# Last year's Craftsman 26" 208cc issues. HELP!



## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

Hi. I'm Tony and I own a Craftsman...

Short intro to the troubles I've had with this machine, and what's been done, as well as what I did today to also need help:

Two weeks after I bought it, last February, the drive mechanism began to slip in first gear, almost wouldn't move. Brought it in, was adjusted, and worked ok for the rest of the year. This year, second week of January, the rubber disintegrated and the wheel scarred the heck out of the drive surface. Repaired brand new, has since seen 3 snows, only one heavy and none of them very much accumulation (less than 4"). Now, first gear is SLOW, to the point of unusable, and the rest of the gears are quite slow as well. I have to run it in 2nd at a minimum, or it doesn't move but about snail speed. No joke. I used to use 1st for the end of the driveway, and I can't now. I pulled the inspection cover, there's some rubber accumulating on the pulley side, and plenty of rubber on the other, and said rubber is very sticky. How could this maybe be fixed? I'm sure the machine is taking more of a beating than it should running second gear for thick, heavy plow-leavings.

Second issue, and my fault: I was clearing around my snowmobile, with the idea I would get it running again. There's a tarp half buried under the snow, I had used it for my side-by-side before I bought a proper cover and it got snow-covered for the most part, left it there. Didn't think it was where it was from the part I could see, and the rope wrapped into the auger. Not bad, right? Except it pulled one side of the auger shaft out of the side plate. I need to know how to get it back in the side plate, if there's a way other than dismantling the entire chute. I have a full belts-spark plug warranty, but I'm a little embarrassed about this one.

Thank you in advance, and sorry my first post says so little about me!


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

hello tony, welcome to *SBF!!* sounds like the friction wheel is falling apart again


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

Thanks for the reply, buzzard. After some more reading, I've learned some more proper sounding terms. The friction wheel, if that's the one with the rubber on it, is sticky, but no uneven wear. The steel has some rubber glazing on it where the friction contacts it in 1st gear, but not all the way around. No obvious defects anywhere that I can see.

Maybe the friction wheel adjustment is off? Like it moved (stretched the cable?) more towards the center than it should be, and slowed all the forward gears down? It's only 1/4" or so from the center pin on the pulley wheel in 1st.


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

I'm going to post this question in the snowblower repair section, seems more traveled and may be a better place for it. Sorry I posted in the wrong section if it is. I googled my problem and it led me to the Craftsman-specific forum and I posted before I really looked around the forum! I'm learning quite a bit, but still haven't found my answers.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

clean the rubber of the steel disc that the friction wheel rides on


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

That's my next step, but I'm not real sure what to use. I don't want to scrape it, I think the pulley is aluminum, or that's what it looks like.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

try some brake parts cleaner spray it on a rag you don't want it on the friction wheel


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

Thank you. I'll do that, and return with results. I can't do much right now with it, since the auger is out on the one side, but that shouldn't stop me from checking the drive wheels.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

if you can post some pic's of the auger so we have a better idea if the problem. did the housing get damaged


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

Here it is. I have the part removed that the shaft rides in on the side it came out of. It appears the housing is bowed out some, just slightly, but I'm hoping it isn't enough to cause issues.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

is the housing damaged where the auger shaft and bearings bolt on or did the bolts that hold the bearings get stripped and pulled apart causing the shaft to come out


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

I cleaned the pulley with brakleen, moves in 1st but still extremely slow.

It actually appears as though nothing is damaged at all, and there aren't even any marks where the shaft pulled out of the bushing. There are no bearings on the side plates, just plastic bushings. I know it's hard to see in the picture, but the side of the intake housing is pushed out about 1/4" on the side the shaft pulled out from, but the shaft shows it goes into the bushing about 1 1/4", so that shouldn't matter for future issues, I would think. I'm not sure, since I'm new to snowblowers, but it seems so.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

on all my machines the auger rides on bearings so i can't be of much help with plastic bushings and don't understand why someone would put them on the augershaft, just doesn't seem like a good location for them. can you push the housing back in place or maybe wield or bolt a piece of steel in there to make up the 1/4 inch


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

I thought it was crazy, too. I tried pushing the housing back, but it rebounds. I haven't laid it on its side, yet, that'll be tomorrow, and I hope it works. It seems, from my reading, that I have to separate the chute from the rest of the machine to reinstall the auger shaft, does that sound right? I was hoping there was some other way.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

i got the pic of tha auger enlarged and it looks like you could try putting that red carrier that holds the auger back on the shaft then bolt it back in the housing, it might pull the bucket back in place. i would use a heavier grade bolt. to move my auger shaft on the toro i would have to seperate the auger assembly from the traction assembly. thats a job i'll be doing for the first time this summer


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

The shaft doesn't bolt in, it only rides in the plastic bushing. The carrier will have to go back on before the shaft is slid back into the housing. I tried pulling on one end of the shaft to get it out far enough to slide the carrier back on, but I had no luck. It only moves about 3" out, nowhere near enough to do it. I'm pretty sure you're right about separating the auger ass'y from the traction ass'y. I'll get on that tomorrow. 

Any more ideas about the speed? I don't know if you saw it, but I cleaned the pulley and it still goes snail slow. Thanks a lot for the answers!


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

check your owners manual to see if there is an adjustment for the gears. my old toro's all have three speeds foward. on the 521 first gear is too slow and on the 826 first gear is too fast but i understand why for each machine


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I just had an MTD/Troy Bilt apart at my mother's house a few weeks ago to fix the front auger shaft popping out of the bearing just like yours. Your Craftsman was also built by MTD.

Yes, the whole front assembly has to come out.

Remove the clip holding the chute crank on and slide that out of the way. Yours might be cables instead of a crank.
Remove the belt cover.
Unhook the belt.
Unhook the spring from the idler pulley and handle that tightens the belt.
(I pulled mine off after separating the scoop and drive sections.)
Remove the 2 bolts on each side holding the front scoop to the drive section.
Tilt the handles back and lift the scoop out of the pivot.
Tip the front scoop section flat on the ground and remove the bolt holding the large pulley on.
(I used an axe handle through the chute to hold the impeller.)
Remove the 2 screws on each side of the augers.
Slide the whole gearbox assembly out the front.

Take the empty front shell and push in both sides so the front shaft fits nice and tight. I tipped mine up on one side and leaned into it then flipped it and leaned into the other side. Made for a nice tight fit.

Put it all back together the same way only backwards.


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## madmedic22 (Feb 22, 2014)

Shryp, that's what I thought I had to do. Any idea how long that may take a first timer to that job?


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Maybe an hour? It isn't terribly difficult and being a newer blower everything should come apart fairly easy.


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