# Crary bearcat problemo



## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

Hi Folks, New to the site and glad I found you guys. I have a 1980ish crary bearcat 824 snowblower with a techumseh. Purrs like a kitten and will throw the snow a longs ways. The problem is it will no longer drive like it is supposed to and I am clueless. It used to drive real well and pretty fast in 5th gear but no longer. When in gear and the wheels off the ground they will turn but not real fast and I can stop them from moving with my hand. On the ground I get nothing. Need some advice before the snow flies. Also, i'm not as smart as I look so terminology will not be my strong suit right away. Talk to me like you would a 2nd grader. Thanks in advance.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Needs the friction disc adjusted, cleaned and / or replaced.
If yours is really 30 years old, my money is on replaced.

In simple terms, your snowblower transmission has a rubber tire inside of it and they wear out eventually.

Check this link for video directions on various different blowers.

donyboy73 - YouTube

While you have it apart, check for loose bearings and bushings as well. Most likely the axle bushings behind the wheels are wore out as well. Loose bearings can cause play on the internal parts and make them too loose.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks Shryp but no luck on Donyboy73. Been watching him all day and haven't found what i'm looking for. No friction disk to be found.







This is what I've got underneath. Haven't found a Donyboy73 video that covers this yet but I may have missed it.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Looks like you might have a real transmission there. No friction disc to slip. Is the belt or pulley slipping? Could be an adjustment somewhere.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

With the wheels off the ground and in gear, the wheels turn real slow before even squeezing the lever and then move faster with the lever squeezed. But still no torque to make it move. Since the belts looked like a problem ready to happen and thinking perhaps they were my problem I replaced them. Don't really know what to adjust here though so suggestions on that are needed. A picture may help guide me to a possible adjustment.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

The small pulley directly above the big chain sprocket is your idler pulley. Move your drive lever and you will see how that pulley moves to tighten the belt. I can't see the back of the pulley where it attaches to the bracket but most adjust by loosening the center bolt of the idler pulley and the it will slide back and forth in a slot. Slide it a little closer to the belt and retighten.

Do that for both belts. With the wheels in the air a little motion is ok as long as when it is on the ground it doesn't move. And for the auger slow movement is ok but you should be able to stop it with almost no effort.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

Hey td5771, thanks for your response. I have seen this suggested before on a variety of posts and on donyboy73s videos so I had looked for these slots before. Just went out to the garage to double check incase I had over looked these. Nope, no slots. There are nuts to remove both the idler pulley and the auger pulley but no slot on either for adjusting. If there is something I'm missing here please point it out. What else do we have? I'm getting the impression my machine is out of the ordinary.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

It is out of the ordinary and one of the good ones.

Follow the idler pulley bracket....then spring....then the steel rod it is connected to...and so on all the way back to the lever on the handles to engage the drive

Some where along there, there will be a adjustment of some kinds. A nut on a steel rod to loosen and lengthen. Or shorten the rod.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

Some other pics of the controls may help.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

roger that. heading to the garage with the camera and be back shortly


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

Alright, here are a group of pictures from the pivot point of the arm that holds the idler pulley all the way over to the rod that connects the hand lever rod. If that makes any sense.








when I put the slightest amount of preasure on the squeeze handle things start to engage. Doesn't seem to be any slop or play. Everything starts to move immediately. Hope these help the progress.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

your adjustment is in pic number 4. the thread on the steel rod goes through the fitting and on the other side of that fitting where it goes through the flat steel there is most likely a cotter pin. take out the pin, thread the fitting further up the steel rod and thats the adjustment.

if it is all engaging but doesnt move with the wheels on the ground:

with the covers off did you start and engage the drive with the wheels on the ground. it would be a good place to start. as it sits running and engaged but not moving you should see which pulley isnt spinning at the right speed or not at all. either the bottom rear most pulley will be sitting still while the belt and upper 2 pulleys spin or the upper most pulley will be spinning but the belt wont be turning. 

if everything is spinning fine but it still does not move, something else is wrong.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

I've had the cover off the whole time staring at it for hours while its running. Wheels on the ground, wheels off the ground. Pulleys are spinning the whole time its running and the idler pulley spins when the handles depressed. I've watched alot of donyboy73 and thought I had a handle on how this would work. If I had a more common machine I might have had her licked by now, but it might be time to suck it up and find a way to bring it to some hired help. Still hopeful there is an answer here for me yet though. Any other ideas are welcome.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

There should be another steel rod for the gear shifting of the trans. Disconnect the linkage as close to the trans as possible and manually shift the trans. You might not be getting full engagement of the trans.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

So here is where the gear shift rod goes to. When I shift I can clearly feel each gear firmly. Disconnected the connection and shifted by hand. Felt firmly in gear but no go with the handle squeezed. Sounded like the motor experienced a slight load but faded quickly after squeezing the handle.


