# 1970 Ariens Sno Thro - wheels/drive won't engage



## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

hello and thanks for having me....

1970 Ariens Sno Thro model 10995 i was gifted from my father in law who got it from his father in law. hasn't been used in 10 years, put gas, oil, carb cleaner, seafoam mist in the tank, pumped the tires up, and it fired on first pull. auger works great, only problem is, wheels won't turn when I squeeze the drive handle.

i have taken the bottom panel off and all the belts look good, seems like something isn't making contact with something. 

Anyone have one of these ? I have tried adjusting the rod going from the handle to the drive system, still won't go. 

I should note: wheels will turn if i push them by hand, and I can physically manhandle the blower into moving if i push, but not practical for any amount of time.

thanks for all help you can provide.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Hi Berger,
welcome to the forum!

Im not sure exactly what might be off in the adjustment..but there is a major fact you need to know before you can get it adjusted properly. For this series of 10,000 models, built before 1973:

You press in the handle to *stop* the machine.
You let go of the handle to make it run.

1. Put the gear shift (right handlebar) in neutral.
2. start the engine, engage auger.

You now have engine running, auger and impeller spinning, but the machine not moving.

3. Hold *in* the lever on the left handlebar. (the "clutch handle")
4. While holding, Put the machine in gear (start with 1st! 
5. Let *go* of the handle on the left side, the machine should now move forward.

yes, the machine will happily scurry along with *no* hands on the handlebars! That was the standard design until 1973.

Scot


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## scipper77 (Dec 4, 2013)

Sounds like the friction wheel is not engaging. Should be a round rubber coated wheel perpendicular to a round metal plate under the belly pan. Squeezing the handle should pull the two apart on your unit. If there is no motion with the handle ot of there is motion but they never come together then we have a starting point.


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

thank you so much for the fast replies ! i'm not mechanically inclined and its a pain in the butt but I thought i'd try to get it running. we're getting beat here in northeast PA this winter. 

anyways, 

i did notice the friction wheel and the other perpendicular wheel not touching.

going to go take a look at it now in the dark because you guys have me curious 

thanks


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

ok so i just plowed my driveway by pushing it  but i did notice the friction disc wasn't meeting the plate at all, with the lever NOT being held down. so i adjusted the set screw on the rod that runs down from lever to drive assembly. going to try it in the morning and see what i get. kids were hungry


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

thanks for all the help guys. the ariens is running by itself after i adjusted the rod like was suggested. friction disc wasn't making contact with the perpendicular plate. kids and wife are all excited to see it self propelled. 

thanks again.


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## scipper77 (Dec 4, 2013)

Glad to hear you got it worked out.


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

one other question. the snow blower peters out when i try to move the choke slider over to "no choke" its a 4 or 5 way switch "full choke" all the way to "no choke"

makes it halfway to no choke and if i try to switch it to the setting right before "no choke" it faults out.

any ideas ?

thanks.


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

berger34 -- Sounds like it can use a thorough carb cleaning, especially since it was sitting so long. You can pull the bottom jet out on the bottom of the carb and make sure it is clean, and that all the small passage ways are clear. They are quite small.... Also spray some carb cleaner up the throat of the carb. This is simply a shortcut from pulling the carb and soaking/cleaning it, yet I find it sometimes works.


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## scipper77 (Dec 4, 2013)

Unless the carb is full of varnish I find you usually don't need to soak. You do need to understand how a carb works and make sure you clear out all passages and that there is no loose debris. It only takes one piece of gunk left behind to clog a jet. Also if ethanol has eaten away at things you might need to simply replace gaskets and orings.


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## nt40lanman (Dec 31, 2012)

If it runs, I suggest turning the screw on bottom of the carb out a turn and see if runs better.


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

Great advice. Thanks everyone. I wondered what that screw did


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

Turned the screw and got it running without stalling on the 'no choke' setting, but now it stalls out when I have it set to full choke. Need to fiddle a little more I guess. Flipped it upside down and tightened the petcock some more too. Rubber fuel line hose is cracked at the end where it slides onto the petcock. May need to replace the hose because it's too short to cut a piece off and reconnect. Noticed that end of the hose was wet on the outside from gas.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

That sounds fairly normal. You only use full choke to start it. You do not need to be able to run on full choke. 

Not 100% on whether mine would actually run on full choke, but if it would, it would not be running smoothly, that's for sure.


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

Mine won't run on full choke. Runs rough even on half choke. Full choke just to start it, then half for a few seconds then no choke.

When you adjusted the friction wheel, the wheel doesn't sit on the disc plate all the time does it? It is not supposed to touch the plate until you pull the lever that moves the cable.


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

yes it touches all the time. when I squeeze the handle, it separates the plate from disc stopping movement.


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## Garandman (Jan 24, 2014)

Here's what the inside of your tractor looks like. It's probable the rubber covered disk at the top left is worn out. 

The wheels are locked to the axle with Woodruff keys, but they seldom fail, and it's very unlikely they would both fail. So it's likely the axle is not being driven.


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## berger34 (Feb 17, 2014)

Garandman I got lost....to
whom are you speaking ? 

mine runs fine


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