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

I have a friction drive problem with my Ariens  Model 932037-724 Sno-Thro. I can not roll it when the engine is off and when the engine is running it remains in gear. The Friction Disc is tight against the Drive Plate preventing me from rolling it when shut down and keeping it in gear when running. The tension spring from clutch fork to frame is in place. I removed the Friction Disc/Hex shaft assembly and operated the traction cable to detemine free movement of Clutch Fork and Drive Plate. There is free movement. I disconnected the traction cable to determine if the Drive Plate would retract further toward the frame and it does not. My theory is that the Drive Plate is too far 'outbound' toward the Friction Disc and is not retracting completely. I do not know if the Clutch Fork is bent as I have yet to remove it and nothing to compare mine to. I would think the Clutch Fork rod ends are bound up preventing full retraction before believing I have bent the Fork.

Below is the a link (hope it works) to a photo showing the Drive Plate on top and the Drive Pulley below. Should the gap between the back of the Drive Plate and the bearing be visible? You can see that the tension spring is visible on the left.

The photo did work, allbeit large.

Next is a photo of the drive pulley. Should the Woodruff Key between the bearing and the puley be visible on the right side of the shaft? Again, is the gap excessive on the side as well?

I ask these questions because again, I believe that the Drive Plate is not fully retracting and wonder if these photos my explain the cause of the condition.

Thanks in advance. With all the searching, I like this site the best.

Steve K.

I had a problem similar to yours on my vintage Ariens. it was caused by the drive plate unscrewing itself outwards, hence it was always in contact with the friction disc. I simply added some loctite and screwed it back in. Note it is a left-handed thread.

i have a 1986 924 and my drive would not disengage when i released the drive lever.it would hang up and continue to drive and i'd have to pull against the drive to keep from hitting anything till it eventually disengaged.i tried to adjust the disc to no avail and eventually took the plastic shroud off and watched what moved while i engaged the drive linkage.i solved the problem by lubing up the yoke that slides on the main shaft .this yoke only moves a small amount and didn't notice what was suppose to move at first.i put some 30 weight motor oil on the shaft and worked the drive engagement lever several times with the machine not running and it free'd everything up.no problem since. the bound parts were on the shaft right under the drive pulleys and i had to be carefull not to slop any oil on the pulleys.the drive disk is held in place by a carrier and the whole assembly moves to the rear to engage the friction wheel.it was the other end (opposite end of the drive disc )in front of  the engine and directly below the belt pulleys that was bound up.after 20 plus years with no lubrication it got dry and corroded enough to prevent free movement of the drive disk contacting the friction wheel.at first i thought the friction disc moved to the drive plate but the opposite is true,the plate moves to the rear to engage the friction disc. maybe this will help you!

MKD, it does help. It reminds me to kept it simple for now. After a lot of reading I know now that lubrication is very important for these machines..

Fixed the drive plate this morning. The gap between the back of the drive plate and the bearing as well as the gap between the drive pulley and bearing as shown above were too large preventing the drive plate from retracting. The drive pulley had shifted on the shaft toward the auger end and was up against the brake assembly. As the drive pulley couldn't go any further the shaft, with the drive plate firmly in place, started to shift toward the friction disc end. This created two large gaps.

Below is the photo of the drive pulley up against the brake.

Loosen the two set scews and reset the drive pulley on the shaft. Below is a photo of the drive pulley set correctly on the shaft. The woodruff key is no longer visible.

Below is a photo showing that the gap between the back of the drive plate and the bearing has been reduced. The allows the drive plate to fully retract.

With the drive plate fully retracted the friction disc is no longer tight up agaist the drive plate. Below is a photo of the gap created when the drive pulley was reset. I was now able to set the traction cable correctly.

Thank you Sean and Mike.

Sean, I used your thought that something caused the drive plate to shift toward the friction disc. With this newer model, the drive plate doesn't screw onto the shaft. So I looked further down the shaft toward the auger and discovered the drive pulley up against the brake assembly.

Mike, as the drive pulley was up against the brake ... the shaft might as well had been frozen in place. I kept it simple.

Thanks again.

Steve K.

hope that fixes it! later mike