Do I need a pulley extractor to replace the small drive belt (225-5M) for SnowJoe SJ625E?

Question

First let me say that I called the SnowJoe technical support and they could not help.

I am trying to replace the belt that goes around the pulley marked with a red arrow in the below diagram (from their manual). The problem is that the flanged pulley has a shoulder that forces you to fully install the belt around it before trying to install it around the driver pulley. (see the second picture for terminology)

This is for terminology reference, I hope I am using the right names for these parts, I am not a mechanic

Here is what it looks like with no belt

And here is how close I can get without forcing it

To me it seems that the only way to put this back is to use a pulley extractor. Is there a better way?

Answer 1

Page 13 and 14 clearly show how to do it

manual

To remove or install the belt, you would put it over the drive pulley first, then partially (as much you can) over the auger pulley, then start turning the auger (while pushing the belt down to make the belt slip over it.

No tools neded

Use your right hand to press the belt with the ribbed side down. While holding the belt down with your right hand, use your left hand to turn the auger forward so that the auger pulley rotates in a clockwise direction. The belt will be gradually pushed down onto the pulley. When the belt is seated on the pulley, adjust it so that the ribs of the belt match the grooves on the pulley. (Fig. 29).

Wrench hold

Answer 2

Possible (can't see anything that's "for certain" that the parts might have a less-obvious tensioning method, like an eccentric mount, where something can be loosened to allow a collar around the shaft to rotate, and the hole for the shaft is off-center in that part, so the distance changes.

However, if you want to pull the small cogged pulley, the C-clip implies that it will probably come off without requiring a puller once you remove the C-clip.

Before you go there:

Rather than the ham-fisted approach shown in your you-tube clip, might try a nail or rod somewhat smaller than your pulley teeth engaged at one side of the pulley and belt inside the belt, outside the pulley, coming "straight up" from your picture) and rotating the assembly to pull that around the small pulley while pushing down on the belt to work it onto the pulley. Perhaps it's too tight to work, but more likely to than clumsy screwdriver-ing.

Answer 3

OK after some wresting with this thing I managed to fix it. Here is how you do it:

The flanged pulley is key here, that one must be removed and then the belt can be installed. Depending on your luck it might come out easy or not. The third picture shows a nut that you need to remove, be careful with that you need to unscrew it as you would normally tighten it (it is designed to tighten itself as the shaft is spinning). After removing that nut you should be able to pull the flange out, it it is not coming off then use two prybars and push it upward evenly and at the same time. If it is still not moving do not force it as the piece is made of aluminum allow and it might crack (I came across reports/reviews saying that they tried to force the belt in as suggested in some of the below answers and the flanged pulley cracked). So to safely do that you need to remove the blue plastic cover so you can have free access to the pulley from all sides. They you can use a pulley remover as shown in the picture. In my case this as not needed as after having complete access to the pulley I was able to find better angles from my pry bars and I was able to pry it out a little. The pulley remover must have thin tips as it needs to get under the flange and there is not a lot or room there (less than 1/4" and the pulley remover might not get the right angle in order to get the grip there). As you can see in the below pictures I was able to replace the belt easily after that.