Craftsman 42" Two-stage Tractor Snowblower
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Craftsman 42" Two-stage Tractor Snowblower Reviews


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3.75 of 5 view all 55 reviews
Rating Summary | 75% of reviewers recommend (41 out of 55)

“No go in heavy snow”

Craftsman 42" Two-stage Tractor Snowblower — 

I bought this snow thrower this winter and have it mounted on the Sears 22 HP 4500 tractor. In dry snow up to 5 or 6 inches it works just fine, but any snow that has much moisture in it forget it. The auger belt that runs from the front of the blower back to the rear pulley keeps coming off in wet snow. Yes, the first one got stretched so I replaced it and the next one also flys off in tough conditions. If anyone has a suggestion other than using it only on dry powdery snow let me know

Craftsman 42" Two-stage Tractor Snowblower

is not recommended by larrz
Posted on Feb 28, 2007
Comments about larrz’s Review

Displaying all 2 comments

Old-Engineer wrote on Feb 3, 2011 at 2:25PM

 

Same here. It is very important to make sure the belt is on correctly. There are two places in the manual that show how the belt goes on - the first one was done by someone high on something - but if you look in the back part of the manual, the correct directions are there. Even getting the belt on correctly will not help with heavy, wet snow. I see a lot of reviews about how great it is in heavy snow, but only on the sear's site. Elsewhere the story is different. The problem is a combination of things. First, you cannot transfer enough torque to the auger/impeller with this one, wimpy belt, to move a 42" wide path 12+" high of wet snow. Can't happen. The the belt stretches, then starts slipping, begins to heat up and finally fails. You know you are in trouble when you start to smell the belt burning. If you coddle this thing along very slow through the wet stuff and the banks left by the plow, you can get about 1 season per belt here in northern MI on an average size drive. I would someday like to ask the designers of this product what made them think they could take a v-belt through a 90 degree off-plane turn. News flash: v-belts are not designed to do this. I did the math, for the cost of this thing, and how long I predict it will last - I could have hired someone to do my drive for me, sad.

Tootsielindy wrote on Dec 10, 2009 at 6:01AM

 

same problem with wet heavy snow, off goes the belt! I am a widow alone, and have to wait for help. Directions to get the belt back on are scarce! Not fun on stormy days. Waiting for help or belt advice today!!!

 "Good for small yards"
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