Craftsman Snow Thrower won't move forward/backward

Hi,

I have craftsman 9 HP 536.887990 snow thrower. It worked fine couple of days back in a big snow storm but suddenly it stopped moving. I am not sure why?

Augur works fine. Control gear to move forward/backward seems to connected but it doesn't move. Any idea?

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

Hi, my next door neighbor just solved the same problem with my 9 hp Craftsman thrower. If you remove the bottom plate where the cable for the gear lever goes, you will see the aluminum wheel which turns, and a black rubber wheel perpendicular to it. When you depress the lever to put the thrower in drive, the rubber wheel is contacted by the aluminum wheel at a certain point, depending on what gear you have it in. Follow the chain of force provided through this rubber wheel, and you'll come to another small wheel. I(My neighbor) found that there was a bolt through this smaller wheel that had been sheared off. He replaced it with one he had laying around his house, and it fixed the problem like new!

 

To add to what kayakfishingdad said there should be an adjustment for this cable.
you may have to only turn it to allow it to apply more pressure to the friction wheel.

 

hi,

my question is on my craftsman snow thrower the right wheel won't turn when the traction driver level is depressed. the left one moves. Now i can see the tension pin is in the axle and not through the wheel hub, but when i try to line up the wheel hub to the axle hole, i can't because of a locking washer that wont come off unless i cut it off. i don't want to cut it off though as i assume it's needed?

I'm losing traction very frequently and i believe if i move the second wheel to the drive axle then it will reduce traction loss.

am i missing something? i thought all i would need to do is to put the pin through the wheel hub, not move the wheel?

thanks.

I have a 9hp craftsman 29" snow thrower

 

That lock washer is not needed. It was used during assembly to keep the axle in place while moving down the line. Cut it off and slide your wheel out so you can have 2 wheel drive.

 

I also lost the drive to the wheels this past storm and the same bolt had also sheared in two. Looks like a design problem.

 

Anyone know where to find a parts list/diagram for a Craftsman 536-81112 snow blower.

I just picked this mint 11 HP 30 inch cut machine up last night for low $. It runs great (the motor) and throws snow like a sum*****. Only problem is - no drive to the wheels/axle.

Belts were good, Tilted it forward and dropped the bottom (protector?) plate. Aha! The bolt (P/N 653) that you guys have been talking about was gone. Had a 20D nail in my pocket, slipped it in and snipped off the excess just to test it. Still no go.

It was getting dark and I needed to get back to Nashua so I thought I would download that parts and service manual last night. Can't find the one section that I am sure is the problem.

I believe it is referred to as the -shift yoke- group. I did briefly catch a glimpse of that hard rubber rimmed disc that rides on the driving aluminum plate. Since the axle is now hard coupled to the driven sprocket (by the spike), I can only assume that there is an adjustment to be made which will increase the interference pressure between the driver (aluminum plate) and the driven hard rubber wheel.

I was able to get all the drawings pertaining to this machine from Sears' web site except the shift yoke group.

Any help - if nothing else, I would like to know the proper nomenclature for these parts. In case I have to buy something.

Oh, and by the way, who actually makes these machines?

 

drsprite, the "locking washer" you referred to is called a push nut and you should not have to remove it. The axle has two holes and you must utilize the inner hole in order to obtain two wheel drive, if you utilize the outer hole you will have way too much axle endplay and you will shear the bolt that the thread starter, mikoo 1965, likely sheared. The inner hole should be 90-degrees to the outer hole and you may need to push in the opposite wheel in order to give you the clearance and ability to get a full hole in which to place the lock pin through.

 

Your snowblower was made by Murray.

 

Thanks IP500,

I will look for drawings via Murray.

Jerry

 

Getting there. The drive engagement is adjusted a bit differently than I am familiar with. There are actually two cables in series that actuate the drive by pulling the swinging plate aft towards the friction plate. Any excess play is taken up by removing the slack in these combined cables.

Between (and connecting) the cables is a small plate with multiple drill holes that can accept the bitter end of the cables. By repositioning the bitter end of one or both of the cables closer to each other on this plate, the belly is removed from the linkage.

A bit of WD-40 and some light grease on the yoke and shafts assemblies makes a huge difference in the ease of shifting. After lubricating the mechanism a few shots of degreaser on the friction plate and wheel faces helps maintain a good contact between them.

Speed change is effected by shifting the wheel across the face of the friction plate. The further from center the contact is made the faster the tires turn. Passing the wheel across the center axis changes direction.

Be aware that over tightening the cable will cause the entire drive train to run continously - I think.

 

ok i know this is old thread but im reviving it

same problem here with my blower and while the info helped me focus more on finding out where the broken bolt came from instead of tearing it apart and changing the rubber friction wheel

so i thought i would take a few pics of mine and the repair there are a few things that could go wrong and of course the cables could break or need adjustment and that is easy self explanatory fix just follow the cables down from the handle

then could possibly be the friction wheel is wore out and needs replacement or adjustment and that looks like a pretty easy job as well.. here is pic of the friction wheel the big flat one moves back and forth and makes contact with the smaller rubber wheel when you squeeze the handle and it pulls the cable



in my case it was the bolt that goes through the axle on the right ( looking at from behind) inside wheel sprocket that the chain goes on



and this is the bolt/clip/pin whatever u have in yours that is on outside of left wheel to make it spin with the right wheel



and it is a craftsman blower 9hp dont rem the model and in my owners manual there is a section on how to adjust the little rubber wheel to make sure it is hitting the big flat disc in the right areas when it is in certain gears i will pust those number later

 

Great info here...thank all of you. The pictures of the bolt helped a ton...thanks for displaying them. That was my problem and got it up and going!!!

 

This may sound like a dumb question but how do you guys go about having easy access to the bottom of the snowblower without breaking your neck? I turned it on its side and oil and gas started leaking out.. Which also doesn't seem right ha. sorry i'm a tad ignorant when it comes to this stuff !!

 

Hah!....working on the exact same snow thrower pictured above.

Grab the handles and lift up so the machine rests on the front opening.
Might have to take some fuel out if your cap doesn't hold back the fuel.

 

On my MTD unit, they suggest placing a couple of thicknesses of cellophane (aka Saran Wrap) under the gas cap and tightening it down while you have the snowblower tipped forward.