Snow Blower Frustration!

[aczlan]

Fine threads will have more strength due to the larger minor diameter.

If you have threads in the shear area, you have the wrong bolt in there.
If you need the added clamping force, sure but otherwise, not so much.

Aaron Z

 

[CobyRupert]

"If snow is packing into the blower - you are going too fast OR the snow is too wet or a little of both. "

What I did this year is to form a HD plastic liner for my chute and it worked fine, no clogging after the first season snowfall.
Now today we have4 inches of 'snowman' snow so it will be a real test.

What I've found with wet snow is that:
Yes,, too fast will clog, but you can usually hear the load (motor) bog down first.
Also going too slow will result in not enough snow passing through that sort of "self-cleans" the chute. That is, little spurts of snow that aren't being pushed out by "more snow" pack here and there, restricting the flow and eventually clog.

There is a sweet spot.

Also paint, wax, fluid film, silicone, Pam cooking oil, etc...anything that keeps it slippery helps a lot.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Why would it matter what TPI it was anyway since the threaded part is outside of the shear part ?

From an engineering standpoint given the same grade of steel, an unthreaded rod is stronger than a fine threaded rod is stronger than a coarse threaded rod as the depth of the threading reduces the cross section. Given that the purpose of a shear bolt is to fail before something more expensive is broken, I'll take the weaker, coarse threaded bolt (and maybe have to change shear bolts more often).

From a practical standpoint, I doubt the calculation of shear bolt size is more precise than the inequality that the shear bolt breaks first, and I seriously doubt the friction between the flanges is considered. Who, kneeling in the snow in often inclement weather, uses a torque wrench when replacing a shear bolt? TAR (That's about right) works for me. My snow blower manufacturer specs grade 5, 1/4-20 x 1 and 1/4-20 x 1-1/2 shear bolts. The shorter bolts are fully threaded, and the longer bolts have a shank that barely intersects the plane between the flanges. Also, 1/4-20 and 1/4-28 are standard, readily available sizes; albeit the coarse bolts and locknuts are more common and a little cheaper. You will not find a 1/4-18 bolt.

Evident in comment #6 and later reinforced by the OP in comment #13 is that Woodmaxx has discrepancies indicating a lack of attention to detail. What other shortcomings or defects may have slipped by quality control?

 

[PILOON]

What I've found with wet snow is that:
Yes,, too fast will clog, but you can usually hear the load (motor) bog down first.
Also going too slow will result in not enough snow passing through that sort of "self-cleans" the chute. That is, little spurts of snow that aren't being pushed out by "more snow" pack here and there, restricting the flow and eventually clog.

There is a sweet spot.

Also paint, wax, fluid film, silicone, Pam cooking oil, etc...anything that keeps it slippery helps a lot.

Yes, and that's why I heat formed a HD plastic liner for my chute and can report it works as well as I had hoped.

Can also say that come spring rattle can spraying the chute to prevent rusty surface also helps a lot, but the plastic liner is still best.

 

[JerryK]

Several more points about shear bolts. They should be put in snug, but not so tight to pre-stress the bolt. Like mentioned above, there should be little or no threads in the bolt that will elongate the holes over time. You should try to engage your PTO at low RPM's, you can stress or even break the shear bolt by just the jolt of getting it to turn. Especially with new ' tight ' blowers. Some tractors do not have hydraulic clutches with a built in accumulators [ a small tank like devise to slow down the engagement process ] to take the shock out of the engagement.

 

[cdaigle430]

do you the have the impeller re-stricter plate on yours like I have on my 60 inch? You may be packing to much volume from the auger to the chute. These Woodmaxx snowblowers are heavy duty...impeller alone is half an inch thick. Also they are optimaly engineered to run at the 540 rpm range...

 

[MAN IN BLACK]

From my experience, speed is not your best friend with a snowblower.
You have to go slow to give it time to swallow everything.
Each time I break one, most if the time I am going to fast in reverse

 

[jpm]

Mine is when it tries to eat big rocks ,

 

[Quebecguy]

Having the drive chain on your blower too loose can cause broken shear bolts too. Guess how I know!

 

[Industrial Toys]

I find it amazing what size stones you can blow!

Ground is not frozen here and I have dug in a good half foot into top soil in places.

At least my waterline shouldn't freeze this year.