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Your Toro Snowblower Won’t Throw Snow: SOLVED!

A snowblower is a helpful piece of equipment that keeps your pathways free of snow for your safety. What good is a snowblower when it doesn’t blow snow? Without a working snowblower, you’ll have to rely on a snow shovel and your physical strength to do the heavy lifting.

A Toro snowblower won’t throw snow when the chute is clogged, the auger is jammed, the shear pins are broken, the belt is worn, the belt has fallen off, the impeller is frozen or the impeller is damaged.

Take caution when working on your snowblower. Keep hands and feet out of the chute and auger areas. Turn off the snowblower, remove the spark plug wire, and wait for all parts to stop moving before performing any diagnostics or repairs.

Snowblower won't blow snow

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Follow all safety instructions provided in your equipment operator’s manual before diagnosing, repairing, or operating. Consult a professional if you don’t have the skills, or knowledge or are not in the condition to perform the repair safely.

Reasons a Toro Snowblower Won’t Throw Snow

Snow Clogged in the Chute

When the snow gets packed in the chute the snowblower won’t be able to throw snow. You are more likely to run into this problem when the snow is wet, heavy or chunks of ice have formed.

When this happens, you need to remove the clogs by breaking up the snow and ice. Use a clean-out tool to do this and keep your hands and arms out of the chute.

Remove clogged snow from the chute:

  • Disengage the auger and drive controls so the auger and snowblower no longer move.
  • Shut off the snowblower, remove the ignition key or safety key (if your model uses one) and remove the spark plug wire.
  • Use the shovel on the clean-out tool that came with your snowblower to break up and remove snow from the chute and around the chute. If you don’t have one, you can purchase one on Amazon or your local hardware store.
  • Attach the spark plug wire.
  • Restart the snowblower.
  • Engage the auger control to check to see if the chute is no longer clogged and able to blow snow.

Prevent snow from clogging the chute

There are a couple of things you can do to prevent the chute from clogging frequently.

  • Use a non-stick spray to coat the chute.
  • Blow freshly fallen snow. As the snow warms, it becomes heavier. Thick heavy snow is more prone to stick to the chute than light snow.

Packed or Damaged Auger

When the auger blades are packed or damaged, they won’t move to break up snow and feed it into the chute. Stop the snowblower, turn off the engine, and remove the spark plug wire.

Remove any clogs or foreign objects stuck in the chute. Use the clean-out tool or some solid tool like a broomstick.

Be careful working around the auger as it could still be under pressure and can rotate when there is no longer a clog or items stuck between the blades and housing.

Again, keep your limbs safe, and don’t use your hands or feet. Keep them out of the blade rotational area.

Once you confirm you don’t have a clog preventing the auger from rotating, check for missing shear pins on a two or three-stage snowblower. Missing shear pins will keep the auger from turning.

Replace any worn auger parts or missing shear pins. Check out “Your Toro Snowblower Auger Won’t Turn” for additional reasons your auger is rotating slowly or not at all affecting the amount of snow that is being blown.

Worn Belt or the Belt Came Off the Pulley

A worn auger belt will slip on the pulleys causing the auger to spin slowly and not sufficiently feed snow into the chute. Replace a worn belt.

Also, make sure the belt is securely in place. If it has fallen off, reinstall the belt.

Verify there are no problems with the pulleys or other parts that may have caused the belt to come off your snowblower. Fix any worn or damaged parts.

Damaged or Frozen Impeller

Two-stage and three-stage Toro snowblowers use an impeller to propel snow out of the blower chute. Check to make sure the impeller is not broken and can still move freely.

The impeller can freeze up when moisture accumulates on the impeller and freezes in cold weather. If you don’t have a heated garage, run the snowblower impeller to remove as much snow before putting it away until the next use.

You want to avoid moisture from collecting around the impeller and freezing. A drop light works well to hang in the chute to provide a little warmth to the blower to avoid ice from forming while it isn’t being used.

If you have a frozen impeller, apply a little heat to warm the area to thaw the ice. A hair dryer or another heating element works well for this.