Snowblower problem

[Jet49866]

SOOOOO,...blowing snow with my front mount bx2816. About 3/4 of the way done and I noticed the right side isn't throwing snow. Stop and check---with the auger off of course,, and the right side is free--can spin it with my foot. Is it shear pin or gear box? Shearpins on the right and left shafts are still there. Is there another shear bolt that would cause this? Hoping it's not gear box

 

[mrmikey]

Couple times I've been fooled with my walk behind, I think the pins are still there and it's only the head and nut end jambed into the tube, the pin is actually sheared off. Hoping that it's what is wrong with yours as it'd be cheaper than a gear box repair.............Mike

 

[RoyJackson]

Punch out the shear pin on the right side...if it's intact, the problem is (obviously) elsewhere.
I do hope, for your sake, it's just the shear pin. If you replace the shear pin, make sure the shear pin is the correct grade!!

 

[Thomas]

As Roy wrote for I been fool thinking shearing pin was okay but the pin was shear but caught on both sides of the auger

 

[hube2]

Like others have said. I used to have a blower with a pin on each side of the auger. The bolt could distort a bit when it broke causing the ends to stay in place. Was fooled the first time this happened to me as well thinking WTF did I break.

 

[PILOON]

I also had that happen to me on my blower.
The sheared bolt was simply too soft a grade and tore rather than shear and the ends stayed in place.
Also driving out the shaft section was a chore. (worst when cold with frozen fingers)
I went to grade 5's and that cured my my shear pin woes.
Sheared one yesterday and it was easy.*

*kind of my fault as I was blowing frozen berms and also my first shear bolt of the season so it was well stressed. Mine was the fan bolt, no augers yet this season.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I went to grade 5's and that cured my my shear pin woes.

Be careful when doing this.

I had a 48" blower behind my old B7100 HST that would shear pins regularly. Just popping the clutch too quickly would break one. I had to carry a pocket full of spares every time I used it.

I switched to grade #5 bolts and would shear just one or two per season. This worked well for 2 winters until the gearbox failed. The dealer said the harder shear bolts transfer more of the shock load and eventually causes gearbox failure.

The fix they recommend for my blower was to drill out the 1/4" shear bolt hole to 5/16" and use a larger soft grade bolt. I was afraid doing so would weaken the shaft but the fix worked well for as long as I owned the machine.

Every blower is different though so it's best to do some research before modifying the shear system.

 

[Jims1025R]

Shearing snowblower shearbolts is how you get a low cost lesson in what you should not be trying to do with it! As said, the fact that you sheared, does not mean the two sheared halves dropped out - it's a winter works IQ test! Snowblower gearboxes are at least expensive to repair, at worst, not repairable! Shearbolts are cheap and common. Use the standard low cost soft hardware store bolts, unless your blower specifies a specific bolt, in which use that. If the bolts keep shearing, something you're doing is wrong, and you should re-evaluate before it gets expensive!

If you're having trouble with hard packed plowed, frozen snowbanks, try lifting the blower, and doing the top half first, then taking a second pass at the bottom half. Doing so will allow you to see chucks of ice, which maybe should not be blown, or at least loosened with the plow first.

 

[BleedingOrange]

If you want to check if the shaft that controls the side of your blower is turning, carefully engage the snowblower, and look at the end of the shaft on the outside of the side that is not picking up the snow. That should confirm if it is a shear pin issue, or a gearbox issue.