# I keep ripping up belts on my Ariens



## raymondjiii

Hi, new member here (I just found this site from mytractorforum.com)

I have an Ariens 926103 ST1332LE snowblower and I keep destroying the belt at least once a year.

The last one I took off had the belt width very narrow in one section (with belt shavings all over the inside of the unit.)

I have:
- examined the belt-finger and it and seems to be in spec with the spacing between it and the belt.
- checked the clearance between the belt and the brake pad and that seems okay

Today (because I have no other options) I removed the shear bolts - maybe they were in wrong or over-tightened.) One of them was very bent - but not broken. I assume these shear bolts can be inserted either end of the openings. I was using Oregon brand replacement shear bolts part # 51001500. They are labeled as Ariens replacement and "look" to be the same.

I had this looked at one time and got nothing except a huge bill. I am not sure what else I can do but it is a royal pain to change this belt (plus the cost) and it gets minimal use per year.

If anyone has any insight or advice on what to look for as to why I keep destroying a belt I would be extremely grateful for your help. Thank you.

Ray


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## Colored Eggs

Welcome to the site. If you a post a picture it can help some members identify your issue. It could be many things from the belt not being aligned, to much tension or to loose, and even to a bad bearing in the auger assembly. So there are quite a few things to look at so a picture may be able to help you identify your problem.


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## Shryp

Are you using proper belts? Belts designed for a snow blower are different than generic belts at an auto parts store. You need heavy duty kevlar cord belts.

Also, there was an upgrade available for some models to upgrade from a single belt to dual belts for the auger. That could help you. Snowmann would be the one to tell you if it is available for your blower or not.

http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/40925-A-1.html

If one section of your belt is worn significantly and there are shavings everywhere it sounds like your belt is slipping on the engine pulley. Either it needs tightened or you need to stop holding the auger lever down with the impeller frozen.


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## raymondjiii

I am using only Ariens belts and the part number on them is the part number listed in my owners manual which is Ariens part 07200021.

There are two belts one is for the impeller and one is for the traction drive. I am very curious to see about the dual belts. Thanks.


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## raymondjiii

Shryp said:


> Are you using proper belts? Belts designed for a snow blower are different than generic belts at an auto parts store. You need heavy duty kevlar cord belts.
> 
> Also, there was an upgrade available for some models to upgrade from a single belt to dual belts for the auger. That could help you. Snowmann would be the one to tell you if it is available for your blower or not.
> 
> Ariens #526025: 8.5-11.5 Belt Improvement Kit
> 
> If one section of your belt is worn significantly and there are shavings everywhere it sounds like your belt is slipping on the engine pulley. Either it needs tightened or you need to stop holding the auger lever down with the impeller frozen.
> 
> Frozen Snowblower Auger = Wrecked Belt - YouTube




That guy makes some good videos! I've seen a bunch of his videos in the past. That is pretty much what my belt looks like - thin in one section and all cracked underneath. I could SWEAR that the auger is never jammed when I am using it. Last year, the last time I used it for the season, it was barely throwing the snow and then the belt died (I replaced the belt) and probably tomorrow in the North-east all snowblowers will be out and in operation. I tested mine today, changed oil, put new shear bolts on. Auger is running good, let's see how it goes tomorrow.

I checked into that Ariens belt modify kit and it looks like it only goes up to 11.5 hp models. Mine is a 13 hp model so I'm not sure if that would work or if there is another Ariens kit. If there is such a kit for the larger models and it would help - I would definitely purchase that.

I am wondering if anything else could be "out of alignment" or anything.


Thanks for your help!


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## Shryp

If your belt is loose it can be slipping and causing similar issues when you dive into a snow bank.

Per Snowmann:


> FYI,
> 
> This 52602500 kit isn't the one you're referring to.
> 
> The dual auger belt accessory kit you are referring to is 72600700 for the 8.5 to 11.5hp Tecumseh models (and Briggs equipped 926,XXX models with single belt auger drives) and 72600800 for the 13hp Tecumseh models. It's priced in the $35 range and fairly easy to install. This would be for 2005 and 2006 model 926,XXX machines. This became standard equipment on all 926,XXX and 921,XXX machines in 2007. A nice feature for sure.


