Broke a roller chain tonight, any suggestions for breaker tool

[RickB]

Cotter pins work fine when installed in the proper direction.
I'll bet you lunch your chain had a master link. What brand of blower?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

That's the type I have for doing motorcycle chains but I couldn't find one that will do a large chain. I like that style because you can push the pin back in easily.

Amazon.com: CBT-24 Chain Breaker Industrial Heavy Duty Roller Chain Breaker Breaks,#5,#6, #6H: Industrial & Scientific

 

[Dave M7040]

Got a fist size rock stuck between the chain and sprocket on my snowblower tonight and broke the chain. I would have thought that the shear pin would have gone first but it didn't. Tractor Supply had the chain in stock (10' more than twice what I need). It's 60h chain and it came with a master link but I would rather rivet the chain back on. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a breaker (was looking at a Koch). I have a breaker for motorcycle chains that just isn't quite large enough but it will push the pins out then drive them back in. I assume that the Koch breaker will not push the pin back in since it's a different style. I wouldn't mind a riveting tool but have used a hammer to peen the end of the pin. Here's an image of the Koch breaker.
View attachment 498264

If you go to the web sites of the companies who actually manufacturer the roller chain, they strongly advise against doing the hammer peening to retain the pin. They want the center of the pin deformed to displace the pin material out over the plate if you really want a chain with no master link.

The chains are one piece because that is the easy way to make a thousand snow blowers. The chain arrives on the assembly line on the sprockets ready to slip on to the blower..
Depending upon the blower you have the chain could be in two places. If your blower is front mounted and driven from a mid pto turning 2,500 rpm there will be a speed reduction taking place on the back side of the blower to lower the rpm the blower sees to 540 rpm. Usually those chains are a bit enclosed. It it is a completely open chain driving the auger through a sprocket on one side of the auger, I would first be checking what shear bolt you are using on the auger drive sprocket. Some manufacturers have a flat steel plate about 3" wide and the height of the blower deflecting everything away form the chain and sprocket. This would be easy to add.

The normal spring clip joining link should be more than adequate. The rotating speeds are a fraction of those on a motorcycle.

The auger is about 540/2 rpm or less i.e. 270 rpm.

A motorcycle with 120/70/17 tire with a rolling circumference of 74" will rotate 856 rpm at 60 mph and we all know they go much faster. The rear sprocket is rotating the same speed as the wheel is turning.

Your blower will have two shear bolts. One for the auger and one on the pto or fan.

Dave M7040

 

[crazyal]

Cotter pins work fine when installed in the proper direction.
I'll bet you lunch your chain had a master link. What brand of blower?

It's made by Rad for Kubota, no there's not a mater.

 

[crazyal]

If you go to the web sites of the companies who actually manufacturer the roller chain, they strongly advise against doing the hammer peening to retain the pin. They want the center of the pin deformed to displace the pin material out over the plate if you really want a chain with no master link.

The chains are one piece because that is the easy way to make a thousand snow blowers. The chain arrives on the assembly line on the sprockets ready to slip on to the blower..
Depending upon the blower you have the chain could be in two places. If your blower is front mounted and driven from a mid pto turning 2,500 rpm there will be a speed reduction taking place on the back side of the blower to lower the rpm the blower sees to 540 rpm. Usually those chains are a bit enclosed. It it is a completely open chain driving the auger through a sprocket on one side of the auger, I would first be checking what shear bolt you are using on the auger drive sprocket. Some manufacturers have a flat steel plate about 3" wide and the height of the blower deflecting everything away form the chain and sprocket. This would be easy to add.

The normal spring clip joining link should be more than adequate. The rotating speeds are a fraction of those on a motorcycle.

The auger is about 540/2 rpm or less i.e. 270 rpm.

A motorcycle with 120/70/17 tire with a rolling circumference of 74" will rotate 856 rpm at 60 mph and we all know they go much faster. The rear sprocket is rotating the same speed as the wheel is turning.

Your blower will have two shear bolts. One for the auger and one on the pto or fan.

