# Smoking Auger Belt



## Stallion (Dec 13, 2017)

On Christmas I had the opportunity to use my rebuilt snow blower i purchased from craigslist for $75. It was a completely neglected Noma E24500 that I brought back to life with a little TLC and repowered with a Predator 212 engine. Unfortunately, things didn't work out as I hoped. After the second pass at the EOD it started to not throw as far and then noticed smoke coming from the belt cover. There was the horrible rubber burning smell and I immediately turned the engine off. After I finished shoveling my driveway I took the belt cover off and the auger belt had completely broken off and the sides appeared to be partially melted.

After inspecting the machine, I noticed that the pulley on the engine shaft was not exactly lined up with the impeller shaft pulley. It was almost a 1/4" off and I think could have caused the issue. Also, I did buy the belt at Grainger and the package said "use for low horse power applications". I don't know what "low horse power" exactly means but I'm wondering if the belt wasn't designed to handle a 6.5hp engine and could have also contributed to the belt failure.

Curious what your thoughts were?


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

realign engine pulley first, use either a belt made for auger or industrial or farm and if u like made w/kevlar for longevity.
imho ymmv


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## deezlfan (Nov 8, 2017)

Did you make sure your augers and blower fan rotate freely? Belt misalignment isn't good but a 1/4" offset shouldn't be the only factor here.


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## DriverRider (Nov 20, 2016)

A quarter inch won't burn your belt up but mismatched pulleys and/or wrong belt would.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I use the green Gates PowerRated belts, work like a charm.

As mentioned, I don't think a 1/4 alignment of pulleys would cause a belt catastrophe, sounds more like rubbing, maybe a missing guide, wrong size belt, bad tension pully or spring..... many causes.


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## nwcove (Mar 2, 2015)

I would guess it was a belt meant for an electric motor....not one meant for ope. Ya cant use automotive belts or belts meant for electric motors on your snowblower.


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## Stallion (Dec 13, 2017)

So I ordered a replacement auger belt online specific to my Noma snow blower. It came in yesterday and can clearly see that the belt looks and feels a lot more durable and rugged than the Dayton belt I purchased that had miserably failed. I installed the new belt this morning and tried it out on some piled snow along my driveway. It worked flawlessly! Thanks for the help everyone.


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## Stallion (Dec 13, 2017)

I forgot I had a question regarding the auger belt finger pulley guides. Any idea how far away they should be for the auger pulley on the engine shaft?


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## Shaw351 (Nov 15, 2016)

Stallion said:


> I forgot I had a question regarding the auger belt finger pulley guides. Any idea how far away they should be for the auger pulley on the engine shaft?


You want to use a bungee cord or electrical tape to engage / hold down the auger lever first.
Then adjust the left finger [ looking at the pulleys from the front of the machine ] to have a 1/8" air gap between belt and finger. 
Then adjust right finger to have same to 1/4" air gap. But can be different depending upon how the idler pulley is adjusted for belt tension. 

Ideally you want to release the auger lever and have the belt rest on the fingers so that it allows the engine pulley to spin freely. Sometimes you need to " Tweak " the adjustment to the individual machine. 
The left finger is always the closest / smaller air gap as it is usually mounted between the engine and idler pulleys. 
Hope this helps, just ask if you need any more guidance.



P.S. Looks like you need to move the right finger down to the bottom hole, believe both 
fingers are mounted in same locations on either side of pulley.


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## Stallion (Dec 13, 2017)

Adjusted the finger alignments per your recommendation and the blower worked flawlessly. Thanks for the help.


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## Shaw351 (Nov 15, 2016)

Stallion said:


> Adjusted the finger alignments per your recommendation and the blower worked flawlessly. Thanks for the help.


Sorry for the late reply. Glad everything worked out for you. It's a great feeling of accomplishment when you repair things yourself.


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