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## raymondjiii

There is another Ariens belt kit for the 13 hp models. That part is 
*Ariens 526024*


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## raymondjiii

Shryp said:


> If your belt is loose it can be slipping and causing similar issues when you dive into a snow bank.
> 
> Per Snowmann:


I don't see anything where I can adjust this. It seems like hand lever hit - boom - engaged. Hard to test of course when the unit is apart but maybe this is the case. Belt finger spacing and brake pad spacing seem okay. Is there an adjustment for Ariens models do you know? Thank you.


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## Shryp

Page 25, http://apache.ariens.com/manuals/00483700_ENG.pdf


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## raymondjiii

Shryp said:


> Page 25, http://apache.ariens.com/manuals/00483700_ENG.pdf


Doh! Thanks! I don't remember if I checked the length of that spring when it was engaged or not engaged. I did check the brake clearance. SOB maybe this is it.

Oh, the part that I listed was a belt upgrade kit but for the traction side of things. Not the auger. Thanks!


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## raymondjiii

Shryp said:


> If your belt is loose it can be slipping and causing similar issues when you dive into a snow bank.
> 
> Per Snowmann:


I have a 926103 model but I do not remember what year I bought this. I want to say 2008. Do you know if I can tell based on the serial number? I have 002398 listed as my serial number. Thank you!


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## raymondjiii

Looking around I see the part 72600800 goes for $60. Nobody has a picture of it to see if I have it - and since they are calling it a "dual belt" kit I doubt that I do. Would like to see it first though.


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## raymondjiii

Shryp said:


> Page 25, http://apache.ariens.com/manuals/00483700_ENG.pdf


Okay, now my memory is coming back slowly. Last year I checked the length of the spring attached to the auger hand control and I found it was "just about 1/2 inch" the problem is that you cannot just "slide it over" to make the belt tighter. There are actually three different stops that the adjustment nut can fit into. The first is basically fixed and I got just a hair under 1/2 inch so I took the bolt out (not slid it over as the manual says you can do) and moved it over to the next slot. Now it is just a hair under 11/16 inches which is the max.

Manual says the spring length difference should be between 1/2 and 11/16 inches.

Maybe - since this belt is new it will stretch every so slightly after some use bringing the distance the spring travels right in the middle of the specified range - rather than being on the low side (which it was) or the high side (which it is now.)

Maybe it was slipping because I was near the lower end and the belt did stretch - man I hope this was the cause of my problem. I still would love to get a glimpse of that Ariens part 72600800 (or 72600700) to see what exactly that is and if I have it. I have two belts but one for traction and one for auger this part makes me think it is two for the auger. I have searched the internet and have found it for sale but nobody has a diagram or picture.

Thank you everyone.


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## raymondjiii

Maybe this is what the dual belt kit looks like:


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## Shryp

I have heard the dual belt kit comes with 2 belts, a new pulley for the engine and a new pulley for the impeller. It should make 2 for the auger and 1 for the drive.


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## scipper77

If your pulley has rust inside of the groove it will chew up belts. Any knick or Dings on that,surface do the same. A bad idler pulley will out a load on the belt and motor.


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## raymondjiii

Shryp said:


> I have heard the dual belt kit comes with 2 belts, a new pulley for the engine and a new pulley for the impeller. It should make 2 for the auger and 1 for the drive.


I spoke to Ariens today and they recommended tightening the auger belt towards the maximum side of the range (11/16") and that after 2 hours or so it will need to be readjusted. Makes sense I guess.

They also said that the dual belt auger kit will significantly improve performance with wet-snow. The belts used with the dual pulley kit system are different belts than what is used on the single belt system so you cannot use any of the other belts you may have once you make the conversion.

They also said that the dual belt traction kit was really only necessary on early serial numbers but he did not say what the range of serial numbers were. "...but if you do not hear metal on metal you do not need it."

Lastly, they recommended that shear bolts be tightened down "snug." I thought leaving them lose enough so that you could spin them around was the way to go - they say no - even though "this has never been written down in any of the owner's manuals in the past 40 years."

