Snow Broken u joint on 59" blower drive shaft

[JDneophyte]

When I bought the 59" blower, I asked the dealer: "I have a gravel driveway.....if I accidentally pull a clump of gravel through the impeller, what's likely to break ?". Dealer: "Not sure"

Tomorrow, I'll inform him of what my learning curve taught me, and hopefully make just a "small" deposit for a new one.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

Take it down to your local driveshaft shop, bet they will have a really nice Spicer replacement joint for you. When you put it back together make sure the grease fitting is in compression.

Tom

 

[kuboman]

When I bought the 59" blower, I asked the dealer: "I have a gravel driveway.....if I accidentally pull a clump of gravel through the impeller, what's likely to break ?". Dealer: "Not sure"

Tomorrow, I'll inform him of what my learning curve taught me, and hopefully make just a "small" deposit for a new one.

Must have been quite a clump, there should be a shear pin that should give before the u-joint.:confused2:

 

[xkbal]

Must have been quite a clump, there should be a shear pin that should give before the u-joint.:confused2:

SHOULD be a shear pin. I, and a few others here, have had similar problems. It's a design flaw in my opinion but the only shear bolts are on the feed auger, nothing for the impeller or drive shaft.

 

[JDneophyte]

Exactly. There is no place for "give" if anything gets into the impeller. The Augers are sturdy enough/wide enough to allow some pretty big things to get to the impeller without shearing the auger itself.

I'll bet they convert the drive link shaft to concentric pipes with a shear pin in it....like the auger. They would have to make a channel for the pin to ride in with a spring loaded mechanism to allow for movement within the shaft.

Any known modifications to avoid this in the future?

Thank you

 

[xkbal]

I'll bet they convert the drive link shaft to concentric pipes with a shear pin in it....like the auger. They would have to make a channel for the pin to ride in with a spring loaded mechanism to allow for movement within the shaft.

Any known modifications to avoid this in the future?

I have my doubts that they will do anything. My dealer said that according to whoever he talked to at Deere I had the first reported problem with this design. Told him i doubted that as I knew of a few people myself with this issue. It happened to me twice (I have a lot of trees hanging over my driveway and branches occasionaly break off, when they are then covered by snow it makes them hard to find), the second time he got the parts for me at no charge.

i would consider making a change to either the drive shaft from the mid pto to the front of the tractor or from the front of the tractor to the implement but i don't have time to experiment right now.

here's couple of other threads on this subject;
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/193007-uh-oh-snowblower-ate-rock.html
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ting/159142-3720-59-front-mount-blower-2.html

 

[kco]

Exactly. There is no place for "give" if anything gets into the impeller. The Augers are sturdy enough/wide enough to allow some pretty big things to get to the impeller without shearing the auger itself.

I'll bet they convert the drive link shaft to concentric pipes with a shear pin in it....like the auger. They would have to make a channel for the pin to ride in with a spring loaded mechanism to allow for movement within the shaft.

Any known modifications to avoid this in the future?

Thank you

My snow blower came with an Italian-made Comer drive shaft with a shear bolt on the tractor end universal as shown on the attached picture. Perhaps such a fitting is available or could be modified for your driveshaft.

 

[xkbal]

My snow blower came with an Italian-made Comer drive shaft with a shear bolt on the tractor end universal as shown on the attached picture. Perhaps such a fitting is available or could be modified for your driveshaft.

I believe the 59" blower can be either rear or front mount. you could probably use a drive shaft of that design for the rear mount version. Unfortunately mine is front mount. The pto for that is 2000 rpm and none of the shear bolt or clutch drive shafts that I've found are rated for that. Different size of splined shaft and balance will be more important than at 540 rpm.

 

[JDneophyte]

I spoke with the dealer today.......had to order the entire shaft assembly per them (????). $350+. I was going to order two (as this is likely to happen again).......but by then, I'll have enough parts to rebuild!

 

[JDneophyte]

My dealer said the same: "Nope.....haven't heard of this happening". It's probably rare, but an engineered solution would be the best option if they continue making 59" blowers for sub compacts. Chunks of wood, gravel, dirt etc are bound to get into these things (or my dogs bone he burries in the snow.....the fully chewed globs that turn into lethal weapons when frozen).

The quality of the blower is fantastic.....this is a minor issue I believe they'll fix with an aftermarket kit (crossing my fingers). If not, some one in here will sell a nice conversion kit and make a few bucks (for who wouldn't buy it?).