How many spare shear bolts for MF 2360 snowblower?

[mgstevens]

Rocks, hockey pucks, (a couple dogs on a long chain..kidding) but worst for the past few years for me are those f'n flyer packages thrown on driveways that lazy home owners don't pick up prior to snowfalls.

I'm fortunate that I live on semi-rural acreage and never have objects in my drive that just randomly appear. Hopefully that will save me both in shear bolts and [yikes!] actual snowblowers. I will wait until this season passes to make any lofty claims.

I saw another post somewhere about grooving your own shear bolts, and picked up a non-grooved grade 5 bolt (auger spec) for $0.25 to give it a try. Hopefully that would not be shear foolishness.

Until I feel more comfortable with the DIY route, I'll get a set or two from the dealer...

 

[MF RED in MT]

Rocks, hockey pucks, (a couple dogs on a long chain..kidding) but worst for the past few years for me are those f'n flyer packages thrown on driveways that lazy home owners don't pick up prior to snowfalls. I'm on my second 2360 blower, have gone through close to a hundred pins or more over the past years. At first it was primarily rocks then I modified shoes (those on the 2360 are terrible) which helped but since then those gosh darn flyer packages became popular. Sometimes they pass through in a "blurp" sometimes it takes an hour or more to extract the package wedged between the fan blade and housing.

I've been purchasing the Kubota equivalent shear pins for many years now as the dealer is much closer and less expensive. No kidding, I've probably spent 700-800 dollars on shear pins over the years.

Wow, 2nd snowblower, Ouch, $$$$, if I was going through that many shear pins, I would consider a small HF bench top metal lathe ( 7" x 12" Mini Metal Lathe ) and would be turning out my own shear pins?

B.T.W. I'll bet you can change out a shear pin blindfolded faster than NASCAR can change out a tire, ha ha.

KC

 

[Jaylegger]

Wow, 2nd snowblower, Ouch, $$$$, if I was going through that many shear pins, I would consider a small HF bench top metal lathe ( 7" x 12" Mini Metal Lathe ) and would be turning out my own shear pins?

B.T.W. I'll bet you can change out a shear pin blindfolded faster than NASCAR can change out a tire, ha ha.

KC

I actually did think of it. Almost bought one of the Mini lathes at Princess Auto but then talked myself out of it. Instead I purchased a hundred grade 5 matching bolts without the grooves thinking I could use a grinder with cutting wheel to make the grooves. The bolts were too hard and I could barely scratch them. Without the grooves I'm guessing any burr created from the shearing would likely make it very difficult to exact the broken pins.

 

[MF RED in MT]

I actually did think of it. Almost bought one of the Mini lathes at Princess Auto but then talked myself out of it. Instead I purchased a hundred grade 5 matching bolts without the grooves thinking I could use a grinder with cutting wheel to make the grooves. The bolts were too hard and I could barely scratch them. Without the grooves I'm guessing any burr created from the shearing would likely make it very difficult to exact the broken pins.

I know what you are saying, ten years ago I made up a few shear pins using a drill press with a jig holding a sawzall blade, they seem to look ok, but with the money I had invested into the MF2360 snowblower, I decided it was not worth the risk to use them and have been using the MF shear pins ever since.

KC

 

[mgstevens]

I know what you are saying, ten years ago I made up a few shear pins using a drill press with a jig holding a sawzall blade, they seem to look ok, but with the money I had invested into the MF2360 snowblower, I decided it was not worth the risk to use them and have been using the MF shear pins ever since.

KC

Interesting! I have one off-the-shelf Grade 5 bolt here so I will try to groove it to see the degree of difficulty. The DIY post I saw suggested creating a jig with some angle for clamping in a vice, with a short length of pipe, cut with a notch where the groove lay welded to the angle, and using a drill to spin the bolt while a hacksaw blade (hacksaw attached..) cuts the grooves to a pre-marked depth.

I'm sure beyond getting the groove right, there is nothing unique about the shear bolts, but it's probably not worth hurting a $4000 blower over a $9 bolt.

 

[Captain Dirty]

I'm sure beyond getting the groove right, there is nothing unique about the shear bolts, but it's probably not worth hurting a $4000 blower over a $9 bolt.

I'm jumping back in without reading the intervening pages, but why not get the appropriate grade bolt in the reduced diameter and a full-diameter drift to drive out the remnants of a broken pin?

Perhaps one should start the shopping process looking at the maintenance costs, i.e shear pins, chain links, PTO U-joints, bearings, etc.

 

[mgstevens]

Perhaps one should start the shopping process looking at the maintenance costs, i.e shear pins, chain links, PTO U-joints, bearings, etc.

Not sure which shopping you are referring to, but when you have a MF SCUT, and want a front mount snowblower, your shopping choices are "MF2360" full stop. The shear bolts are common to all snowblowers, and the rest of the list have not seemingly been a problem for most folks here from what I can tell...

 

[Captain Dirty]

When you have a MF SCUT, and want a front mount snowblower, your shopping choices are "MF2360" full stop.

Sounds like MF has joined the appliance people and much of the rest of the world: Brand your product, require branded spare parts or accessories, and the customer is your captive.

 

[mgstevens]

Sounds like MF has joined the appliance people and much of the rest of the world: Brand your product, require branded spare parts or accessories, and the customer is your captive.

W.T.F?!

I see you are a Kubota owner, and if you had the same class of Kubota, and wanted a front-mount snowblower, you'd also have *one* choice, and the snowblower comes from the very same factory. So I guess the companies are all the same, huh?

I want a reliable machine to handle a ton of heavy jobs, not some fantasy throwback to a non-branded, non-captive-customer time, that simply did not exist. The bolts are larger than most snowblowers, so not widely available.

Want infinite, non-branded choice? Build your own machine.

No? Thought so.

:muttering:

 

[Jaylegger]

I know what you are saying, ten years ago I made up a few shear pins using a drill press with a jig holding a sawzall blade, they seem to look ok, but with the money I had invested into the MF2360 snowblower, I decided it was not worth the risk to use them and have been using the MF shear pins ever since.

KC

Agree. I placed the bolts into the chuck of a 1/2" drill chuck then secured the drill into a vise. Turn on the drill and then, using a hand held grinder with a cut off wheel (which had same width of oem groove) rotating in opposite direction attempted to make grooves. Nothing happened after about half an hour I gave up, shook my head, and had a soul searching moment of why I continue to justify spending hundreds of dollars to save 10.