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Older simplicity garden tractor with snow blower clogging easily


Empirelubeequipment.com

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Hi Everyone.

I am new to simplicity lawn tractors. I resently acquire an old tractor with the snowblower attachment. I purchased from a person who knew the original owner and this machine was purchased with the snowblower only and has only blowed snow its whole life.  Any way.  everything works on it. but i went to use it for the first time we had about 2-3 inches of heavy slushy snow.  the blower gets clogged. i unclogged 5 times and it just gets clogged again.  the belt stops moving when the blades get clogged.  so I put it away lubed up the chute and tried again today same results.   I know this machine is a beast but i am very frustrated at this point and it should not have any problems chewing threw 3 inches of wet heavy snow.   the beslt broke today after my 7th time cleaning the blades out.  

I need some professional suggestions.  Is the PTO engagement not good?  is the belt to old?

please help me very disappointed  so far

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Nice looking tractor! I'm not sure about just how wet of snow these will move but if its too wet you might need a blade instead. As for belt problems, many recommend using the OEM Simplicity brand belt for the longest life as the blower belts have quite a few twists. 

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I have the same blower but set up with mid mount pto. With wet heavy snow, you have find the right ground speed with tractor to feed the blower so it doesn’t clog. I tell my friends that you have to “feed the beast”. It uses snow to throw the snow.  Going slow with wet snow just clogs the chute. Two stage blowers operate a little differently. Also that engine must be running close to top speed to push that snow out. I have been using this same blower for the past 15 years doing 10 driveways per storm. It takes some time to figure out ground speed to feed the blower at the correct rate for optimal blowing. Just my 2cents.

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10 hours ago, Empirelubeequipment.com said:

the belt stops moving when the blades get clogged. 

This is probably the issue.  I can blow most anything with mine (they are all the same blower head basically, regardless of the tractor, just different hitches to mount them), and the belt does not slip.  Keeping them "fed" is key to keeping the snow moving through them as Robert said.  I rarely have a clog, and when I do it is the heavy wet stuff and generally because I didn't give it enough to eat.  To rectify that, I'll run it into a bank of snow to push the clog out.  But that is not going to happen if the belt is slipping. I have actually killed the 18 horse Magnum once in the neighbor's driveway when I caught a "yule" log in the impeller ( A Christmas crisis).  The belt barely gave ground under that condition, maybe a  second or less before the engine killed.  

I would recommend a good new belt, make sure the tension is set correctly, and, because that setup is a two pulley setup and mount, it is likely 40+ years old.  The pulleys may be worn to the point where the belt isn't being snugly nested as it should in the groove.  A new belt will still give you grief if that's the case. If it's been slipping that is probably why it then broke.  Now, this assumes the belt is slipping and not the clutch.  Either way you have to always run WOT when blowing snow, and all of the engine's power needs to be transferred to the blower.  Slipping will greatly affect the performance.

Edited by Brettw
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I didnt witness the belt slipping .    When the headis clogged and stops spinning is it hurting anything?  When I engage the PTO is it possible it's slipping there?   

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The belt shouldn’t stop moving unless the clutch is slipping. I don’t have a front pto clutch so I don’t know much about them. Is there an adjustment for belt tension on that pulley system. When mine gets too full of snow I can hear the belt squealing as she’s trying to make the auger turn. If my belt stops turning, it’s because I have stalled my tractor. So I would check the front and see if there is any adjustments on the clutch/ pulleys to make the belt tighter. I know the mid pto setup has pulley adjustments for belt tension.

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I didnt witness the belt slipping .    When the headis clogged and stops spinning is it hurting anything?  When I engage the PTO is it possible it's slipping there?   

20190222_173805.jpg

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When the auger stops spinning because of a clog either the belt is slipping on the front clutch pulley or the clutch itself is slipping. So; yes at that point in time you are doing damage to the clutch, the belt or both. I presume you have an electric engage front clutch? If it is the mechanical engage one I believe they can be adjusted but I think the electric can not. However I do stand to be corrected by someone more in the know than myself....Dave

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4 hours ago, Empirelubeequipment.com said:

I didnt witness the belt slipping .    When the headis clogged and stops spinning is it hurting anything?  When I engage the PTO is it possible it's slipping there?   

20190222_173805.jpg

The belt doesn't look good. Having said that, I don't think the wear on the belt is the problem. It may be too long, but I've run some positively atrocious looking belts that got the job done. Your belt is either not tight enough, routed improperly, or you have a slipping clutch. You should be able to stall your engine or break something. There are no sheer pins on these units. I've assumed that the belt is the weakest link, but an older chain might go first. I can stall my 20hp Honda or my front driven 320000 Briggs without slipping a belt or clutch.

