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How’s your snow blower these days? We got 24” of snow a week back and more yesterday and today. The skiing at Blue Mt was FANTASTIC yesterday! But my snow blower regurgitated a rock and left me stranded. The fix is easy, so I thought I’d pass this on to folks that might have a similar problem.
If the engine is running but the blades don't turn, the problem may be the shear pin on the is auger broken. It's a safety device of sorts. The axle that rotates those big auger blades is actually inside a tube onto which the augers are welded. So the axle that rotates the auger, can’t rotate them if there's nothing connecting the auger tube to the axle. What they do is put a bolt through both of them. I’ll call it the auger bolt. So if the motor is running but the augers don't turn, try rotating the auger by hand. If the auger rotates freely, the bolt is probably broken. If it's broke, you'll find a hole where the bolt was and some if it may be stuck inside the shaft.
To fix it, you'll have to line up the holes of course. To rotate the shaft (not the auger) the easiest thing to do is to rotate the second stage blades. Just reach in and push (while it's not running of course! lol) You need to line up the shaft with the hole in the auger tube. Look in with a flashlight till you see the end of the broken bolt. Then take a http://www.ted-kyte.com/3D/Pictures/Drift%20Punch.jpg" and knock out the broken bit of bolt with a hammer. If you don’t have a punch, another bolt or sturdy screwdriver will do.
Hardware stores may have shear pins to replace it with. I just used a standard bolt (but a very weak one so it has a chance of breaking). You can use a piece of wire or anything to get you by till you can get a new one.
If the engine is running but the blades don't turn, the problem may be the shear pin on the is auger broken. It's a safety device of sorts. The axle that rotates those big auger blades is actually inside a tube onto which the augers are welded. So the axle that rotates the auger, can’t rotate them if there's nothing connecting the auger tube to the axle. What they do is put a bolt through both of them. I’ll call it the auger bolt. So if the motor is running but the augers don't turn, try rotating the auger by hand. If the auger rotates freely, the bolt is probably broken. If it's broke, you'll find a hole where the bolt was and some if it may be stuck inside the shaft.
To fix it, you'll have to line up the holes of course. To rotate the shaft (not the auger) the easiest thing to do is to rotate the second stage blades. Just reach in and push (while it's not running of course! lol) You need to line up the shaft with the hole in the auger tube. Look in with a flashlight till you see the end of the broken bolt. Then take a http://www.ted-kyte.com/3D/Pictures/Drift%20Punch.jpg" and knock out the broken bit of bolt with a hammer. If you don’t have a punch, another bolt or sturdy screwdriver will do.
Hardware stores may have shear pins to replace it with. I just used a standard bolt (but a very weak one so it has a chance of breaking). You can use a piece of wire or anything to get you by till you can get a new one.
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