I ordered my kit today - $70 with shipping was the best price I could find for it (mine is the 13hp model.)


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## Shryp

raymondjiii said:


> Lastly, they recommended that shear bolts be tightened down "snug." I thought leaving them lose enough so that you could spin them around was the way to go - they say no - even though "this has never been written down in any of the owner's manuals in the past 40 years."


One possibility for the conflicting info on shear pins is Ariens augers are pretty thick so it would be pretty hard to tighten them down enough to actually squeeze the auger tubes down onto the auger shaft and clamp them there.

MTD for example would be a lot thinner and require a lot less force to camp them.


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## raymondjiii

I think (hope) I have found the answer to my constant belt ripping problem:

I ran my snow-blower for the first time this season - with a new belt installed. I adjusted the tension on the auger belt such that it was at the high-end of range for how far the spring can expand - 11/16" After using it for about one hour, the following day I checked the spring length again it was down to just over 1/2" which is the lower end of the range. That's a pretty big stretch. I know that I never checked the tension after the first use after a new belt was installed.

I also picked up that dual belt kit today from Jacksmallengines.com - it looks good. I probably will not install it until the end of the snow season...or if the belt rips again before then :-0

Thanks Shryp and other commentors.


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## Kiss4aFrog

raymondjiii said:


> I also picked up that dual belt kit today from Jacksmallengines.com - it looks good.


If that's the one they were talking about not being able to get a picture of on any of the sites can you post one ??


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## raymondjiii

Kiss4aFrog said:


> If that's the one they were talking about not being able to get a picture of on any of the sites can you post one ??


Sure:
From talking to the guy at Ariens corp he made it sound like the belts for this kit were flat - just like the video a few messages up in this thread that I attached. But in fact they are not - they are V belts. The part number on the belts is shown.


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## dbert

Looks like a good deal for $60


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## Green Man

Time for me to order this as well!


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## Green Man

What is the 52602500 Belt Improvement Kit if the 72600700 is the dual belt upgrade?


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## raymondjiii

Green Man said:


> What is the 52602500 Belt Improvement Kit if the 72600700 is the dual belt upgrade?


I believe that is for the drive control. I asked about it and the Ariens guy said if you are not having any problems then you do not need it. He claimed that you would be hearing some strange sounds when you engaged the drive control.


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## UNDERTAKER

If the auger is freezing up. I would at the impeller imput bearing. And i think you have the wrong belts to. Let us know. Aloha.


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## raymondjiii

POWERSHIFT93 said:


> If the auger is freezing up. I would at the impeller imput bearing. And i think you have the wrong belts to. Let us know. Aloha.


You would do what at the impeller bearing. I definitely do not have the wrong belts. I can assure you.


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## old_lx173

I am another new member here courtesy of mytractorforum.com.

I have also been destroying impeller belts on the Ariens 926LE (926001-027705) I bought during a clearance sale at Home Depot in early 2007. No matter how careful I've been, it has basically become routine for a belt to get toasted when clearing slushy/heavy snow from my driveway. For the past few years I have kept an extra belt on hand and replaced it as needed. However, I was finally aggravated enough to try to look for a solution and stumbled across this thread where others have had the same problem with this particular line from Ariens.

I ordered the Dual Attachment Belt Kit (72600700) from jackssmallengines.com for $55 plus s/h and installed it yesterday. If anyone is interested in what the kit contains or what the install is like, I've scanned a pdf of the instructions and placed them here. One piece of advice that the instructions did not include would be to set the spring extension for the attachment clutch cable to the maximum length when installing the new cable in the kit (as raymondjiii mentioned). I ran my blower with the auger clutch engaged for about 15 minutes after the install and saw that I had lost a little spring extension. If you start with the max extension, you will have a better shot at staying within spec as everything stretches out a bit.

Another thing of note is that the "matched belt set" that comes with the less than 13 HP engine kit has a part number of 07200430. According to PartsRadar, this is a 4L (0.5") width x 37.06" length belt, which is the same spec as the original single attachment belt (07200020). Based on past experience, I plan on having a couple of these on hand as spares. 

