# John Deere Snow not responsive



## Nashuan (Feb 9, 2013)

I have a John Deere walk behind snow blower that is about a year and a half old. Last year it got little use but right now, New Hampshire is getting walloped with a snow storm and the transmission is suddenly unresponsive. The machine throws the snow just fine but when I engage the lever to make it move forward, the transmission does not engage at all. I have little/no experience working on/maintaining these things so it's likely something (hopefully) really simple like some fluid being low. I went out to tackle the 2-feet of fresh snow this morning and initially it worked great, but then just stopped. No bang, no grinding, no nothing. I was able to open a path out of the driveway but need to widen it. The only way I could finish what little I did was to push the weight of the entire machine around like it was in neutral, but obviously I can't keep doing that. It's just too much to do by hand and I need to finish clearing it for my tennants. Anyone have a suggestion about what simple things I might be able to try?


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## Rockproof (Jan 12, 2013)

Nashuan

I'm unfamiliar with the JD's but always start with the simple first. Is there a way to tighten the drive clutch cable that you can see? Maybe drive belt tensioner or a shot belt...?

Here are two vids that might at least get you headed in the right direction:





 




 
Donnyboy73 has some great vids...,maybe even one on a JD which may adress your problem...


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## Colored Eggs (Dec 7, 2012)

There can be a few things. It depends on what type of system you are using. There are a few. 1. is a large disk and a small rubber wheel that moves to changes gear. Second is a hydro which is a more expensive feature and some have an actual transmission. Include some info like what make and model you have so that someone can look up parts list and see what you have. It could be as simple as a loose belt.


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## Nashuan (Feb 9, 2013)

Rockproof said:


> Nashuan
> 
> I'm unfamiliar with the JD's but always start with the simple first. Is there a way to tighten the drive clutch cable that you can see? Maybe drive belt tensioner or a shot belt...?
> 
> ...


Hello Rockproof:

Thank you so much for the help. The video on the top seems to be much more in line with the problem I'm having. The cable that regulates tension to the drive system seems to be tight and I even pulled it out by hand to see if it wasn't engaging the transmission(???) fully, but it seemed to be fuctioning properly.

Toward the end of the first video they showed a spring that was supposed to be applying constant tension to the drive belt. My impression of what's going on is what I think would happen if that spring came out of the notch. I'm too tired tonight to do anything more. With the tennant's and neighbor's help, we got the driveway opened up, so the immediate job at hand is done, but obviously I need to address this issue before the next big one hits. It's a shame that I'm having problems with a machine that has less than 10 hours use on it, but hopefully it will be some obvious (and small) problem that I can fix.


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## Nashuan (Feb 9, 2013)

Hello Colored Eggs:

It is a Dual Stage Snowthrower, model 928E.

I haven't opened up the cover yet (to be honest I was really hoping I wouldn't have to, but now I'm pretty much sure I will. I have an old (reliable) MTD snow blower that I retired (but still have under a giant pile of stuff in the back corner of the garage) that was having an issue with it's ability to throw the snow any real distance. I opened that one up and saw a wheel; similar to a baby carraige wheel that was wrapped on its outer edge with rubber and the rubber had several chunks missing. The local parts dealer identified it as the transmission and quoted me $40 for the part. At that point the machine was already 15 year old and starting to rust pretty bad so I opted to get a whole new machine. We'll see how intuitively this new snow blower is put together in the very near future. Thanks for the reply, it was a nerve wracking day and it was great to have responses so quickly when things were a little nuts.


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