Deere 828D pulling to the left

[04X485]

I have a late 90's (might be 97 or 98) Deere 828 walk behind snow blower. I don't recall this being like this for the entire time but after blowing snow my left wrist is sore from continually fighting the snowblower to go straight. When blowing snow and under load it pulls to the left. If you simply just drive it with no load or with the auger area not touching the ground it tracks straight.

Thoughts on what could be causing this? I can tell you the skid shoes were worn and replaced with no problems. Since then they are worn again. The scraper bar needs replacing and that isn't level from side to side.

I spoke to the dealer about taking it in but since they can't duplicate it since the snow is gone they have little to go on. I was thinking of taking it in for them to just look over but for $75 an hour who knows what if anything they will find. They did bring up to make sure there is equal air in both tires since if there is less in the left side that would cause it to pull. I want to say that's not it since I fill the tires each fall. Now after that I don't check them.

Figured I would put this out here to maybe get some suggestions.

[sixbales]

I don't know anything about snow blowers, but is it possible that the drive mechanism for the left wheel is not working properly (not driving under load). It could be as simple as a sheared pin or bolt. To check this possibility, you'll need to pull the left wheel off and see what is happening.

Ed Fulton

[cnhyardtoys]

A couple of things to look at.
1). Check the tire pressure. 85% of the snowblowers that came in my shop this past winter had less than 2lbs of air in the tires. Since the snowblowers weigh very little, the tires will almost never go flat like they do on a car.
2). Replace the scrapper bar and skid shoes. Here is how to adjust the skid shoes. With the snowblower on level ground, Place a couple of pieces of 1/8" flat stock under the scrapper bar (1 on each end). Now push the skids down so they touch the ground. Tighten the skids. This accomplishes 2 things. 1). Saves wear on the scrapper bar (skid shoes are much less expensive than the scrapper bar). 2) Makes throwing wet/slushy snow easier as the scrapper is 1/8" off the ground and out of the water.

your worn skid shoes appear to be the problem since you say it tracks straight with the auger not touching the ground.
Check your tire pressure every week as you may have a slow leak.