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

was working in the garage, going to have to mull this one over. after midnight here, will get back to you.


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

take a good look at the pulley on the lower right and the gear behind it and the sprocket being driven by the chain in the middle closely. Put a mark with a piece of chalk on the shaft and pulley and make sure you dont have any slippage. There may be a sheared key allowing some drag making the wheels turn when unloaded by not when loaded. 

carl


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

Great point, was thinking the same thing


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

Good morning Carl and TD. I'll give that a look tonight when I get home from work and report my findings. Your help is greatly appreciated.


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## Simplicity Solid 22 (Nov 27, 2012)

Scrawny your camera seems like it can take clear pics...can you increase the pixel size....These guys are good....tough to see due to picture size. Might help a bit.


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

While this sounds obvious check to make sure the pins are in the wheels and that the axle is not just spinning in the wheel.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

Hey guys, pins are in the wheels so we can rule that out. Got home to late to fire up the machine last night but marked the pulley and the shaft this morning. fired it up and tried to get her to go. Provided i marked the right stuff the marks did not seperate. they still line up to where i put them. I've enlarged the pictures a little. Hope they are not to big now. Two pics. One of my marks after a test run and one of the sprocket behind the pulley.


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## scrawnyronny (Nov 3, 2013)

thought i enlarged the pictures. will have to try again


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

I've never seen a blower like that or tranny, but I assume the tranny takes fluid/oil/grease??? Have you checked that. Just throwing out ideas. The transfer of power from the pulleys to the transmission could be stripped or a simple roll pin sheared hidden inside the transmission? Maybe enough friction to cause movement under no load, but not connected enough to drive under load. Spitballing I know I know on my old JD blower my drive axle appeared to be one solid shaft when in fact it was a shaft inside of a tube with little roll pins.


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

What about the pulley to the left of that one, did you mark it?


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

Just start at the output of the motor and check every link or connection in order till you get to the wheels. A pain but you will find it.


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## thx1139 (Dec 19, 2013)

I own 4 similar machines. The thread seems to have gone stale by several weeks now, but I've noticed something worth looking into:

The diameter of the driven pulley in question has been altered over the years, to a smaller diameter on my most recent model. scrawnyronny's new belt might be too big if his supplier provided one spec'ed for the older units.

Going back and re-reading, it wasn't clear to me if the driven pulley was not being engaged (as a too-long-belt might cause), or if the pulley got up to speed correctly but resulted in no motion, at or after the gearbox.

Also, it was speculated in a previous post that the gearbox may have run out of oil. Many of these Peerless transmissions do not contain oil. On assembly they were packed with grease, which provided all the lubrication. They are usually pretty stout, even having been used in some riding mower applications.

Curious if the original poster finally got his machine back online...


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## Wes (Dec 27, 2016)

I have a 624 and it is the same chassis as the 824. There is NO rubber wheel to drive this thing, rather it is a transmission with real gears in an enclosed housing. It's pretty bulletproof, but a roll pin on the output shaft may be broken. It's a pain to work on this thing, but it is straight forward. The machine has to be split and the cassette type transmission can be removed. I'd look first at the bevel drive on the outside of the case and see if you're missing the roll pin. If not, you'll have to split the case and get inside of it. I haven't done that, but this is a universal type transmission and is made for a variety of applications--it can be had, but I don't know where.
My unit is 25 years old and has been worked hard--just repowered it with a Harbor Freight 6.5 hp. engine. It's a really great machine! Can't find a manual for the thing anywhere.


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## BobCat520 (Oct 24, 2013)

Wes said:


> I have a 624 and it is the same chassis as the 824. There is NO rubber wheel to drive this thing, rather it is a transmission with real gears in an enclosed housing. It's pretty bulletproof, but a roll pin on the output shaft may be broken. It's a pain to work on this thing, but it is straight forward. The machine has to be split and the cassette type transmission can be removed. I'd look first at the bevel drive on the outside of the case and see if you're missing the roll pin. If not, you'll have to split the case and get inside of it. I haven't done that, but this is a universal type transmission and is made for a variety of applications--it can be had, but I don't know where.
> My unit is 25 years old and has been worked hard--just repowered it with a Harbor Freight 6.5 hp. engine. It's a really great machine! Can't find a manual for the thing anywhere.


Does the H/F motor you used to re-power your machine have a 6:1 reduction?
I had to buy a Briggs OHV in order to re-power my 5/20.


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