One thing I'm curious about is how do I find out about all of the update kits like this that are available for my 926LE? Are there any other upgrades that I should be considering (like the impeller kits from Clarence's Small Engines) to help with my poor slushy snow performance? Other than the impeller belt issue I have been very pleased with this machine. Home Depot did a nice job with the initial assembly and adjustment and I ended up getting a brand new $999 blower for $633 before tax. It's supposed to snow here mid-week, so I should at least be able to give this new dual belt setup a shot.


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## raymondjiii

I think the answer (maybe) for me was that I had the belt not tensioned enough. We had a decent amount of snow this year in the NYC area and it's held up all year.

I have not installed the kit yet as I was afraid I would not have it completed by the time the next snow storm came plus I wanted to see when and if the belt would rip up this year.

I thought the exact same thing - get multiple spare belts for this new kit. I had a slew of old belts for the old one. I was kinda ticked off that I did not hear about this kit until I started this thread here. I know there is another kit to improve the traction but I spoke to Ariens and they highly recommend that I do not need it.

Thanks for the pointers on the installation of the new auger kit. I am going to do it in a few weeks. More snow coming this week in NYC area.

Ray





old_lx173 said:


> I am another new member here courtesy of mytractorforum.com.
> 
> I have also been destroying impeller belts on the Ariens 926LE (926001-027705) I bought during a clearance sale at Home Depot in early 2007. No matter how careful I've been, it has basically become routine for a belt to get toasted when clearing slushy/heavy snow from my driveway. For the past few years I have kept an extra belt on hand and replaced it as needed. However, I was finally aggravated enough to try to look for a solution and stumbled across this thread where others have had the same problem with this particular line from Ariens.
> 
> I ordered the Dual Attachment Belt Kit (72600700) from jackssmallengines.com for $55 plus s/h and installed it yesterday. If anyone is interested in what the kit contains or what the install is like, I've scanned a pdf of the instructions and placed them here. One piece of advice that the instructions did not include would be to set the spring extension for the attachment clutch cable to the maximum length when installing the new cable in the kit (as raymondjiii mentioned). I ran my blower with the auger clutch engaged for about 15 minutes after the install and saw that I had lost a little spring extension. If you start with the max extension, you will have a better shot at staying within spec as everything stretches out a bit.
> 
> Another thing of note is that the "matched belt set" that comes with the less than 13 HP engine kit has a part number of 07200430. According to PartsRadar, this is a 4L (0.5") width x 37.06" length belt, which is the same spec as the original single attachment belt (07200020). Based on past experience, I plan on having a couple of these on hand as spares.
> 
> One thing I'm curious about is how do I find out about all of the update kits like this that are available for my 926LE? Are there any other upgrades that I should be considering (like the impeller kits from Clarence's Small Engines) to help with my poor slushy snow performance? Other than the impeller belt issue I have been very pleased with this machine. Home Depot did a nice job with the initial assembly and adjustment and I ended up getting a brand new $999 blower for $633 before tax.  It's supposed to snow here mid-week, so I should at least be able to give this new dual belt setup a shot.


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## old_lx173

raymondjiii said:


> I think the answer (maybe) for me was that I had the belt not tensioned enough. We had a decent amount of snow this year in the NYC area and it's held up all year.
> 
> I have not installed the kit yet as I was afraid I would not have it completed by the time the next snow storm came plus I wanted to see when and if the belt would rip up this year.
> 
> I thought the exact same thing - get multiple spare belts for this new kit. I had a slew of old belts for the old one. I was kinda ticked off that I did not hear about this kit until I started this thread here. I know there is another kit to improve the traction but I spoke to Ariens and they highly recommend that I do not need it.
> 
> Thanks for the pointers on the installation of the new auger kit. I am going to do it in a few weeks. More snow coming this week in NYC area.


I dunno, I replaced this belt so many times that I've actually gotten pretty good at tensioning it.  I burned up my first belt of this winter two snowstorms ago when I hit a slushy patch even though I've learned to be careful under that situation. I was able to tension it enough to get me through the 10" of powdery snow we had last weekend, but I figured I'd try this kit instead of replacing the belt yet again.