Dave M7040

The shear bolts are just fine. Every fall I make sure by removing them and checking that things aren't rusted. The plate in front of the sprocket protects against things hitting it from the front, like running into something. But the blower counts on the auger to pull anything to the center of the blower towards the fan. The speed at which the chain is moving is not my concern. It's the fact that frozen dirt collects where the chain goes through the opening at the behind the auger. There's a metal plate below the chain behind the back of the snowblower. I don't have a good picture of it (this is just one I found on the internet). That plate acts like a shelf. A small amount of snow goes through the opening and most ends up on the ground but the heavy wet snow (and any mud or gravel) can end up on that shelf. If enough of it gets caught there it could cause the spring clip to wear. I don't think it'll be a huge problem but I'll keep an eye on it. Unlike the aluminum case on a motorcycle if the chain breaks or looses the master I don't see much of anything that can get damaged. Plus, as you said, the chain is moving at a much lower speed which would reduce the chance of damage as well.

 

[Dave M7040]

It would be interesting to go to a Kubota dealer and ask them for a replacement chain.
Would they have one or could they order one? Would it come as a one piece?

My GS1100E, once it left the factory, putting a one piece chain back on involves a lot of work hence the move to riveting tools.

On the blower loosen the end of the auger bearings and stuff like that and a one piece chain would go on easily.

As for the chain rubbing on frozen mud or ice, do you watch the TV show Forged in Fire?

In case you have not, contestants build, i.e. forge a variety of knives and swords from scrap metal.. At the end of the forging process, they are quenching the red hot blades in oil to harden them.
The practical test to determine if the blade is hard is to try rubbing it with a metal file. A hard blade will be harder than the file and the file cannot remove any material from the blade.

My sense is that the chain link and spring clip, which are hardened, would be harder than the mud and most rocks it would come into contact with. Knocking the spring clip off is a different story.

Dave M7040

 

[RickB]

It's made by Rad for Kubota, no there's not a mater.

I'll check my RAD parts catalogs at work today.

 

[crazyal]

Kubota parts list shows a part number for a "connecting link". The Kubota price worked out to be twice what a generic 60H chain cost ($50 something for the chain and $5 for the link). If the replacement didn't have a master link it would be real pain as both the auger and the drive shaft would need to be removed as I don't think the side plate can be removed. The sprocket hides the 4 bolts on the flange bearing enough so getting a hand in there to hold the nuts is all but impossible. Then there's not enough room to get the chain around the end of the auger unless it's removed. I've never taken the drive sprocket shaft off but I'm guessing that the gear box may need to be loosened to slide it over. When assembling in a factory it wouldn't be a problem but, replacing it in a shop, it would add at least an hour to the job. I'm sure my concerns of wearing down the master link clip are unfounded. Sometimes you just find a way that works for a different application and like transfer the technique but just make extra work for nothing. Also after looking at the lack of oil on the pins I like the idea of soaking it in oil over the summer.

 

[Ehanson]

Just thinking about riveting a repair link into place, and I have a few links in a jar that came from my grandfather. These links have long pins, and reading these previous posts, I figure you could cut to length the pin and rivet over once in place.
It dawned on me, these links that have these very long pins may be repair links for maybe double, triple or quad wide chains?
I have a double row chain from a snowmobile chaincase and it's master is long.
My point is you could get a double row master link and cut to the correct length for peening.
Has anyone seen these long links?

 

[Dave M7040]

Just thinking about riveting a repair link into place, and I have a few links in a jar that came from my grandfather. These links have long pins, and reading these previous posts, I figure you could cut to length the pin and rivet over once in place.
It dawned on me, these links that have these very long pins may be repair links for maybe double, triple or quad wide chains?
I have a double row chain from a snowmobile chaincase and it's master is long.
My point is you could get a double row master link and cut to the correct length for peening.
Has anyone seen these long links?

From my internet searching the "peening" is frowned upon as shown in this image.

This link shows where I got the image showing good and bad methods.

http://www.renoldcanada.com/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=1160&sID=1862

I too have not done my chain joining the proper way and this may explain why they failed sooner than expected.

If I was doing the chain on my motorcycle, I would either have the dealer do it using the special riveting tools or buy the tool which is expensive.

On my 90" snowblower I would use the master link with the spring clip.

My reasoning is I don't want the grief of a out of commission snow blower in the middle of a big storm because of a broken chain. A chain which broke because my riveting at home method was wanting..

I am old and handicapped so I cannot lie on my back in a snow storm like I was once able to do. Changed VW engines often in a snow storm.

Dave M7040