Front mount blower options

[dnw64]

back in the day i always broke them at start of season....all the time. they were correct ones. the problem here is gravel roads and pathways.

Well, I do have the advantage of a paved drive (other than the first 2 years), and a paved Town road backing it up.

 

[grsthegreat]

Well, I do have the advantage of a paved drive (other than the first 2 years), and a paved Town road backing it up.

That makes all the difference. I had a neighbor that kept breaking shear pins in his walk behind blower, so he used a stronger, off the shelf bolt. He blew up the drive train in the blower housing. My new ariens walk behind has broken 3 shear bolts now this season, but ill stick with factory bolts.

 

[dnw64]

as far as i know only a hydraulic blower gets rid of the shear pin hassle. i switched to a hydraulic system and have never had a problem blowing snow for hours on ene without ever stopping. if it does get clogged, it stops blowing. you pull out obstruction, and set off blowing again. theres a pressure bypass valve.

Yes, I was recently looking at the Schmidt units for UniMogs and noted that feature. Now I just need the 50-100 grand (or well over that for all new!)...

 

[Z-Michigan]

That makes all the difference. I had a neighbor that kept breaking shear pins in his walk behind blower, so he used a stronger, off the shelf bolt. He blew up the drive train in the blower housing. My new ariens walk behind has broken 3 shear bolts now this season, but ill stick with factory bolts.

Hmmm, 10 cent bolt or $500 repair... let me think about this.

I've broken three on my PTO blower in rapid succession. Each time I was getting the blower housing clogged with snow, to the point of compaction, without realizing it. First and second times are obvious in hindsight, #3 still doesn't make sense (I was going slow and not pushing a pile) but it happened. Apparently snow conditions make a huge difference, and a push that works on dry powder is way too much with refrozen compacted snow. (Again, obvious in hindsight.) The more you break, the faster you get at replacing them!

 

[dnw64]

Hmmm, 10 cent bolt or $500 repair... let me think about this.

I'm not justifying the use of a regular bolt, but please tell me where you can buy shear bolts for 10 cents. Mine are 10 bucks a piece.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I'm not justifying the use of a regular bolt, but please tell me where you can buy shear bolts for 10 cents. Mine are 10 bucks a piece.

TSC. My Woodmaxx blower uses a 2.25x5/16" grade 2 common bolt as its PTO shaft shearbolt. This is expressly stated in the owner's manual, and is not a substitution for any specialized part. TSC Sells grade 2 bolts for either .99 or 1.99 a pound, I have to check which. The nylok nuts cost more than the bolts, and if I can find them are reusable.

This is my first experience with shear bolts - all prior PTO implements had slip clutches. I'm very glad I'm not paying $10 per bolt.

 

[aczlan]

TSC. My Woodmaxx blower uses a 2.25x5/16" grade 2 common bolt as its PTO shaft shearbolt. This is expressly stated in the owner's manual, and is not a substitution for any specialized part. TSC Sells grade 2 bolts for either .99 or 1.99 a pound, I have to check which. The nylok nuts cost more than the bolts, and if I can find them are reusable.

This is my first experience with shear bolts - all prior PTO implements had slip clutches. I'm very glad I'm not paying $10 per bolt.

Our Loftness also calls for regular bolts as shear bolts, it uses a pair of 5/16" Grade 5 bolts for the auger and a pair of 3/8 Grade 5 bolts (IIRC) on the PTO shaft (per the owners manual).

Aaron Z

 

[grsthegreat]

I'm not justifying the use of a regular bolt, but please tell me where you can buy shear bolts for 10 cents. Mine are 10 bucks a piece.

yeiks. The shear bolt for my ariens 24” compact run about $2 each at lowes. 10 bucks...yeiks

 

[VitaBene]

I've been blowing snow now for 19 winters and have yet to break a shear pin. Ok, now I'll break all 3 on Wednesday.

Are you sure you have the right ones? As previously mentioned, there a lots of variations. In fact my blower uses two different ones (one for the cross auger and one for the impeller) and they are the physically the same dimensions. One type is gold and the other's silver so you can tell them apart.

In years past, I have sheared pins in small walk-behind blowers, but I have not in 12 years with the front mounted blower on the Kubota (knocking on wood). I take care of 800 feet of paved drive and 3/4 mile of gravel.

For those going through shear pins are the holes on the auger or shaft elongated at all allowing a little shearing momentum?

 

[sven1277]

While really nice blowers, Zaugg are quite pricey. A small one is about $15k