5 gears in reverse....1in forward??!! snowblower

[hoppy 0]

I have a guy that wants me to look at his walk behind snowblower. He said it was given to him years ago(from his brother i think he said). anyway he told me that it for whatever reason has only one gear in forward and 5 in reverse. he said gear #5 in reverse will push you through a wall! lol his and my guess is that there should be 5 forward and 1 reverse.

anyway....im trying to come up with reasons as to how this could be. gear box in backwards? Tranny issue?. obviously something is reversed.

any thoughts guys as to what i could look for? machine isnt here yet so this is all the info i have for now.

[rmaynard 15,738]

My question is how is the control panel marked? 5 forward, 1 reverse? If the tranny isn't at fault, maybe he has a replacement engine that is rotating backwards. What direction is the auger turning? Is it moving snow outward, or toward the center? Something is just a little more than wacky here,

:thumbs:

[KC9KAS 4,741]

If the rear-end of an Allis Chalmers WD is installed backwards (ring gear installed on opposite side of pinion gear) it will go forward in R and have 4 speeds of reverse in 1-2-3-and 4.

My guess is something is installed backwards!

[mowerman1193 38]

I had a Simplicity Broadmoor from the 1960's a few years ago that needed a new drive belt. The belt had a twist in it to go from the vertical shaft motor to the horizontal pulley on the transmission. I didn't think much of it while putting the new belt on I just was thinking about getting it done so i could get the driveway snowblowed out. Anyway long story short....It makes a difference what way you twist that belt. I hopped on the tractor after piling my tools and trouble light behind the tractor, I put it in high gear and ran over all my tools and broke my trouble light, LOL..Bug surprise when your expecting to go forward and you backwards instead.

Anyway maybe something to look at on your snowblower..

Kevin

[Horse'n Around 22]

Something defineately sounds fishy! I never gave any thought to the notion that some engines might be built to run the opposite direction. Are there so,me that do if so which ones?

On a side note and I know this is totally different but it was entertaining to see. I do remember racing a motocross at Lakewood Colorado in the mid 70s and a guy on the starting line in the moto before mine started his bike and when the gate dropped , he let out the clutch and the bike went backward. It was a 2 stroke Maico 400 , I heard it when he started it and what happened is that the engine started on a backfire and since it was 2 stroke piston port... it ran and sounded 100% normal in but rotating in the opposite direction, needless to say he didnt get to the first turn in 1st to say the least, in fact he almost went over the bars before he ran into the guy right next to me.

John

[mr.pipes 4]

I'm curious how this is going to turn out. Most snowblowers don't have complicated belt routings that can easily be messed up. There are too many things that would have to be done wrong to make it run backwards. My guess is someone changed the friction wheel and put it back together on the wrong side of the drive plate. If that is even possible. What model snowblower is it?

[hoppy 0]

im not sure what model it is just yet. the guy was supposed to drop it yesterday.....

in any event if and when it gets here i will get some pictures of it.

[Redbirdman 7]

If it really runs backwards please take some photos of it 'sucking' snow! :thumbs:

[KC9KAS 4,741]

A Detroit 6V53 will run backwards if you kill the engine, roll backwards in a forward gear, and dump the clutch. Although it runs, it blows the oil seals out!

Really, there are ways that something will run backwards even though it was suppose to go forwards!

[hoppy 0]

the suspense is killing me. i really wish he would just drop it off. extra money is cool and all but this one has me interested.

[stevasaurus 22,914]

So...what is going on. I have been giving this a lot of thought...got my attention. The engine running backwards or a belt twisting issue seems to be what it could only be. :thumbs:

[hoppy 0]

suspense is killing me!!! im not going to hold my breath. guy was all hot to trot to get it here. apparently that isnt the case. sorry to keep you waiting fellas. I had the impression he was bringing it over sooner then he has yet.

[wildman 205]

Majority of the snow blowers ran a friction disc drive.

[Horse Fanatic 49]

the driven disc is on the wrong side of the drive plate. Either assembled wrong or something messed up with the linkage that moves it.

[Duff 206]

I'm totally with Glenn on this - I've seen it done!

Duff :thumbs:

[hoppy 0]

well its finally here. unloaded it 30 minutes ago.

MTD yard machine 5HP/22" Two stage Model #31A611D062

41372

SN#1J261B40522

i took a quick look under the pan and it is friction wheel driven. A quick look at a parts manual shows the wheel to be in correct direction. i wonder if the arm that hooks up the wheel is on the right side? i cant get a good diagram of that setup. going to run out back and fire her up and see what she does.

i know there are supposed to be 5 forward speeds. 1 being the slowest and 5 the fastest. 2 reverse gears.

anyone own one of these machines?

[Kelly 1,030]

Engines with cam shafts can NOT run backwards unless the cam is ground for it, turning backwards the valves will open at the wrong times trying to suck in the muffler and blow out the carb. it will not run very good that way, want to try, put a Cub cadet starter gen on a WH, Cubs spin the wrong way and the engine will back fire some but not run, ask me how I know, cub starter/gen.s drive off the PTO end of the engine.

[mr.pipes 4]

well its finally here. unloaded it 30 minutes ago.

MTD yard machine 5HP/22" Two stage Model #31A611D062

41372

SN#1J261B40522

i took a quick look under the pan and it is friction wheel driven. A quick look at a parts manual shows the wheel to be in correct direction. i wonder if the arm that hooks up the wheel is on the right side? i cant get a good diagram of that setup. going to run out back and fire her up and see what she does.

i know there are supposed to be 5 forward speeds. 1 being the slowest and 5 the fastest. 2 reverse gears.

anyone own one of these machines?

I have a few similar machines. I will snap a couple pics of the friction wheel and such. Can you tell if someone has been in there before messing around?

[hoppy 0]

huh im kinda stumped here. everything looks right.

1st gear goes forward.....2nd gear and there after is reverse

i tried flipping the shift arm linkage around at the drive wheel but somehow it really looks like it can only go on one way and im sure thats the way it was before.

tried flipping the wheel around and no dice....it wont move aross the shaft as it needs to. according to the diagram.......its right.

pictures to follow and yes it looks to me like someone has been in there before. rounded/scratched bolts tells the tale. some not so tite also.

what is the function of the mechanism attached to the drive wheel? what would actually be making this tmachine go from forward to reverse. im wondering if what ever controls that is backwards? my impression here is the wheel id really just for differant speeds. what turns the shaft the wheel is on(teeth on one end to engage drive gear) im wondering if this piece might be bad or backwards?

[hoppy 0]

do you guys see something i dont? here is what im looking at. drive gear would be on your left looking at from this direction. as shown in drawing.

if you look at the gear shifter........when i should be in 3rd or 4th gear forward im actually going backwards fast. the more left i go the slower i go backwards.

[mr.pipes 4]

Here are some pics of a 5hp craftsman (MTD Model). When the friction wheel is on the right, that is 5th, center 1st and left 2nd rev. Hope it helps.

If you want to see anything else, let me know.

[mr.pipes 4]

Looks like we posted at the same time. The stickers for the speeds are in the wrong place. 5th is all the way left.

[hoppy 0]

thanks for the pictures. ok so i need to figure out how to get my handle to the far left and the wheel to the far right.

[mr.pipes 4]

Here are pics of the gear selector. Notice how on yours there are 2 notches on the right. Those are for reverse. Better give Terry an Email

[hoppy 0]

it also looks to me based on your picture that the drive gear is on backwards. what i mean is on this one the gear flange is facing away from the wheel compared to yours that is facing the wheel. that wouldnt make it do what its doing right?