We're due for about 6" mid week here in New England, so I'll at least get to see how the dual belt setup works.

FWIW, I haven't noticed any issues with traction either and I have a 100'+ driveway with a bit of a hill. For a few years I plowed my driveway with the blade on my lawn tractor and it had traction issues at times even with rear weights and tire chains. The Ariens blower has been a big improvement in that department.


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## raymondjiii

Ahhh I tensioned it at the lower to middle range - but - the belt stretches and I believe I was falling outside the lower end. So this last time - with a new unstretched belt - I moved the bolt over to the next hole which puts it outside the upper range. The unit's instructions claim you have free range to move the tensioning bolt as you wish but you do not - there are a few holes and not a slot to slide the bolt. In the past, moving it to the 2nd hole put it above the tensioning range so I always put it in the first. This is my theory - hard to officially prove though. Although this is definitely the most hours I have put on it without blowing a belt.

Like you I used to have a very long driveway on a hill and it was fun to plow it using my JD tractor with blade, winter tires and wheel weights (no chains.) It was fun until you got the tractor stuck at the bottom of the hill and could not get back up. 




old_lx173 said:


> I dunno, I replaced this belt so many times that I've actually gotten pretty good at tensioning it.  I burned up my first belt of this winter two snowstorms ago when I hit a slushy patch even though I've learned to be careful under that situation. I was able to tension it enough to get me through the 10" of powdery snow we had last weekend, but I figured I'd try this kit instead of replacing the belt yet again.
> 
> We're due for about 6" mid week here in New England, so I'll at least get to see how the dual belt setup works.
> 
> FWIW, I haven't noticed any issues with traction either and I have a 100'+ driveway with a bit of a hill. For a few years I plowed my driveway with the blade on my lawn tractor and it had traction issues at times even with rear weights and tire chains. The Ariens blower has been a big improvement in that department.


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## Mr Fixit

My many years of running machinery on the farm causes me to have to remind users of machinery's "capacity". Doubling the tractor HP, tightening up a clutch, twining drive belts does NOT remove the responsibility of the user to keep the machine's limit in mind. Half a swath is OK, if it's still running tomorrow. The auger gear box has limits. Wet heavy snow is a testing ground. Just a "respect your machine thought" from an oldy!
For instance NEVER de-clutch a full running blower before it's running clear empty. Twin belts remove that slipping margin on the frozen re-start. I hope that help someone.


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## raymondjiii

I have heard this argument many times before and while I am not outright disagreeing with what you are saying, in my specific example, I have a hard time believing it.

This Ariens snowblower is massive. There is no way in **** these belts should be ripping off - unless there is something wrong - and there may very well be - that's why I am here posting on this site.

In past years I would use a small MTD low end model and beat the living **** out of it year after year with no problems ever. Not that this is good practice but I likely pushed it past what it's normal intended capacity is. This Ariens unit has gotten FAR less abuse, far less use and far less snow and has over 2x's the HP and size. Just doesn't add up - something mechanically is just wrong - either in the inherent design, something I did (not tensioning the belt properly.) What you are saying is valid and no doubt would put wear on the system and belt but it's not going to happen this quickly.


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## Mr Fixit

I think your fix, raymond is on the mark. My words were for all the others jumping on the band wagon to go double belt and pulleys. It's like a chain that breaks on the next weak link after you increase the pulling power. I consider auguer gear boxes to be under engineered on the lesser machines. Just a caution well meant. This is a learning source. Let us know the results.


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## old_lx173

Mr Fixit said:


> I think your fix, raymond is on the mark. My words were for all the others jumping on the band wagon to go double belt and pulleys. It's like a chain that breaks on the next weak link after you increase the pulling power. I consider auguer gear boxes to be under engineered on the lesser machines. Just a caution well meant. This is a learning source. Let us know the results.


I would imagine that this odd bit of prose is directed toward the likes of me.

