Hi,

I have an 8HP Spirit snowblower. I think it's about 20 years old. It runs good and really goes through the snow. The issue I'm having is the drive. When the snowblower is on a flat surface, the drive works fine. My driveway is steep, and when I try to go up the drive, the drive doesn't work.

I tore it down last year and had the friction plate and wheel inspected. That all looked fine. The only thing I noticed was there was some play in the axle. There are bearings installed where the axle comes out to the drive wheels. If those bearings were wore out, and the axle were sloppy, I'm assuming this could cause the issue with the drive?