariens 824 bought around 2003, and I used a lot and it worked great for clearing and throwing heavy snow.

Last year I started to notice that the drive is getting weaker and I had to push it more and more.  Finally, I opened up

the bottom pan and saw that the Friction disk rubber was worn down.  I got a new Friction disk and I replaced it.  When I closed it

and ran the snowblower, the drive was back to normal, however, after 30 minutes to an hour, I noticed that the drive was again going slower.

Then I noticed that the lever was loose.and the friction disk had become disengaged from the yoke (Y shaped fork on the gear shaft that holds the friction disk

and moves the disk over the metal larger disk).

I noticed that there were two flat washers on the bottom of the pan.  Where do these washers go and do they have anything to do

with why the Friction disk lever yoke kept coming off and become loose?  Does anyone have this experience? Did I missed anything when putting back the friction disk?

Thanks for any help.

OJC

Thanks.  I thought it might go there and tried to put them on but when I get one and tried to put the other on, the other one falls off.   I might have to remove the friction disk holder - by removing everything again.  I hesitated to do it because it was cold and the metal seems to be frozen in place.  I used hot water to get the wheels off the first time when it was frozen in place (works better than a torch or blow dryer).  I did not take out any pins or springs--tried but it was again stuck. So, I took off the side bearing holders so that I can slip off the hex shaft.   It looks like a flimsy after thought way of preventing the friction disk from slipping off the shift fork.  I think Ariens need to figure out a better way. Okay, I will give this a try when the weather warms up above freezing.

Make sure the bushings on the pivot rod of the shift fork are intact as well. One is in the top of the frame under the engine, the other towards the rear of the machine. The washers keep the fork from "catching" on the flats of the bearing housing stamping. This design has been discontinued very recently.

Check out the link below. I had a problem in this area as well and I fixed it by putting in a extra washer.  The link has pictures of it install as well as a link to a video on youtube.

http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/31837-0-1.html

I removed the wheels, removed the pan, removed the bearing holder (on the side with four hex nuts), and after some struggle I managed to ge the washers on the gear shift yoke and friction disk shift wheel (don't the name) and put everything back, voilla, it seems to work.  Now I can take the rubberbands off that I tied on to keep the wheel from disengaging and also been able to change gears without fear of the friction disk disengaging.  I really appreciate the experience shared by all of you.  Thanks again.

So is there a trick to getting the washers back in place?? I am stumped!

Thanks

Pete