I am pleased to hear that you have not had any impeller belt issues with your 2005/2006 era Ariens model 926xxx Mr Fixit. However, after several seasons of having impeller belts fail on my circa 2006 model 926001 despite continuously making all of the relevant adjustments as outlined in the owner's manual in addition to taking great care to avoid issues while using the machine (never fully filling the bucket, keeping an appropriate pace, frequent clearing of snow with the clean-out tool, etc.) I arrived here and saw that others were experiencing the same issue with the same vintage equipment.

I found it a very interesting coincidence to learn that Ariens went to the bother and additional expense to upgrade the exact subsystem that had been plaguing my 2006 model for their 2007 line to use a dual impeller belt setup. Further, the issue Ariens was attempting to address was apparently important enough for them to also release a retrofit kit for earlier equipment like mine. Based on this information, it makes all of the sense in the world for me to install the dual belt upgrade on my machine with the hope that it will address the issue that I and others have been having.

After exhausting all other options, why wouldn't an Ariens owner in my situation pursue the dual impeller belt kit as a potential solution to my woes? All of my education and experience as an engineer who spends his life trying to understand how things work and then use that knowledge to build things and solve problems has led me here. I stand by my methodology and hope that this fix will help me and others in the same boat.


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## raymondjiii

*I think I just screwed myslef.*

I finally got around to installing the Ariens belt upgrade kit and now the auger spins all of the time. I lowered the tension by moving the bolt in the clutch piece all the way over to make it as loose as possible - even though it's outside of the normal tension range.

Any idea what I could look at?

Funny, I've been having problems with belts since I bought this unit but this year a fairly heavy winter - no problems but I previously bought the kit. I should have filed this one under "if it ain't broke don't fix it." Oh well, at least the winter season is over and I can try to debug this thing.


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## raymondjiii

Also the clutch piece is hitting up against the left hand side of the frame so that can't go anywhere. The pulley on the clutch is all the way to the side. I could make the belt fingers a little closer to the belts, maybe the brake section on the bottom? It's all new parts from the kit. I did have two extra rough thread bolts that I have no idea where they go and they are not even listed as parts on the kit. I have the right kit for Techumseh engines vs Briggs engines. Techumseh belts are 07200429 for the kit.


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## MnJim

raymondjiii said:


> I finally got around to installing the Ariens belt upgrade kit and now the auger spins all of the time. I lowered the tension by moving the bolt in the clutch piece all the way over to make it as loose as possible - even though it's outside of the normal tension range.
> 
> Any idea what I could look at?
> 
> Funny, I've been having problems with belts since I bought this unit but this year a fairly heavy winter - no problems but I previously bought the kit. I should have filed this one under "if it ain't broke don't fix it." Oh well, at least the winter season is over and I can try to debug this thing.


 Don't know if its the camera angle but it looks like the idler pulley is hitting in the middle of the auger belts.


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## Kiss4aFrog

It won't help with the engaged all the time issue but it does look like the tensioner pulley isn't lined up with the drive pulley.

For the auger not turning when the engine is running it's a matter of having enough slack in the belts so they slip on the drive pulley. Either the belts are a bit short or that tensioner pulley isn't releasing all the way. Do you have a spring attached to it that pulls it back from the belts when it's disengaged ??

If you can close up the "finger(s)" on the bottom of the bottom pulley it might give you a little more slack up top where you need it to slip on the driven pulley.


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## raymondjiii

MnJim said:


> Don't know if its the camera angle but it looks like the idler pulley is hitting in the middle of the auger belts.


Hi, not sure what you mean by that. The top pulley is "hitting in the middle of the auger belts" ? The top pulley? That has the v-notch in it and only goes on one way and locks in place and the bolt is attached.


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## raymondjiii

Kiss4aFrog said:


> It won't help with the engaged all the time issue but it does look like the tensioner pulley isn't lined up with the drive pulley.
> 
> For the auger not turning when the engine is running it's a matter of having enough slack in the belts so they slip on the drive pulley. Either the belts are a bit short or that tensioner pulley isn't releasing all the way. Do you have a spring attached to it that pulls it back from the belts when it's disengaged ??
> 
> If you can close up the "finger(s)" on the bottom of the bottom pulley it might give you a little more slack up top where you need it to slip on the driven pulley.


