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

           Impeller drive belts wear out mostly when you are   engaging the impeller. You  will hear the belt slip a little until your impeller gets up to speed. Doing this over and over again wears out the impeller drive belt.   I only engage my impeller once for each snow  blowing  job.  I squeeze down the lever and hold it in place with a plastic cable tie  (set at a size so I can easily remove it and use it again ) until I am done the particular snow blowing job . Of course if anyone (particularly children) come to the area where I am snowblowing I slide off  the cable tie to release the lever.  I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS 

        A few years ago, on my old Murray snow blower , the cable operating the impeller broke on the end where it attached to the idler pulley under that belt cover.   It  was in mid winter , and snowing nearly every day,  and with no garage, I wasn't  in a position to replace the cable.  I  used a strong wire attached to the bracket on the idler pulley and fastened it securly to to a bolt nearby engaging the impeller.  Of  course when I started the snow blower the impeller and auger turned as well, but it started as easy as usual.  If anyone came near, I shut of the snowblower. When the weather got better I replaced the impeller drive cable. 

Must disagree on the main logic.  I'll agree that a bit of slippage or chirping occurs upon engagement and is indicative of slight wear.

But there's no way that will compare with tossing a full load of heavy snow against the tension of the mechanism.  Most wear must happen with poor adjustment combined with a load.

Just my opinion.

I don't agree with the logic either.  There's no way I am sacrificing safety of myself and others around me by not using the impeller engage lever as it should be used, for fear of wear.   The engagement wear is so insignificant compared to the load of the snow and flex of the belt. 

I see the guys point !    I buy the belt would wear less and last longer if its always engaged for sure. Would i put a pull tie on it? No i would not. Inspect the belt before the season and in the middle and at the end. Most belts will show some sighn there on there way out. When they have been on there for several seasons or what have you just replace them.

MN_Runner wrote:

  How about a message from you discussing snowblowers?

JohnWI wrote:

Thanks for that  well thought out   reply.

aa335 wrote:

I did  warn about the safety issue,  however I want to thank you for your  good information.

aa335 wrote:

aa335 wrote:

aa335 wrote:

aa335 wrote: