# 11528LE dual belt kit w questions



## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Installed the dual belt kit. Went in without much trouble other than they didn’t include hardware to attach the piece onto the pulley that goes on the impeller so I had to drop everything and run to the store for that. My question is, the rear auger belt rides close to the edge of the pulley. After searching I see that people used washers to bring the main pulley out more. Do I have to do that or will this be ok? I really don’t want to take it apart again.


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

I wouldn't shim the crank-pulley out, because you may rusk having the drive belt slip off. I think you should be OK as it is.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

RIT333 said:


> I wouldn't shim the crank-pulley out, because you may rusk having the drive belt slip off. I think you should be OK as it is.


Thank you for your input RIT333. Ok I’ll use it next season like this. If I have any problems maybe a spacer on the shaft between the drive pulley and auger pulleys. In no hurry to take it apart again if I don’t have to. I bet some OCD people are going crazy looking at the pic 🤪


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

Michele said:


> Thank you for your input RIT333. Ok I’ll use it next season like this. If I have any problems maybe a spacer on the shaft between the drive pulley and auger pulleys. In no hurry to take it apart again if I don’t have to. I bet some OCD people are going crazy looking at the pic 🤪



The spacer in the middle would be a better idea. You can buy large washers to do that.


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

The problem with the misalignment of the belts over the idler tensioner pulleys is that it is an indicator of the misalignment of the engine drive pulleys with the driven impeller pulleys. Best to fix it now when the weather is nice. Ariens use washers for pulley alignments on machines equipped with dual belts from the factory. 

The wheel drive belt is typically aligned with the left side of the idler pulley so when the wheel drive clutch is engaged the belt moves toward the right (Auger side). The impeller drive pulleys are typically aligned with the center of the tensioner idler pulleys.

Measure any misalignment. Determine the thickness of each washer and buy them from Ariens or a hardware store. You don't have to take the machine apart to install the washers. Just remove the wheel drive tensioner spring at one end, loosen impeller belt tensioner adjustment and remove the crankshaft center bolt (tapping a wrench with a hammer loosens/tightens the bolt if you don't have an impact) and wiggle the pulleys off under the belts to remove. Install the washers and pulleys and bolt them up, and check alignment.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Town I’m not sure where you’re saying to put the spacers. Do you mean put the washers there where the blue arrow is pointing?


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

Put a spacer there (where blue arrow is pointing) if the wheel drive belt is running to the right of the tensioner idler pulley. This is because the belt moves to the right when wheel drive clutch is engaged due to drive plate pivoting. If that alignment is correct (belt running on left side of idler) then you need to put washer(s) between the wheel drive pulley and the impeller drive pulley so that the impeller belt is running in the middle of the tensioner idler pulleys. That will align the engine drive pulleys with the impeller drive pulleys normally.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Thanks Town 👍 I’ll get in there when it warms up here.


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## Motor City (Jan 6, 2014)

Before you go putting a spacer in, does the upper pulley align with the lower pulley? If so, I think that is a more important factor here. If I recall, my tensioner was off a bit as yours, I just bent the arm a little, for better alignment. If you alter the alignment of the upper and lower pulleys, you could risk throwing belts.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Motor City said:


> Before you go putting a spacer in, does the upper pulley align with the lower pulley?


. Thanks 👍 I’ll check it out before touching anything.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Thanks to all who made suggestions. Got it all lined up nice and spacers installed. On to replacing a few other parts. 👍


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

You're going to love it. You may want to consider impeller seals, but please don't point your chute towards my driveway.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Thx RIT333, I already love it almost want more snow but it’s warming up here in SE Mass. Lol. I’m throwing about $300 in parts at it mostly due to poor maintenance by the PO. I checked the impeller bearing when I had the pulley off and it was tight.


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

With the impeller kit, I have noticed that my impeller was most apt to ice up and freeze to the bucket. I have made it a habit to check this in the winter before each snow blowing session.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

RIT333 said:


> With the impeller kit, I have noticed that my impeller was most apt to ice up and freeze to the bucket. I have made it a habit to check this in the winter before each snow blowing session.


. Weird. Is this a common issue? What can be done to keep it from happening and where exactly is it freezing?


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

RIT333 said:


> With the impeller kit, I have noticed that my impeller was most apt to ice up and freeze to the bucket. I have made it a habit to check this in the winter before each snow blowing session.


The tight clearance of the 6 blade impeller poses the same issue, but I have always cleaned out the impeller housing after cleaning the chute and auger area before putting machine away. The 6 blades do not leave much free space in the housing.


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

Michele said:


> . Weird. Is this a common issue? What can be done to keep it from happening and where exactly is it freezing?