Hi, I think that was always the case that they are not lined up until you engage the handle then it pulls it back slightly There is a spring on the tensioner pulley but I may not have on properly - either way it sure seems like that piece cannot move any more to the right side - it's hitting the frame. The kit came with a new tensioner pulley for the dual belts and they tell you to re-use the two screws holding it on, which I did. The spring on that I had to fiddle with - I hope that is what is wrong. I am going to have to try to find a picture of diagram of what it's supposed to look like with the spring attached.

What a drag, I was looking forward to this upgrade. At least I have gotten to know more of the internals on this unit.

Thanks.


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## old_lx173

raymondjiii said:


> Also the clutch piece is hitting up against the left hand side of the frame so that can't go anywhere. The pulley on the clutch is all the way to the side. I could make the belt fingers a little closer to the belts, maybe the brake section on the bottom? It's all new parts from the kit. I did have two extra rough thread bolts that I have no idea where they go and they are not even listed as parts on the kit. I have the right kit for Techumseh engines vs Briggs engines. Techumseh belts are 07200429 for the kit.


I have a 926LE with a 9.5 HP engine, so I have the kit for engines with less than 13 HP (726000700), but I also had the two extra bolts that were not mentioned on the directions. I kept them, but didn't use them when I installed my kit.

I've attached the same pic from my blower without the drive or auger clutch levers engaged. A quick look at the two pics makes it seem like the new idler arm assembly on my blower has a bit more space between it and the frame then yours does. Interestingly, one of the things I wasn't sure about when installing this was what to do with the spring on the left side of the idler arm assembly (from the perspective of your pic). After experimenting, the thing that seemed to work the best was to kind of leave it floating. I can flick it with my finger and it'll move, which seems wrong to me somehow. However, I was able to adjust everything to spec and the auger turns only when the handle is engaged during my testing. I haven't had the opportunity to try it on actual snow yet, but there is a chance that we will get some plowable snow here in the Northeast in the middle of the week.

On an unrelated note, my traction belt looks pretty worn. Glad I have a spare among my stash of lawn and garden equipment spare parts.


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## raymondjiii

old_lx173 said:


> I have a 926LE with a 9.5 HP engine, so I have the kit for engines with less than 13 HP (726000700), but I also had the two extra bolts that were not mentioned on the directions. I kept them, but didn't use them when I installed my kit.
> 
> I've attached the same pic from my blower without the drive or auger clutch levers engaged. A quick look at the two pics makes it seem like the new idler arm assembly on my blower has a bit more space between it and the frame then yours does. Interestingly, one of the things I wasn't sure about when installing this was what to do with the spring on the left side of the idler arm assembly (from the perspective of your pic). After experimenting, the thing that seemed to work the best was to kind of leave it floating. I can flick it with my finger and it'll move, which seems wrong to me somehow. However, I was able to adjust everything to spec and the auger turns only when the handle is engaged during my testing. I haven't had the opportunity to try it on actual snow yet, but there is a chance that we will get some plowable snow here in the Northeast in the middle of the week.
> 
> On an unrelated note, my traction belt looks pretty worn. Glad I have a spare among my stash of lawn and garden equipment spare parts.


I have a 926103 ST1332LE which is a 13HP unit. I bought kit 72600800 which is for Techumseh engines 13hp or larger. My invoice from Jack's Small Engines does say 72600800. Now I wonder if I have the right kit or not. I believe so as the belts are clearly marked 07200429 which go with kit 72600800 (belt 07200430 goes with kit 72600700)

From your picture it looks like that little spring behind the clutch plate is not doing anything and when I looked at mine I felt that it was too small to be doing much of anything. I will dig into this more this week. My photo compared to yours looks quite disturbing though. I wish I had taken a before picture to be sure though.

On another note, does anyone know if it's "okay" or not to keep oil and gas in the unit while it is tipped up on its front? I would think not but it's a real hassle to try to figure out what's going on - drain everything tip it up, make whatever adjustments, put it back down refill, etc.

