# Jd 826



## IA Farm Boy (Jan 11, 2011)

This summer I bought a 1985 John Deere 826 snowblower. It seems to run good and looks good. A few weeks ago I blew some snow and it didn't seem to blow it very far. So I put a new sparkplug in it and ajusted the governor shaft a little to raise the RPM's and it sounds like it is running fast enought without a tach to check it. But today we got several inches of snow so I tried it again. It runs out of power in first gear and still dosn't throw the snow very far. It has a 8 HP Tecumseh motor.
What can be wrong with it? Thanks


----------



## indypower (Oct 28, 2010)

It could be a worn belt. Belts wear on the sides which causes them to sit lower in the pullies and making them seem to be "stretched".


----------



## BOSMECH (Dec 16, 2010)

If all is adjusted right and the belts are good do a compression check on the engine.
Also remember wet snow will not throw far at all even with a brand new snowblower.


----------



## IA Farm Boy (Jan 11, 2011)

I looked at the belt and put the auger in gear and it seemed real tight.


----------



## butchf (Dec 15, 2010)

How far does the belt sink into the pulley? It should be very close to the outside diameter of the pulley or even above it slightly. A worn belt may look good yet has been narrowed from wear.
I've seen this many times. Some folks will only check the diameter of the belt but they forget to check the width.
Belts are relatively inexpensive. If you compare your belt to a new one it will become rather obvious if it is worn. 
Hope this helps.


----------



## butchf (Dec 15, 2010)

Oh, adjusting the governor from factory setting is not a good idea unless you are very experienced. If you raise the RPM too high you can cause severe engine damage. Also can cause it to lose power under load if adjusted improperly. Hopefully you marked the original setting so you can return it to factory.
Did you use a spark tester? Grounding the plug will only indicate spark, but will not tell you if it is sufficient spark. You can make a spark tester from the old plug. Simply increase the gap to .167 and ground it. The spark should be able to bridge that gap.
Do you notice any change when using the choke?
Does the engine maintain RPM under load?
Are you using fresh fuel?
How fast is the impeller spinning? You should be able to feel air blowing out of the chute.
Is the chute exit adjustment horizontal? As you raise the chute exit it will throw snow farther.


----------



## IA Farm Boy (Jan 11, 2011)

Thank you everyone for the good advise. I blew some snow this morn and I think I've got the power problem solved. It took a little WD40 on the governor linkage. It's alot colder today and that made the snow blow a lot farther. Thank You All.


----------