The icing occurs in the bottom part of the blower housing where the drain hole is located. It can occur on any machine regardless of the clearance from the impeller blades to the blower housing. As an example, my son used his blower and then puts it away in an unheated shed. Snow is left there and freezes and causes belt burning and issues because the ice prevents the impeller from turning the next time he uses the machine.

I told him to run the impeller at full throttle when he is finished blowing the snow. Then clean the chute and auger area of any snow and then clean the blower housing. Put the machine away free of snow. Now with a new belt he has no more trouble.


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## Toro-8-2-4 (Dec 28, 2013)

You need to clear out any snow from the impellar and housing before you store it. As mentioned by someone else, make sure the drain hole is clear for any water to run out. Even water build up can freeze if it gets cold enough and cause what you have described.


RE the alignment on upgrade kit. I don"t know what it is with Ariens but I had to shim the auger pulley out about .12" and I moved the idler pulley for the auger back (towards the engine) as far as I could to get everything aligned. The tractor dirve was find.


Why does it seem everyone is having an alignment issue with this upgrade? Seems like the design is a bit flawed. If the design tolerance stack up is the issue they should include some machine bushings in the kit so you can shim to the best alignment.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Toro-8-2-4 said:


> RE the alignment on upgrade kit. I don"t know what it is with Ariens but I had to shim the auger pulley out about .12" and I moved the idler pulley for the auger back (towards the engine) as far as I could to get everything aligned. The tractor dirve was find.
> 
> 
> Why does it seem everyone is having an alignment issue with this upgrade? Seems like the design is a bit flawed. If the design tolerance stack up is the issue they should include some machine bushings in the kit so you can shim to the best alignment.


I agree. Going to ask this question to the guys at my local power equipment shop where I bought the kit. I’m sure they run into the same they told me they install quite a few of the dual belt upgrades.


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## Toro-8-2-4 (Dec 28, 2013)

The other thing I will mention and is probably obvious to most but ......when you shim out the auger drive pulley you need to make sure it will not rub on the belt cover.. If that happens you need to work on pulling the motor back and/or the auger idler pulley back.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread but I just had to post this update because I just used it for the first decent snowfall of about a foot and wow the dual pulley kit upgrade made this snowblower kick major ass. It works as well as my neighbors newer Ariens. Very happy! If you have a 926 series and havent installed this kit just do it you won't be sorry.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

On that impeller mod causing an icing issue you can also park the back wheels up on a 2x4 so the impeller housing drains forward towards the auger.


.


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## Michele (Nov 17, 2015)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> On that impeller mod causing an icing issue you can also park the back wheels up on a 2x4 so the impeller housing drains forward towards the auger.
> 
> 
> .


Solid info for sure but I didn't do the impeller mod just the dual pulley kit.


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## bizzo15 (Feb 15, 2014)

Michele said:


> Solid info for sure but I didn't do the impeller mod just the dual pulley kit.


I know I'm bringing this back from the dead but I have the identical snowblower and I ordered the dual belt upgrade kit as well after reading about it here. Where did you get the spacer from and do you have a part number or know what dimensions it is so I can pick a few up. I'd like to install the kit and align it all in one shot since it's snow season and I don't want to have it torn down while I'm waiting on a spacer. Also approximately how long would you say it takes to install the kit and put it back together? I have a garage full of tools including cordless impacts.


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## Auger1 (Dec 4, 2020)

bizzo15 said:


> I know I'm bringing this back from the dead but I have the identical snowblower and I ordered the dual belt upgrade kit as well after reading about it here. Where did you get the spacer from and do you have a part number or know what dimensions it is so I can pick a few up. I'd like to install the kit and align it all in one shot since it's snow season and I don't want to have it torn down while I'm waiting on a spacer. Also approximately how long would you say it takes to install the kit and put it back together? I have a garage full of tools including cordless impacts.


If you have a 28" Ariens bucket get this scraper and not one from Ariens. I went through that and the Ariens one was wrong. 








Amazon.com: New Stens Scraper Bar 780-004 for Ariens 04145959 : Patio, Lawn & Garden


Amazon.com: New Stens Scraper Bar 780-004 for Ariens 04145959 : Patio, Lawn & Garden



www.amazon.com


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

the washers i got from lowes to make the spacer but if you have the plastic pulley for the wheel pulley you cant use washers like in the pic that has the metal pulley
you need to put the spacer inside the sheave itself 
the bolt holding the sheave can be tightened correctly 
see my post about the sho pulley upgrade i ground down a nut to fit nside the sheave as a spacer worked perfect


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