Craftsman Snowblower Issues - Friction wheel, hub, bearing

Greetings all, first time posting.

I have a Craftsman model 247.886640 snow thrower.

I recently replaced the drive belt, auger drive belt, and friction wheel rubber on it since all three were the original parts from purchase.

When I did the friction wheel rubber, I was concerned because when I removed the wheel from the drive axle, the bearing came out with it, solidly attached. I attempted to disassemble the friction wheel without removing the bearing, but could not get a wrench in there to remove the bolts. I eventually took a mallet and was able to separate the bearing from the hub and wheel. I replaced the wheel rubber, reinstalled the bearing, and reassembled the machine. I ran a few test drives and everything seemed to be working great.

Today we got hit with the "snowpocalypse" as it has been referred to, and we started having issues. We initially discovered the problem because we lost our reverse drive, and all speeds except for 5 were gone. No matter where I put the transmission selector, it would run at high speed.

When I finally got the machine tipped up and removed the belly pan, I saw the problem - the friction wheel and hub separated from the bearing, and the friction wheel had slid all the way to the edge of the axle and was basically "stuck" at the outside edge of the drive plate.

I disassembled the machine, took my trusty mallet, beat the bearing back onto the hub, and once again reassembled the machine.

Once again, after a few minutes, we lost both reverse gears and all forward gears but 5.

I had to go to work, so I didn't get a chance to go inside again, but I'm pretty confident the stupid hub slipped out of the bearing again.

Can anyone tell me what the heck I'm doing wrong that is causing these to keep coming apart when I use the machine?

Thank you in advance for any and all help you can provide!

 

Hi....I am having the same issue! Did you receive any replies on how to resolve the problem? I would appreciate any help...

Thanks...

 

At this point, I would suggest buying the assembly #984-0042C. Sears price is $59.68. And make sure the fork is properly installed on the hub assembly.