Thanks


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## Kiss4aFrog

_*On another note, does anyone know if it's "okay" or not to keep oil and gas in the unit while it is tipped up on its front?*_

There is an active thread on that very subject. http://www.snowblowerforum.com/foru...ng-blower-end-should-you-drain-oil-first.html


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## old_lx173

raymondjiii said:


> I have a 926103 ST1332LE which is a 13HP unit. I bought kit 72600800 which is for Techumseh engines 13hp or larger. My invoice from Jack's Small Engines does say 72600800. Now I wonder if I have the right kit or not. I believe so as the belts are clearly marked 07200429 which go with kit 72600800 (belt 07200430 goes with kit 72600700)
> 
> From your picture it looks like that little spring behind the clutch plate is not doing anything and when I looked at mine I felt that it was too small to be doing much of anything. I will dig into this more this week. My photo compared to yours looks quite disturbing though. I wish I had taken a before picture to be sure though.


The same set of directions is used for both kits and the only part number variation seems to be the matched belt set. I'd guess the kit you got has belts with higher specs due to the extra horsepower. My belts were clearly marked with 072000430 and they had the exact same specs as the single belt they were replacing.

As for the little spring, that was a bit of a question mark. It had a little notch in it where it would rest against the idler arm assembly, so I took my best guess based on that. It would be nice to see a more clear "before" picture of it from someone since I didn't think to take a pic before starting either.  It does seem to be working OK at least.


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## old_lx173

Just a quick update on the dual attachment belt kit I installed on my Ariens 926L last year. I used it to clear 2' of snow from the blizzard last week and again to clear 8" of snow from the storm we have had all day today. I did have to tweak the tension on the attachment clutch cable when I started it up for the first time this season, but it has been fine after about 4-5 hours of use so far. I haven't had to deal with any slushy snow yet, but performance so far has been very good. I will be THRILLED if I don't have to change any burned out belts this winter!


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## old_lx173

Over the weekend I cleaned up my driveway and a neighbor's driveway courtesy of Winter Storm Jonas, which dumped lots of snow on the east coast. The dual attachment belt kit has completely eliminated the problem of my belt getting destroyed, which included handling the record snow levels we had in New England last year along with the slushy stuff that always caused me problems. I haven't had to change a belt for the past two winters after clearing out several feet of snow, which is amazing in itself. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this kit for anyone with a compatible single belt Ariens.


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## old_lx173

I came here looking for info on the quick stick kit upgrade, found out about the baffle kit upgrade, and have already installed both.  While I was at it, I figured I would post an update in this thread and mention that the dual attachment belt kit continues to work great and gone is the headache of replacing the attachment belt multiple times per season. I've had the same belts on my machine for almost four years now and everything worked great when I cleared ~1.5 feet of snow from my driveway about three weeks ago.


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## Keith Sid

Shryp said:


> Are you using proper belts? Belts designed for a snow blower are different than generic belts at an auto parts store. You need heavy duty kevlar cord belts.
> 
> Also, there was an upgrade available for some models to upgrade from a single belt to dual belts for the auger. That could help you. Snowmann would be the one to tell you if it is available for your blower or not.
> 
> http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/40925-A-1.html
> 
> If one section of your belt is worn significantly and there are shavings everywhere it sounds like your belt is slipping on the engine pulley. Either it needs tightened or you need to stop holding the auger lever down with the impeller frozen.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz6Y2P1MCcQ


I am having the same issue and it's extremely frustrating. I had my auger belt come off after the first storm of the year and when I inspected it it was worn. Seeing I had to take the front housing off, I replaced both the drive belt and auger belt at the same time. The drive belt is functioning perfectly but the auger belt immediately shred on the side closest to the handles and came off the pulleys. 

Upon further inspection, I realized I had a bad auger bearing, replaced that and installed another new belt. I adjusted the tension so it was tight enough to not fall off but doesn't engage until the handle is depressed. The finger is not touching it when it spins and only briefly touches it when the handle is disengaged. I cannot see anywhere that it is rubbing and have now gone through three belts. Everything I have bought has been the proper parts for my model (924116). 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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