# 5/23 Trac Drive Questions



## creeve4 (Dec 16, 2015)

I am considering buying a 5/23 Trac Drive (Model 536.884810). What specific things should I be looking for on this machine?

P.S. New member, first post.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

welcome to the forum Creeve :white^_^arial^_^0^_

Donyboy73 makes great videos on all kinds of repairs.
This one is on general things to check out on a used blower.


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## Seeker91199 (Jan 26, 2016)

I purchased a 5/23 several years ago and I am very happy with its performance. I help out a few senior citizens and widows on my street and wanted a powerful snow blower. 

I live west of Philly so we got slammed this weekend and it worked great. I plowed about 400' of double width driveway over the weekend with drifts to 3' and deeper where the plows left mounds at the bottoms of driveways. My 5/23 is at least 20 years old. The engine starts on the first pull. I use esorb fuel additive to handle the ethanol and I shut off the fuel line and run the carb dry before storing for the summer. 

Track drive is strong but I think there is some wear on the friction wheel. Forward is fine but reverse is very slow. It may need an adjustment.

This weekend I loaned my blower to my brother and one of the belts broke. I found replacements on Amazon for $17 and a video that shows how to change it. 

I have not done much other than change the oil in the engine at the end of each season. I am going to start lubricating the drive mechanism as it sounds like rust can be an issue. 

When I purchased mine the seller ran it forward, backward and spun the blades and that was it. 

I paid $450 about 7 years ago and have been very happy. I will never go back to shoveling!


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## cpchriste (Jan 19, 2014)

reverse is always very slow.
corrosion on the trak shafts is always the big problem.


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## unknown1 (Dec 13, 2015)

I am seeing this thread a bit late.

One thing to look for is whether the axles have rusted and seized.
If you cannot push or pull the blower without getting a hernia you will need to break down the TRAC drive, remove the rust, lubricate with marine grease and ideally add grease zerks.

See postings #11 and #22 on my other thread.
Repower and Trac Rebuild - Craftsman Trac (1987) - 5-23- 536884810 with 5.5HP Honda C


Step by step disassembly is post #11
http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/817041-post11.html

Adding the grease zerks is post #22
http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/842442-post22.html


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## Dkeith45 (Feb 26, 2016)

I know this is an old thread, but for future readers looking for help:

Don't buy a trac drive unit unless it's cheap enough to justify the time you'll sink into repairing it. In the case of mine at least, I paid $250 for it, and $50 in parts later, plus a set of tires I already had from a rotor tiller, a full set of shop and construction tools that I already had, and a month of working on it in my spare time, resulted in a nice 10hp 32 inch wide snowblower that runs like a champ. The trac system is poorly designed. If Stainless Steel shafts were used, it would be great. OR, if grease fittings were used, it might still be fine. But lack of both makes the trac system a POS. Search my other posts for more info.


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