# friction wheel slips



## Chip

5 years ago I bought a brand new Cub Cadet 528 swe. Since the first day of owning it I have had problems with the friction wheel slipping. It seems to happen after some snow melts on the machine and water drips on the wheel. I have taken it back to the dealer 10 plus times and they are unable to replicate it. I even video taped it and burned it to a dvd so they could watch it move two feet and stop, then chug a little then start moving. They pretty much said tough luck because they can't find anything wrong and Cub will not pay them for the hours of diagnosis they have into it. Nice guys huh? I have taken it to 2 other Cub dealers and they will not even touch it, i even offered to pay for the services. Unfortunately I am honest and gave them the back story on on it, and they cringed. Nobody wanted to inherit the other dealers problem. I wrote Cub a letter, never had a response. I am looking for ideas to fix this thing so I can use it. Is the rubber wheel junk? I cleaned the disk with brake cleaner and scotch brite, but it still works like crap. Tention on wheel seems good. Thanks! Chip


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## Blue Hill

Welcome to the forum Chip! I guess you are just going to have to fix it yourself and show those chuckleheads at the dealership what's what. 
Here's a video that should solve your problem.




Good luck.
Larry


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## micah68kj

Poor, poor service. Not a good way to generate additional business and have good customer relations. The good thing is that it's not a hard repair and Blue Hill provided your answer. You sure must have a bunch of idiots for dealers in your area.


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## Chip

Cable is pretty tight. I have tightened it all the way before, never made a difference. Some times it works fine, seems when snow blows back on it and melts it slips. Was tempted to caulk every seam at one point. We have a new dealer in my area now. They are big with 4 stores. Supposed to be good to deal with. Just upset I spent so much on something I have only used about 3 hours. I wish I would have bought a xdifferent brand........


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## Shryp

Caulk might be your only fix. I know Ariens and Briggs had this issue on their blowers back when they switched from Tecumseh to Briggs engines. The front of the engines were slightly different and the old belt covers they were using we letting a bit of water in the back. There have been various different gaskets as official fixes and some people have had good luck just using some kind of silicone to seal any holes they have found.


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## cdestuck

I also might invest a small amount of time and money and put in a new friction disc. Perhaps yours somehow became glazed or a bad batch of rubber compound.


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## HCBPH

*Thoughts*



Chip said:


> 5 years ago I bought a brand new Cub Cadet 528 swe. Since the first day of owning it I have had problems with the friction wheel slipping. It seems to happen after some snow melts on the machine and water drips on the wheel.


 I'm surprised no one mentioned this comment. If the friction wheel is wet, you're likely to have slipping - no two ways about it.
If the machine moves fine on it's own till this happens, then you have a water issue. I assume it's coming from the bottom, so does it have a skidpan on it?
Obviously it could be the friction disc, cable adjustment etc but it also could be a wet wheel contributing to the problem.


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## fronos4

Has the friction disc ever been replaced? If not that would be my first move. Although, if it looks like it's still in good condition I would go so far as to disassemble the friction disc to inspect it, if everything checks maybe add some gasket sealant on the inner edge between the clamping plates when you reassemble it (see attached). The issue you described sounds like the rubber is slipping between the two plates. If the friction rubber ring is bonded to the plate like some manufactures use, then you'll need to replace it since it could be unbonded from each other. The clamp type friction disc assembly seems to be more common, though.


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## KnowWon

HCBPH said:


> I'm surprised no one mentioned this comment. If the friction wheel is wet, you're likely to have slipping - no two ways about it.
> If the machine moves fine on it's own till this happens, then you have a water issue. I assume it's coming from the bottom, so does it have a skidpan on it?
> Obviously it could be the friction disc, cable adjustment etc but it also could be a wet wheel contributing to the problem.


 

This is a good point. I recently acquired a snowblower and it is in usable condition. It is not going through all the gears and in reverse only one gear. The pan is rusted through so snow can definitely splash up making the friction wheel slip. Also I have heard over time the friction wheel rubber will wear down and not grip as good as when new. The snowblower I have is at least 9 years old. Patching the hole and replacing the friction wheel rubber is at the top of my list.


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## flash_os

Thanks for good point.
I suspected that water is causing to that issue.

What the best way to caulk? Silicone or expanded foam?


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## Spectrum

This sounds like snow is blowing in there. I had a friction drive that would go into a temporary sip every time I rounded the same corner of my garage.A wet drive platter is a show stopper.


