I received this blower last year as a gift(wasn't running),anyway, we finally had enough snow in St. Louis for me to try it out, it would throw snow about 15-20ft until i got into snow that was wet or had ice in it and then the flow would act like shutting down a garden hose and i could hear a belt slipping and would eventually lock up then I would have to clean the wet snow from around the impeller/blower to continue. My questions: Is this normal or should I replace the belt(the belt has to be pretty old by the way the carb was varnished), I can't see the belt, it's down in there somewhere. Next, am I supposed to have those skid things on the front if I am only on concrete driveways. Next are there any online manuals available for this blower because at 65 I think I like this thing even though I might get to use it once a year, I got more female interest in one day with a snowblower than a whole summer with lawn mowers. Have a good one. Geo

Howdy Geo,

If it were mine, I would replace the belt just because of the age of the SB. As far as the skids, if they are both worn down to the same point, the only thing I could see happening is that the body slash housing would maybe wear down from scratching the concrete. I was at Menards the other day up here in ND the other day and found replacement skids for under a 20 spot.

Good questions Geo, have a good weekend.

SEHead

Wet,heavy,and/or slushy snow has been and always will be a problem for any snowblower. I don't care what make,model,or how powerful it is. At work we have one the biggest and best Toro puts out,and it still bogs down in the wet,heavy stuff. I moderate a small engine forum on another site,and these questions come up every year. The only thing that works somewhat,no guarentees,is a teflon type spray you can buy either locally or online. There are various brands. One is called Slide I got from a supplier that was designed for mower decks,reels,and snow plows. I tried it on the blower and it worked to some extent. At certain times the old fashioned way works best;a shovel. Or hire a guy with a plow.:rolleyes: