Best drive belts?

Whuffo you do dat, clare? Ouch!

Eek.

Cogged belts give you longer life when used on small diameter pulleys because they build up less heat.

Thankfully, I have absolutely no knowledge of snowblower belts. ;)

I paid just $6 more for the kevlar-wrapped belt on my Murray mower. They last 5 years compared to less than a year for the raw edge style regular belt. I also learned how quickly mowing wet lawns eats belts, but I'm fairly sure the wrapped belt is much less prone to wear from it. So, for lawn equipment, it makes sense to spend the extra bucks.

Still torque, temps, and actual running conditions are unknown to me re: wet white stuff. Your best bet is to ask a reputable repairman for snowblowers. Drive by one of the shops and ask the guy with the wrench in his hand. (You and I know how that goes, right? Screw the managers; you need to ask the -mechanics- for the proper info.)

The paper thrower threw the paper either just before the snow fell, or in the middle of the dump. It was totally invisible and unexpected in both cases.

They all want to sell the OEM belt - which MAY be the best belt for the job, or just the best at a price point. Seeing it only lasted 4 or

I replaced the belts on mr Duramark 828 after 23 years with the cheapest V belts that fit and they were still going strong when I gave it away six years latter after SWMBO gave me a new one.

Wow, all that trouble from a single newspaper? I thought perhaps you had set out a stack for recycling and forgotten it.

He just needs a bigger blower. One that can handle a little hiccup, belch here and there:

Of course it might not make the neighbors too happy ;-)

They are small enough to pass through the auger and jam against the impeller. Tree branches and chunks of frozen snowbank dislodged by the plow can be as bad, and all are invisible in the jumble the plow leaves, or if the wind levels the surface.

-jsw

How about something a little smaller and more affordable?

Bummer. I'm glad I have a total of 23 minutes of snow shoveling experience. I think I remember 15 minutes of it somewhere a couple dozen years ago, but the latest was a month or two ago when I got the icy stuff off my driveway so I could bring in the mail. The trusty HF grain shovel, bought for distributing bark dust and mulch, worked a treat.

The second one jammed between the auger and the housing. It was a bundleabout 5 inches in diameter in a plastic bag and it came apart enough to get in like a wedge under the serrated impeller. I could not bac it out or pry it out or cut it out so after tearing out as nuch as possible I went at it with the propane torch. Now, interestingly enough, even though the belt howled and smoked before I got it shut off, the auger belt didn't fail. It hardly had a mark on it. The belt from the engine to the hydrostatic transmission basically "detonated" several weeks later, and not even when it was being worked hard.

I've been shoveling until my back tells me to stop, then finishing with a snowblower. It helps keep me from getting old.

-jsw

I fire up Rusty the Tractor and just blade the little bit we get off to the side of the driveway - and sometimes tha road up to the top of the hill . Usually it's not the snow but the underlying layer of ice that's the problem . So I put the chains on before first snowfall . -- Snag

Har, I like it. When all else fails, TORCH IT!

Interesting. Maybe wet chattering (the howl) saved it.

Odd, but it sounds like a typical failure mode once it had been overheated. Working it hard probably overheated it again and it failed as or after it cooled back down.

Yeah, you have to continue to use/work the old bod or it'll rust out on ya, and far too early at that.

Dang! That thing needs a lot bigger blower for that size motor. Doubt if the motor even knows it's doing something other than revving up. Dude's got a few man hours in that machine...

Some awfully cool snowblowers, custom builds on youtube. One I really liked from several years ago was just a typical 10-15hp dual stage machine that had been fitted with remote control. Sit inside and blow driveway ;-)

I'm with Jim, still shovel the stuff out. Someday I'll have to get a blower but I'm not there yet. And we do get snow. This is from Feb 2014:

Don't have diddly squat around right now but that is fine by me.

This year have had snow a couple of times, but just a couple of inches. So have not tried using the lawn tractor with a blade.

Dan

We haven't had enough to use it here this year either . But that blade also works just swell to move the dirt from my construction excavation around too .

Cutting and splitting firewood works for me .

I got my first one for Christmas. It came just in time, because I had surgery for a hernia the week before our first significant snowfall.

It's my new favorite toy.

Heck, if I lived in snow country, I'd figure out some way to use a turbine blower, melting what didn't blow off my driveway. Perhaps something a bit smaller than this: