bent pulley on Ariens snowblower

[Donald]

The 8" pulley that drives the auger on my Ariens 36" snow blower was bent when I split the machine apart to change the belt. I cannot see how that could happen as one really does not have access to the pulley unless you split the machine apart.

Seems very odd unless someone used a crowbar against the drive and auger pulleys to split the machine.

 

[old1]

Maybe somebody tried to change the belt without splitting the machine

 

[JTK]

That would be my guess as to how it happened, unless possibly something solid got behind/under the belt guard and jammed in there at some point.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: old1
Maybe somebody tried to change the belt without splitting the machine


Unless they used a crowbar to force the belts, you cannot easily bend the pulley.

 

[old1]

people (previous owners) do strange things

 

[JTK]

+1 to that. The auger belt could have jumped at one point and a previous owner attempted a belly-pan belt replacement, and got overly aggressive trying to dig out the old belt, etc..

FWIW, when ever possible, I do belt replacements by belly pan removal alone, but I've done a few and don't attempt them demolition-derby style.