How to Fix a seized Impeller

 Today I fixed my snowblower.  It had been out-of-commission during the recent snowstorm.  Oh, the engine started-up okay, and the axel drive gears worked just fine.  But the impeller (the part that throws the snow) was seized-up.  Every time I tried to engage the mechanism the belt would screech like a banshee and, if I forced it, the engine would quit under the strain.  

Hmm what to do?  Like any halfway intelligent modern man, I went to YouTube and typed-in "Craftsman snow thrower."   As expected, there were dozens of videos covering various problems with Craftsman snowblowers and how to fix them.  After watching one that seemed to be my problem, I deduced that the problem was either A) something (like a stone) got stuck in the impeller mechanism, or B) it was frozen.

I immediately decided that my problem was B, a frozen drive.  This is where the wisdom of old age guides the problem-solving process.  I reasoned, that it was unlikely to be that something got stuck in the mechanism because the last time I used it, I had no problems with that mechanism working.  Since the temps had been well below freezing since the last use, icing-up was a more probable cause.  Until today.

Noting that the forecast for today was an unseasonable warm-up (mid forty degrees) I decided to go out and crank 'er up.  Voila, everything works perfectly!

Not to brag, but a more impetuous soul might have rushed to call someone to fix the machine.  But, by waiting for a natural thaw, I did not waste any physical effort or money.

I must admit that I was forced to face the reality that "Old Trusty" might not be repairable for a reasonable expense.    At our age, we can't count on living in this (or any) house for enough years to make the investment in a new machine make sense. An existential crisis indeed!  The plows do a shitty job.  There are no neighborhood young people interested in making $20 bucks.  (These kids probably have more walking around money than I do)

In the end, procrastination once-again  saved the day!   I'm thinking of making my own YouTube video showing me literally doing nothing but looking at a thermometer and cranking-up the now perfectly working snowblower.