Help with lorenz blower

[Morning Wood]

Just bought an older 530 Lorenz blower. It's in ok shape, but I missed some things that probably would have prevented me from buying it. Biggest issue right now is that the top auger is welded to the plate that is on the gear. So the shear bolts are useless. I'm trying to figure out a way to fix it. The other problem is that the bottom of the unit seems to be bent out at the wings. It's about a 1 1/2" wider at the bottom than the top. Ill post some pics to clarify. Are the shafts that the augers spin on just bar stock? Thanks, Nick.

 

[Rustyiron]

You might have another shear bolt at the main driveshaft, but you could also add an inline slip clutch in the driveshaft for protection. Pics would help.

 

[Morning Wood]

Here is a link to the 530 manual. Mine is definitely older and slightly different but shear pin setup appears the same. http://www.lorenzmfg.com/Manuals/30Series.pdf

Pic is upper auger that is welded

 

[Morning Wood]

Having trouble posting more than one pic in a single post.

Bottom auger with operable shear bolt.

 

[Morning Wood]

Shaft that appears to be welded on top auger. I think it's welded to the auger assembly.

 

[Morning Wood]

Bottom auger assembly that seems fine.

 

[Morning Wood]

Sides. You can see it seems bent out at the bottom which seems like it would be tough on the auger bearings

 

[Morning Wood]

Other side. Same thing.

 

[Morning Wood]

Oh man. I really screwed myself buying this thing. The lower auger seems fine. The paddles look pretty good. The upper auger that is welded, the paddles look horrible. I'm afraid to see what the inside of the gearbox looks like. I will check fluid on that and just keep my fingers crossed. I too the augers off. The one that is welded I figured the shaft that goes into the bearing broke off the auger pipe so that is why it is welded. I ground off the welds on the square piece that bolts to the sprocket. I was right. Tough thing is I can't get the shaft out of the auger tube. It is hanging up. I'll have to cut it with a sawzall and leave a little piece of shaft rattling around in the auger tube. What I'm wondering is if I can buy a piece of solid round bar and somehow weld it back into the auger tube and then reweld a new shear bolt plate to the end of the tube. It's either that or buy a whole new auger which I'll get a price on, but I'm sure I won't like it. The other problem is that it seems the fan (which needs some work) is welded to the gearbox shaft. I want to remove it so that I can clean it up and get rid of the divots and bent pieces. That or buy a new one.:thumbdown: Won't make this mistake again. Hopefully I can get this thing running this winter and make my money back. Any thoughts? Nick.

 

[PILOON]

As to the augers they rotate at such a low speed that a bit of misalignment won't be all that detrimental.
Most important is to keep the auger shafts well greased. Add zerks if none exist.
I would be more concerned with the welded fan shear bolt and for sure try to rectify that situation.
I was faced with a similar situation on my fan shear bolts so I cut off the 'ears' and welded new ones carefully aligning the holes.
In fact I made 2 'ears' so as to have a backup but since I carefully aligned the holes I rarely even to replace the shear bolts. (only 2 last winter)