# Honda HS55 "eats" auger belts



## TomA (Dec 22, 2014)

I have a HS55, s#1007847 1990ish, the engine and transmission work great but the auger belt comes apart in 2-3 hours of use. I have changed the drive pulleys and the idler. I have changed belts using oem and even kevlar reinforced ones. The length, width and depth of the belts is correct. The auger and impeller both move freely and are well lubricated. The alignment of the pulleys looks perfect. I initially had the same problem with belt sizing that another member reported, but now seem to have the sizing down. I have brought the machine to a local Honda dealer with no results. Any thoughts?


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## bosco659 (Feb 1, 2013)

Can you post pics of the damaged belts? What did the dealer say?


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## HJames (Oct 28, 2013)

You seem to have gone through just about everything, only thing I can think of is maybe you have a stress crack where the bucket meets the tractor frame, or a broken weld around the outside of the impeller housing.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

I would make sure that the impeller pulley is true, and that the bearings are not degraded. While you are at that, I would also make sure that the engine is also secure to the tractor body. If the engine is secure, then I suspect that you either have a bearing issue or a bent shaft issue.

It could be a auger transmission, but usually they just fail, before the belts fail.


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## TomA (Dec 22, 2014)

*Auger belt wear*

Thank you for all your replies. The impeller pulley was just replaced as was the idler pulley. I will check the auger bearings for wear although the auger spins freely when I spin the pulley by hand. It could be binding under load. I will check for stress cracks in the housing. The engine is secure to the mounting. I will check the auger differential. I do find it interesting that Honda lists 2 different auger belts for this model as it had a design change after a certain serial number. My machine is the first design. I wonder if there was a problem with the first design! Again thanks for the information. This is really frustrating.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

The belt revision could have been to a number of changes that they made to the machine. Auger speed/size, pulley sizes, auger transmission, impeller design, are just few things that the engineers could change that might require a different belt. 

One other thing to check, is the auger pulley play. Both lateral and longitudinal play may a role. How much is acceptable, I will have to defer this to some one with more knowledge.


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## TomA (Dec 22, 2014)

*Belt Eating Problem Solved*

Apparently, the design of this idler drive unit has a brake on the lower part of the bracket to stop the auger when the drive lever is released. When the idler was engaging, the brake was never completely off and was putting pressure on the back side of the belt and causing the belt to heat up and eventually break apart. I removed the brake and the unit is working perfectly. I came to the solution when I realized that american replacement belts are 31" and the Honda belt was 31.3". The additional length should have caused the brake to completely disengage, when engaging the idler, but it didn't. When I initially placed the Honda belt on, all the writing on the back of the belt was worn off in one minute of run time before I removed the brake pad. I used the blower for 3 hours today in the "Blizzard of 2015" here on Long Island and inspected the belt when I was finished. It looked like new. Solutions are as good as questions, maybe better.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Glad you got things sorted out. Be careful now as it will take the augers a lot longer to stop after you release the handle.


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