Ariens Snowblower won't engage into drive

Does the drive pulley on the engine work. I feel there has to be a broken shear pin some place. Start the engine and shine a good flash light on all the working parts with some one holding it in gear at an idle. You should be able to see if something is slipping.
Just be safety minded.

try this link... Ariens snowblower the wheels won go forward or backwards Google Search

Your front end is jammed. Its either frozen or there is a rock or something jamming it up. Before you start engine reach down chute and turn back impeller that throws the snow out of blower. Should turn freely. when its free its fixed. You will probably need a new belt.

The snow blower does not throw snow. Snow jams up in the chute

Go to small engine warehouse. There is an button on the top, repower old equipment. They have a few briggs & stratton engine options there.

Ignition key on, throttle three quarters on, full choke, press primer 3 or 4 times, pull cord. Should cough, maybe start and run rough, then as it's chugging, turn choke to half, then quarter choke, let it warm up slightly, then choke off.

Just finished repairing my ariens, 6 years old with aluminum gear box. Same problem encountered. The problem turns out to be the BRONZE gear driven by the worm shaft. Shear bolts did not shear and bronze gear broke about 5-6 teeth. This is why you can move the auger a half turn or so, there are no gears in one area of the gear and as the gear turns to engage the worm drive it will stop. The fix: the cast iron replacement from ariens! About $200 including shipping, got mine from Jack's Small Engine (MD). Fairly easy repair if you are mechanically inclined. Buy yourself a set of roll pin extractors ($20 from Sears), new roll pins, new woodruff key for shaft. You will also probably have to press 2nd stage impeller from shaft with hydraulic press & heat (took mine to my local auto garage). What stinks is ariens seemed to have admitted the design problem with the aluminum gearbox, yet won't help with repair cost! Anyways, I learned a lot about my snowblower for future repair (belt replacement)!