Auger & Impeller on Ariens Snowblower don't engagege on startup

[blueman]

The engine on my Ariens 926LE snowblower starts and runs just fine. When I start it, the wheels engage properly but the impeller & augur initially don't engage. After a couple of minutes they seem to start working fine. Though occassionally even after running they will fail intermittently to engage.

The shear pins are fine. The cable running to the augur/impeller control is fine. I don't think it's an icing issue since I keep the snowblower inside the garage where it is mostly above freezing and I clean it out after each use. When the impeller and augur do finally engage they seem to have good, normal power both in the auger and the impeller.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

[Jim Elbrecht]

My 35 yo Bolens- which used to be the same design as Ariens- acted that way when the spring that tensions the idler pulley was getting weak.

That ought to get you in the general vicinity of the problem.

Jim

[LSMFT]

snowblower

The drive/clutch/belt/pulley/engager is too loose or out of adjustment.

[clare]

My guess would be a bad belt.

[LdB]

Or a wet belt. If the drive belt on my blower gets wet the wheels will not move. I keep my blower in a shed. I used my blower yesterday. Outside temperatures had warmed up to the point where it was above freezing in the shed. There was some snow on the machine from the last use. The snow melted and some water must have dripped onto the belt or pulley. The drive belt would not catch initially but after a few minutes it dried enough to work. I did a better job of cleaning the snow off the machine that time.

LdB

[notbob]

Auger & Impeller. Whatta coinkydink. Were you and the other blue men on the same bill in Vegas?

nb

[Johnl]

My experience has been, that if a belt slips when wet is on it's way out. A belt that has the proper tension and is not worn, should not slip if wet by melting snow. I agree that the original poster probably has a worn belt.