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

While on parts radar looking for things I came across "526025: 8.5-11.5 Belt Improvement Kit" for my snowblower. Does anyone know what this kit does and what it looks like? I'm wondering if it's worth trying to order.

I stopped at my dealer and he looked up the 526025 kit and there wasn't any description with it. He said that it wasn't a kit that he remembers installing for anyone.

I bought the Dual Belt Kit ($43.55) and the 26" Baffle Kit ($41.60).

He said that they've installed a bunch of both kits.

His comments were that the Dual Belt Kit comes in handy in the wet slushy snow in Massachusetts and the Baffle Kits they installed were mostly for people with driveways on a slope where it was easier for the water to contact the friction disk.

I'll let everyone knows how the installs go. It'll probably be in a couple of weeks.

I've owned a few snow throwers over the years and never had a problem with the auger belt slipping. I've gotten over seven years of hard service from each of my belts throwing tons of snow here in central Canada. I have to ask. Why the need for a double pulley and two belts? I've seen just about every kind of snow situation over the years and never had an issue with single belt auger drives. Unless the Ariens single pulley/belt auger drive system is on flimsy side, I wouldn't bother going through the trouble or expense to switch to a dual belt system. By the way, do the belts last twice as long? If not, there's added cost when it's time to replace the belts. Keep your auger belt properly adjusted. Chances are you'll probably never need a dual belt set up.

I haven't noticed any auger slippage on my Ariens926. So why do I need I (arguing w/self). Probably don't. That drive slippage although rare and in short duration is Bo-gas. .

When I received the snowblower from my Dad in 2007 (he moved into a place where outside maintenence is taken care of and has no garage), lucky for me, I went over all the adjustments and lube in the manual. I noticed the auger belt was stretched but just moved the idler and readjusted the lever spring. After the second storm I had it, the belt was too stretched out to do anything (not sure how much he beat on it). I put a new belt on and haven't had a problem since.

I agree about the single belt, my previous (crappy) Home Depot Murrey only had one belt replaced over its 10 year life.

But... I'm also the type that has to tinker and improve. :-)

The Dual Belt Kit has two belts of the same size as my existing single and the pullies are beefy. I'm assuming it'll take a lot to stretch these, if at all.

My dealer and Snowmann both said that units built from 2007 on have this dual belt arrangement. I'm assuming Ariens is doing this so there will be very few complaints, if any, about adjusting or replacing auger belts.

iLikeOrange wrote:
I will be looking for one of these dual belt auger drive kits. The time when I get belt slippage is when I go through heavy wet snow, especially along the side of a street that gets plowed & has salt spread on it.

 I have been blowing snow for almost 40 years, and I can tell you that slush will cause auger belt destruction in a short time.

OHUQTU wrote:

"I can tell you that slush will cause auger belt destruction in a short time."... Do really think so? I've been using snow throwers for almost as long as you and I have found that a properly adjusted belt will pretty much stall the engine before it even slips. Keep the belt properly adjusted and it will handle anything you throw at it. I can see a dual belt system being more tolerant of mis-adjustment but I doubt that it's a necessary requirement. I know I haven't had any situations yet that made me wish I had a dual belt system.

I agree that proper belt adjustment is very important....but with a higher hp engine ( above 10 hp) and the standard 1/2" belt with a full load of slush puts a strain on the belt, and if its done for hrs,
 duel belts are the only way to go. Belts are the weak point in the system .

How much is the kit?

whitetail wrote:

Dual belts might prolong belt life to some degree but I doubt that it does anything to enhance performance. I'm not saying that it's not a nice feature. If I had it on my machine, I wouldn't be taking it off. On the other hand, I certainly will not pay to put a dual pulley/belt system on. Don't see a need for it. My machine goes for hours and a multiple tanks of fuel, pumping heavy wet snow without a hiccup. Last March 31st, we received 30" of heavy wet snow. My Simplicity burned close to three tanks of fuel, one right after the other clearing three big driveways as well as the EOD snow deposits. I was pretty much beat by the time I had finished the work but the Simplicity with it's single belt/pulley system was still moving snow as if it were brand new. So the question is, with that kind of performance, do we really need two pulleys and two belts?

I have an Ariens 11.5hp sno-thro that's a few years old.  The model number is 926002.  Is there any way to know if a dual auger belt kit will work on my machine?  I went to Ariens web site but couldn't find the answer there.