Cleared snow this winter, roughly 8 times. Did great first 6 times out. The last two times, I noticed a noise coming from the snow blower that continually got louder. The last time out, Yarbo was almost constantly stopping to adjust the Auger speed. Noticed it wasn’t throwing snow as far and leaving a lot on the ground (which didn’t happen the first 6 times out).
Put on the bench to check the belt and motor pulley. Both seem good with no belt wear or noticeable play in the pulley. I could turn the motor by hand, the belt would turn, and I could not hold the pulley while turning the motor. So it seems that the drive/belt connection is solid.
Went to the front of the snowblower. Did the following test (as outlined in my picture):
1. Grabbed the blade with my left hand, as indicated by the yellow arrow. Held it firmly.
2. Rotated the paddles with my right hand, as indicated by the blue arrow.
3. The shaft would rotate at the red arrow location, without turning the blade. The blade would barely turn if I held it with my hand.
Appears to me that I either have a stripped spline in the shaft or stripped gears in the gearbox.
Put in a ticket for it this morning: Ticket ID #178561. I figured at this point, it’s time to start disassembling to look at the shaft or gearbox, so probably going to have to be warrantied out.