All of the usual shrouding was in place and the problem was unique to this unit. I observed that the steel platter was work polish quite smooth. I scrubbed it in a random pattern using coarse sand paper. The scratches gave the water a place to go and voila, consistent traction drive. It's much like the thread pattern in a tire preventing hydroplaning.


Pete



Pete


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## flash_os

And I yesterday (+12C :smile_big put silicone in every hole in the gear box, if it does no will work I will do as you did with coarse paper. And if even it doesn't, then I will paint my snowblower in white paint color and will throw it into the ocean. :devil:


Thanks.


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## russ01915

Silicone around the plastic belt shroud. Sometimes water leaks in and gets the friction wheel wet. Thus causing it to slip.. It was a common problem with ariens back when


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## skutflut

For what its worth, I had a similar problem on my Craftsman machine which is actually a Husqvarna st 227. There is a spot near the base of the belt cover where water can easily enter the transmission area depending on where the chute is pointing, and how wet and sloppy the snow is. I took a piece of plastic out of an old pail, and cut it to shape to cover the gap and divert water elsewhere. I was fortunate that there was a sheet metal screw in the general area, which i made allowance for with the plastic and used the screw to make sure the shield stayed in place.

It seems to have helped quite a bit. It is not completely water proof, but I have not had any more downright stalls in mid pass. It's also easy to remove when maintenance comes around. Caulking might be effective, but messy to remove when necessary.

Might be worth a try on your machine...


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## GustoGuy

Spectrum said:


> This sounds like snow is blowing in there. I had a friction drive that would go into a temporary sip every time I rounded the same corner of my garage.A wet drive platter is a show stopper.
> 
> 
> All of the usual shrouding was in place and the problem was unique to this unit. I observed that the steel platter was work polish quite smooth. I scrubbed it in a random pattern using coarse sand paper. The scratches gave the water a place to go and voila, consistent traction drive. It's much like the thread pattern in a tire preventing hydroplaning.
> 
> 
> Pete
> 
> 
> 
> Pete


Sounds like a plan I am going to do this to my MTD. We have a potential for up to 1 foot of snow in the forcast for late Wednesday into Thursday. I also heard degreasing the friction plate with brake cleaner helps too since it really cleans off grease and oil.


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## guybb3

I put a piece of aluminum angle iron on the deck of my TORO, near the pulleys. I put silicone under the aluminum before I screwed it down. Now when water comes off the pulley sheilds, it will be channeled to the sides of the machine, not down directly on to the disc drive.


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## orangputeh

Spectrum said:


> This sounds like snow is blowing in there. I had a friction drive that would go into a temporary sip every time I rounded the same corner of my garage.A wet drive platter is a show stopper.
> 
> 
> All of the usual shrouding was in place and the problem was unique to this unit. I observed that the steel platter was work polish quite smooth. I scrubbed it in a random pattern using coarse sand paper. The scratches gave the water a place to go and voila, consistent traction drive. It's much like the thread pattern in a tire preventing hydroplaning.
> 
> 
> Pete
> 
> 
> 
> Pete


very clever. another trick tool for the toolbox. thanks. I put a small film of shoe goo on an old 30 year old disk and have had no problems since. I love ******* repairs on old equipment to keep them going.


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## Harley3825

I had the same problem. Bought a rubber friction wheel. Where I bought the friction wheel The guy who sold it to me told me to scuff up the aluminum drive wheel with some emery cloth when installing the new rubber wheel. End of problems. Works like a charm.


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## nbwinter

Great idea scuffing up the friction disc. I just replaced the rubber friction wheel on my old Craftsman and the disc looked quite glazed so my first thought was to scuff it up but I was worried about overdoing it. I'll have to try it tonight


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## Harley3825

nbwinter said:


> Great idea scuffing up the friction disc. I just replaced the rubber friction wheel on my old Craftsman and the disc looked quite glazed so my first thought was to scuff it up but I was worried about overdoing it. I'll have to try it tonight


It doesn’t hurt it to give it a good scuffing. You’ll never scuff the aluminum wheel too much Mine is also a Craftsman blower.


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## CO Snow

This thread is 7 yrs old and the original poster hasn’t logged in in 6 yrs. Its better to start a new thread than tag onto one this old.


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## Kiss4aFrog

Don't do expanded foam. It will be a nightmare and should you need to get it apart it's just a mess. 
I would use silicone or when you have time maybe even make a plate out of thin aluminum with a lip at the belts and overlapping a bit of the transmission housing on both sides and the back bent down. Doesn't have to overlap much just enough to lead the water off the transmission housing so it doesn't follow the mounting bolts down to the drive or friction discs. My Ariens Deluxe has one, it's plastic.


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