Snowblower - what happened?

[robbo323]

I have a front-mount 2750C snowblower attached to my BX2350. "Found" a 2x4 that got left in a bad place and snapped both shear bolts for the first time on the main auger shaft. I replaced both bolts, but I noticed that where previously there was an equal small gap at each far side of the shaft - basically it was perfectly centered, now the auger shaft is shifted to butt up against the left side and there's about a 1/2" gap on the right with the underlying shaft exposed. With the shear bolts in where they belong, its all locked in, so it can't be nudged back over. I can't even get my head around how this happened without some kind of horrible damage to the gearbox in between. What happened? Think I can leave this alone? Incidentally, I finished the driveway before I noticed this problem and it seemed to work fine. Thanks.

 

[Dyer retired]

I have a front-mount 2750C snowblower attached to my BX2350. "Found" a 2x4 that got left in a bad place and snapped both shear bolts for the first time on the main auger shaft. I replaced both bolts, but I noticed that where previously there was an equal small gap at each far side of the shaft - basically it was perfectly centered, now the auger shaft is shifted to butt up against the left side and there's about a 1/2" gap on the right with the underlying shaft exposed. With the shear bolts in where they belong, its all locked in, so it can't be nudged back over. I can't even get my head around how this happened without some kind of horrible damage to the gearbox in between. What happened? Think I can leave this alone? Incidentally, I finished the driveway before I noticed this problem and it seemed to work fine. Thanks.

I was wondering if you ever got a response to your question on this? I have the same blower on the front of my BX 1800 (at least it's a 2750, not sure of the C) and I had what I thought looked like a perfectly spaced auger shaft set up between the ends of the housing of the blower. Well, I hit the 10 pound rock one day and broke both pins. The first problem I had was finding the sheared bolt, because I now too had, what you described above, about 1/2 movement now on both shafts. I ended up spraying degreaser, shining lights, finally getting one side lined up and using a punch to get the sheared bolt out. The other side would not line up absent divine intervention and I thought I'd ruined the entire unit. The Kubota repair guy came to the house and, unfortunately, I think it was his first day on the job, or any other, because he had as much luck as I had. Another repairman came the next day, walked up took a look at it all, took out a rubber mallet and hit the center gear housing so hard in one direction that I thought I was going to have to knock him down and shoot him. It turns out there is quite a bit of play in those things and it did no harm to the unit, allowed me to see how to replace the pins in the future, and only cost me about $150.00 bucks in repair visits (they didn't charge me for the first guy, since he could not make the repair.)

Kind of a long answer to what you've probably already long ago found out, but I am wondering if you've come up with any inventive solutions to lining up the holes to release the sheared pins now? I have had some success with painting some marking lines, but it really should not be so hard and my walk behind blower is a 3 minute change out when I shear a pin....something I would have hoped for with the 2750. I also notice that the difficulty in finding, removing the old shear, and replacing with a new on is directly proportional to how low the temperature is and how hard the wind is blowing on your bare hands...wondering if you've found the same thing. One more thing I figured out pretty quickly....the impeller shear pin is difficult to get a wrench on and the replacement bolts come with self locking nuts, but they are just about an inch and a half longer than they need to be. I figured out very quickly (probably should not have to, but kept breaking shear pins until I got the mental map of all my property down pat) to buy a bunch of the bolts and cut about a 1/2 inch off the end of each bolt to at least make that operation go a little faster. Just wondering if you've had that same experience. Dyer, retired

 

[Dyer retired]

robbo323,

Does this operation look familiar? Dyer, retired

 

[kevinj]

I have a front-mount 2750C snowblower attached to my BX2350. "Found" a 2x4 that got left in a bad place and snapped both shear bolts for the first time on the main auger shaft. I replaced both bolts, but I noticed that where previously there was an equal small gap at each far side of the shaft - basically it was perfectly centered, now the auger shaft is shifted to butt up against the left side and there's about a 1/2" gap on the right with the underlying shaft exposed. With the shear bolts in where they belong, its all locked in, so it can't be nudged back over. I can't even get my head around how this happened without some kind of horrible damage to the gearbox in between. What happened? Think I can leave this alone? Incidentally, I finished the driveway before I noticed this problem and it seemed to work fine. Thanks.