 

Love your light pods.

Edited by kwt
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thank you all for all the replies I will be dropping it off to my trusted independent mechanic to give me the diagnosis.  I will post what the issue is or was.  Because i hate people that get all this help and then never post what the solution was and leaves everyone guessing  especially the next guy with a similar problem. sorry for the rant hahaha

 

 

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On 2/26/2019 at 5:32 PM, Empirelubeequipment.com said:

Also it is mechanical pto but it has an electrical dodad under the pto lever.  

The electrical doodad is a starting safety switch. I has nothing to do with the PTO operation, only the tractor won't start if the PTO is engaged. The mechanical PTO is spring tension operated. If it has had a lot of use the friction band may be worn out.

Look in the "articles" section for "Front PTO kit installation instructions" to see how it works and adjustments.  They come apart easily for repair if not damaged or rusted, I just did one last week. 

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My tractors all use mechanical engagement on the snow blower rather than mechanical or electrical on the tractor so I cannot give any advice in that regard but here are some things to consider.

The points made above are very good.  Ground speed pushing the snow into the blower is very important and it takes time to learn how to judge based on the density/wetness and volume of snow you are moving, how fast the tractor needs to go.
I have found my most common problems to be the positioning of the pulley on the PTO so that the belt lines up correctly with the pulleys it is driving (this may not apply for your type of PTO) and settings on the snow blower side.  If the tension when engaging the PTO is not correct the belt slips.  If you get a clog and the belt starts to burn it greatly reduces it's ability to keep traction from that point forward.

So what I think you need to do is find the documentation on tuning up your blower, your PTO and to verify that your engine is correctly adjusted so that it runs at the proper RPM.  I have had tractors that for one reason or another were adjusted to too low an RPM at full throttle and unless you have an educated ear you would not know it was too slow but the performance impact can be quite high for blowing snow.

Another issue for wet slushy snow is how it can tend to freeze in the chute causing restriction that slows more snow going through.  I really have no suggestions for this.  It has been a PITA whenever conditions are just right for it where I live but in most circumstances my tractors do very well if I have everything properly adjusted.  At least on my older Landlords and B112s they are very finicky as to getting the proper tension and alignment but once done correctly they work amazingly well.

Good luck.  I am preparing for a storm tonight and fighting a throttle that will not stay on.  Going to have to clamp it with vise grips I think.  :)

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5 hours ago, theniteowl said:

Good luck.  I am preparing for a storm tonight and fighting a throttle that will not stay on.  Going to have to clamp it with vise grips I think.  :)

On those turn to lock throttles. I ground the lip off one so I could unscrew the throttle nut completely. I then cut a piece of 1/4" nylon fuel hose about 3/8ths" long, and sliced it lengthwise so I could get it over the rod behind the throttle lock nut. I beveled the edge towards the front. Basically I made a new packing. Screwed the throttle lock nut back in with the new packing, and viola. Locking throttle. Maybe cost a nickel, and now I can replace it easily.

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a quick update to those who are following. I completely dissembled the snowblower attachment re-greased everything replaced the belt. everything was in pristine operating condition. 

went to test it out and it clogged just as easily as before. the motor never changed tunes under a load and the belt stopped and there was no smelling of the drive pulley spinning. so i am going to assume there is something wrong with the pto clutch or something. I will be dropping at at my local power equipment shop tomorrow.

will post with an update after i get it back from the shop

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7 minutes ago, Empirelubeequipment.com said:

so i am going to assume there is something wrong with the pto clutch

That's where I would look next as well.  BTW, why does your website not list prices on the majority of the Reelcraft items?

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We just became a REELCraft distributor for  and have been working to add the prices on the website,  a monumental task. There are thousands of items but they should all have prices with in the next week or 2.  Was there something specific you were curious about? 

 

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That looks like a kevlar belt, in my experience, the rubber belts "grab" better on the pulleys.  Also, I have had the best use out of OEM Simplicity belts.  

One other thing to check....is your engine running at 3600 rpm when at full throttle?  Reason I ask is because it took me a while once to figure out that my 14hp Briggs was only running at 27xx rpms at full throttle.  My clogging issue was also engine related.  I switched to an OEM Rubber belt, ditched the kevlar, and corrected the engine speed.  The Briggs really screamed at 3600 rpm point and I think the previous owner lowered rpm because of that.  I found out I needed a new muffler too...LOL.

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14 hours ago, Alltractoredup said:

The Briggs really screamed at 3600 rpm point

Should probably be governed @ about 3800 rpm no load. Really.

I like heavy metal upon occasion. The screaming is music to my plugged ears.

 

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