Just a few things I'd think of...

Is the belt in need of replacement? Slipping? Is it glazed?

With the belt removed, will the auger turn freely?

John

The belt doesn't seem to be slipping at the top, but perhaps it is at the bottom. I'll try turning the auger with the belt off the next day it's not too cold to work on it.
Thanks Sawdust maker.

Actually, I remember now that with the handle in the up (off) position, the auger belt has the tension removed from it and the auger is virtually impossible to turn by hand.

So if the auger is disconnected from the engine, it seems it should turn freely. I'd look at the auger shaft. Is it on bearings? Look to see if this is your problem. I'll bet the bearings have frozen up.

John

Today I found that if I turn the impeller by hand, the shaft it is on turns with it. But the lower auger belt pulley - which is on the same shaft - doesn't turn. That makes me think that the set screws on the pulley are not holding it to the shaft tightly. When I work on the pulley, I'll also check for seized bearings on the auger shaft as you suggest. Thanks John.

Well, it looks like my snowblower is working again. I went to Sears and ordered a new auger pulley, 2 set screws, and a shaft key. After $54 and 2 days the parts were delivered via courier to my home. There wasn't enough clearance to slip the pulley off the back of the shaft, so I removed the bolts from the bushings that hold the auger to the side plates of the auger housing, allowing the auger, augerbox, auger shaft, and impeller to move forward as one unit. Having checked the belt and various bearings, all of which were okay, I put it back together and tried it out. There wasn't much snow to test it on (big piles of dense, icy stuff, though), but from what little I tried it on, the machine seems to be back to normal.
Thanks, Garden Web, for providing this forum, and thanks Sawdust Maker, for your time and input.

My 7HP Sears snowblower caught a water valve sticking out of the driveway, right between the side wall and the blade.
After moving it up/down, left/right to dislodge it, I must have bent something or the sudden stop must have damaged the auger or something else as the machine now shakes violently when engaged. Can someone tell me what's wrong and is it costly to repair, and where to get parts? The S is over 25 years old. Thanks, Vanco trinhcoathotmail.com

This morning after blowing for over an hour, the top grip for my auger is not ingaging the augar. Before I try to take off the side panel, I wanted to ask for you advise.

For vanco, I can't think of anything that would cause it to shake violently. Is the auger hitting the inside of the housing? Disconnect/remove the spark plug wire from the spark plug and turn the impeller by hand. Does one of the augers it something in its revolution?

For gordon, remove the cover directly in front of the engine. You'll be able to see the belts and probably your auger drive belt is broken or out of adjustment.

I have an old sears snowblower its worked fine for years but i havent used it for a year or 2 and now its keeps stalling out when i push snow? Also should i be able to hand turn the auger when not running ?

Fresh fuel? It sounds like you need to clean the carb /fuel system. Many machines you are able to turn the auger and as long as it turns the shaft to the impeller, it is fine. If the auger spins on its shaft, likely the shear pins have broken. Model #s would be great and maybe start a new post if you need more help.