Jump to content

Unofficial Home of Old Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractors

Snowblower belt meltdown Belt pics added


MPH

Recommended Posts

First pass down the drive through a foot of drifted snow I found a rock I forgot to go toss off 3 days ago and snapped the NAPA belt like usual., Back to the shop, put my Simplicity belt from SLI on and back out the door. Blew the drive, the wood lot, the back yard turnaround, the 100plus pathway,8ft iwde, to used parts stash, little over 2 hours of full blower working. Parked inside to check oil and gas up, grab a bit to eat and off to my walking trail around the property line, about 1000 feet, Tractor wouldn't start, sparks fling above S/G, Bolt that hold S/G tightener broke off, remounted bat ground cable, S/G tight enough too hold so out the door. My path hasn't been plowed at all so I found about 15 inches, 1st gear, low speed mostly and the briggs just barkin, got about 3/4 done when the belt jumped off, melted like a rag, on the back side. Come back to the shop, reinstalled and got anouther 20 min of blowin before it jumped again, in the dark by now so I gave it up. Question I have, is why did the back of the belt melt. Both guards on the 2 pulleys I had pointing straight back, I set the one on the blower pulley with the belt engaged making sure it doesn't rub. Never had this happen on the NAPA belts because they don't last that long. Thanks for any feedback that may help. I hate belts... MPH My son got some action pics but thier on his computer, which is greek to me... Got the belt off, still not torn in half like I'm used to. Can't see any shinny places, even on the clutch pulley which developed some slop in the bearing. Guess I use that 8 ft path and see if the other one is any better. took a few picks of the belt.

First time it came off these ratty edges were hard like a nylon rope you hit with a torch to melt the cut ends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dunno Chris, 3-31/2 hours of I;d guess 90 percent Full load. Is that too much to expect a belt to do if everything is rt? Should hope not.. MPH
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How does everything look on the blower driveline? All the bearings good? Chain play etc? Something's sure heating that belt up. I've seen intermittant drag on belts heat them up without really showing a "bad spot", to the point where the back can delaminate and come apart. My 2pence
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had belts do that, but only when I had a mechanical problem. I have to admit that I know nothing about blowers. I don't have one. However, I would bet that if you look close you will find either an alighnment problem with a idler that is puting too much lateral force on a bearing or a shaft wore. Bearings may be free but get rough enough to cause enough drag on the belt to heat it up. I think UCD is right. There just has to be a mechanical problem to cause that kind of catastrophic failure. These machines were built to operate without this kind of failure.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some things you may want to check, Are there any sharp areas on the pullies ? Are any of the pullies warped? Maybe put a small spot of white paint on the belt and matching area on a pully,,,run blower,,,stop it and see how close that paint spot on the belt is to the original paint spot on the pully location. Looking for belt slippage here. Best of luck with this
Link to comment
Share on other sites

See if the gaurd that goes around the drive pulley on the blower is in line.I had one that worked loose and rubbed the back side of the belt.Didn't take long to find though,I thought the tractor was on fire from the smoke.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Marty, I've seen idler pulleys spin free but grind under a load. Another thing make absolutly sure that your belt is aligned as straight as possible. I had 2 cents to spare, Good luck, Happy New Year!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. Possible Ken's problem of the belt guide on the blower pulley coming loose and rubbing or not having been tight enough to start with, though it took 'normal' force to loosen the bolt with a 3/8's rachet. Kinda hoping it was the loose bearings in the flat clutch pulley, I was able to replace it last night outta the boneyard. To clean the pulley surface I first tried putting them on a longer bolt clamped in the vise and a wire brush in the drill, this got the rust but didn't smooth them out good so I held them against the wire brush on the bench grinder with one hand and emery cloth in the other. This process shined them like new. Will check the shafts for loosen today. Oh yea, my epozy paint job on the shute didn't stand up to good, its pretty chipped up already from the new gravel I put infront of the house and can't seem to get a snow pack stuck on. Thinking about watering it down so it freezes together.. MPH
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought about that since the pulley almost seem big enough for a 5/8's belt, but the OEM belt is half... MPH
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On my blower the guard on the blower pully was too close to the belt using the factory setup I had to add washers between the guard and the inside of the blower housing, I noticed that the guard was closing up around the belt when I clamped it to the chain drive tube. I am tempted to discard this guard but I figure it has a purpose or it wouldn't be there.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the 5/8 belt is flush with the top of the pulleys I think i'd try the bigger belt, what have you got to lose? Have you givin' it any thought about bigger pulleys to run a bigger belt?:) I hope my belt last a long, long time I just spent $52 for it![:0][:0]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

HI, One thing to keep in mind, if the NAPA belts are breaking regularly, you may be overloading the belts at times. The Simplicity belts are typically stronger, but if the blower gets overloaded "nearly plugged" particularly with wet snow, the belts will slip. When they do they get hot and "burn" this can cause them to separtate. Also usually when the insides are torn up it is ususally something rubbing on the inside, for example a belt stop. That you mention that the belt was hard like a torch was on it would lead me to suspect the blower is occasionally overloaded and the belt is the fuse. Another thing that can cause belt slippage is a weak spring, the wrong size idler pulley [usually too small] or binding pivot bearings on the idler arms. Some things to look at. Al Eden
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Overloading ya say, well that might have been the trouble. Snow was about 15 inches, first 5 or 6 was a couple months old and the briggs was pulling hard in 1st gear low range. I did finish the walkin trail today on a NAPA belt. After I put it on was watching it for a bit and the clutch pulley seemed to pull tilted to the right, so I moved the spring from the notch I always thought it was suppose to be in to the left about 3 inches past the bend in the hitch and it ran straight up and down. Did the last third of the trail with no problem. Total trail length is about 1600 feet or 550 steps in bunny boots...Shaft bearing are all looking good so far. Thanks for the feedback.. MPH
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marty, I had the same problem as Ken described. I had my toys all set up for winter in mid-October. The first snow we got was a bunch of lake-effect, and then 20 inches of snow from a noreaster. I fire up the 112 with the 42" blower and get nowhere with last years belt. New belt in place 20 minutes later, it almost immediately threw the belt. Looked underneath while muttering words that made the dogs cowar into their beds. Blower drive shield moved and rubbed belt to destruction. 20 minutes later, new 5/8" green belt in place, checked all alignments and travel, finished the job outside with the Sovereign, haven't had a trace of snow since. But I did get a chance to run the troubled blower through some snow banks and heavy stuff, and worked great.I hope they last longer than a 3 or 4 hours of service! Thats one storms cleanup around here! Best of luck to ya! Rob
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • AC710
    • WardM
    • tripleguy
    • TheFlash300
  • Recent Status Updates

    • gwiseman

      gwiseman

      Site programming updates were made 3/23/2024. As a result some things have changed including dues payment options. We will continue maintenance and work with technicians to regain credit card payment option and clear up minor challenges. On positive it appears attaching pictures is now easier. Good day. Gene 
      · 1 reply
    • gwiseman

      gwiseman

      Site maintenance scheduled to begin 10a CDT on 3/16/24
      · 0 replies
  • Adverts

×
×
  • Create New...