Blew up my new snowblower

[Wyld Bill]

Well my Pronovost Lynx 70" blower is out for the season. I picked up a rock the size of a loaf of bread & it didn't like it. It broke the shaft that goes through the gear box from the PTO shaft to the fan right in half. BUsted the case of the gear box too. Quite a bummer. I put the 72" rear grader blade on for any more snow that we get. it will have to be good enough. How much is one of these gear boxes??? Anywhere to get one on-line for cheaper? It says it's made in China for Comer Industries.

 

[Johnny Mac]

hopefully the season is almost over and you have the time to find the part and fix it before you need it again

looking out the window at 6" of snow in Kansas City

 

[mbohuntr]

I wonder why you didn't shear a pin first? I will shear a pin in my puma if the snow is a little too heavy....Pins are cheap... If the shaft is too pricey, put a set of calipers on it and have your local shop bore out a sleeve and slide it over the break and weld it on. You can likely get a new gearbox OEM from a dealer.

 

[rimshot]

Well my Pronovost Lynx 70" blower is out for the season. I picked up a rock the size of a loaf of bread & it didn't like it. It broke the shaft that goes through the gear box from the PTO shaft to the fan right in half. BUsted the case of the gear box too. Quite a bummer. I put the 72" rear grader blade on for any more snow that we get. it will have to be good enough. How much is one of these gear boxes??? Anywhere to get one on-line for cheaper? It says it's made in China for Comer Industries.

============

Aha! Sorry for your troubles because that hurts your pocket book. You might be interested to know that some Meteor 60" units produced reportedly were equipped with Chinese made gearbox units that were just plain defective. Now to set the record straight I don't recall hearing that any of these cases reported that involved Meteor blowers involved the blower sucking up a rock the size loaf of bread because that's enough to cause any gear box to fail,I suppose.

I just wonder why the cream of the crop Pronovost/Lynx are using Chinese gear boxes. Too bad the blower could not have shucked all this trouble with a sheared pin alone. Your not the first to hit a rock with your blower and usually a pin shear is the sum total of the damage. Each occurrence is to be judged individually.

Good luck with your repairs.


rimshot

 

[JoelD]

Super sorry to hear your trouble.

Hope you are able to swap out the gear box, curious a shear pin did not let go. Is it equiped with shear pins? I've not used a large blower like yours, my Snapper 36 inch front mount blower sucked up a garden hose and I stripped the PTO shaft, the flex plate did not shatter like I thought maybe it would've. I can't recall, but I don't think the auger had shear pins.

Joel

 

[studor]

That is a bummer -- but I would be talking to Pronovost about why no shear pin gave first. I have launched a lot of "texas pea gravel" that has bent metal and then sheared the pins but so far(touch wood) I have not damaged anything to your extent. Sounds like you were lucky it was not the PTO on the tractor!!! Give them a call -- worst they can do is say no

 

[George2615]

I agree Bill. Call your dealer to check on a warranty as to why the shear pins didn't break. Is it possible the wrong shear pins were factory installed. You haven't owned it that long and I too agree the shear pin should have went first since its the weakest link and protection device.

 

[smfcpacfp]

My question to you would be how in the heck did something that big get in your snowblowing path this late in the season?

Rule #1 for snowblowing, make sure everything that could break your machine is out of the way before the season starts.

 

[Wyld Bill]

My question to you would be how in the heck did something that big get in your snowblowing path this late in the season?

Rule #1 for snowblowing, make sure everything that could break your machine is out of the way before the season starts.

Yeah I have cetainly learned that!
Well a new gear box is about $300. I can have it in a few days. We Got another foot of snow this morning & I plowed with my grader blade. It was TERRRIBLE!!! My neck & back are killing me. I was out there for hours froze to the bone by the end of it. I just thank God that I finally got my wheel spacers on & therfore my chains on so that I could actually push the snow. Otherwise I REALLY would have been bumming.

 

[Wyld Bill]

The gear case.

I'm not going to pursue a warrenty claim.
1. Because it was my own stuipid fault
2. Because history has shown no one will ever get back to me.

As far as the shear bolts. Yeah they have been working great. Because of stuipid mistakes & the first time using a snowblower I'd say I've sheared about 8 to 10 bolts this year. I think I may have inadvertently tightened the shear bolt on the PTO too tight. The more I think about it I think that may be what went wrong. With the twoi halves tightly clamped together the section cannot spin freely with just he bolt stopping it.