You knocked the end support bearings loose. recenter in the housing and tighten the bearing locks.

 

[WayneB]

robbo323,

Does this operation look familiar? Dyer, retired

Looking at the picture, I think you should go out and get a Femco weather break for next years snow season! One of the better items that I bought for my tractor.

Wayne

 

[Dyer retired]

Looking at the picture, I think you should go out and get a Femco weather break for next years snow season! One of the better items that I bought for my tractor.

Wayne

Wayne,

Probably, but it's really not that bad all the time. We get the rare Nor'Easter (although it seems like this year has been averaging a couple a week) that dumps a lot of snow and we submit the worst of the worst pictures for pity purposes. Truthfully, the pity pictures should be of everyone shoveling the roofs, sidewalks, alcoves, decks, sunrooms, etc. before we get to the fun part of clearing the rest with the tractor. Dyer, retired

 

[WayneB]

John, we have the same here, the biggest stories on the local news is about another building roof caving in! When the days are nice around here they are really nice, but when the snow comes, at least this year, it seems to come in a big way.

This past storm seemed to miss us in my area, we had some freezing rain in the morning, but it was past us and heading toward Maine by about 9 AM.

Oh well, enjoy spring is right around the corner then we can all start talking about mud and black flies.

Wayne

 

[shvl73]

It was slippery! I went from Bangor to Caribou and back. Freezing rain most of the way.

 

[Dyer retired]

John, we have the same here, the biggest stories on the local news is about another building roof caving in! When the days are nice around here they are really nice, but when the snow comes, at least this year, it seems to come in a big way.

This past storm seemed to miss us in my area, we had some freezing rain in the morning, but it was past us and heading toward Maine by about 9 AM.

Oh well, enjoy spring is right around the corner then we can all start talking about mud and black flies.

Wayne

Wayne,

I mentioned to someone the other day in this forum that the winters keep the mosquito population down for those months that it's here. I forget how bad I hate the black flies, although they used to seem worse in the County. I will start to get the sailing bug when the clocks move ahead this weekend. Around the first week of May, I'll bring the boats out from under cover and start the process of gearing them up for summer, drop the blower and mount the mower deck. I wait as long as I can, but it seems that we always have one more freak snow storm the minute I drop the blower off that thing? Probably my imagination.

Shvl73,

I've made the trip from Caribou to Augusta and back more times than I can count and way more than a few in the conditions you were describing yesterday. It is not fun and there is no short cut. If, for some reason, I ever needed to go to Fort Kent, we could always jump off in Sherman and cut miles off by going Route 11, but there are areas of that road that never see the sun in the winter and, therefore, never have bare tar for traction. Once you think you're on a good stretch of road, 2700 pounds of Moose runs out in front of you, so it really does snap the fun out of that trip. You had a long drive yesterday for sure. Take care guys. John, retired

 

[ChuckinNH]

These moose are a little harder to see in the winter.....

 

[Dyer retired]

These moose are a little harder to see in the winter.....

Chuck,

Pretty amazing shot! I'm assuming it's an albino and pretty darned rare to see? I used to do an awful lot of Interstate driving at night and would sometimes have to travel at high speed. You can see deer, fox, cats, dogs, coyotes, bobcat, you name it, their eyes will light up for miles against the car headlights, but a moose for some reason won't. I used to watch the center line and roadside marker lines for any unusual looking breaks in continuity and start applying the brakes, because that most often meant a moose was standing there blocking he reflection of the road markers. Those things are just the right height to get the legs knocked out from under them and come crashing back through the window and roof of a car....not a pretty picture! Good photograph! Dyer, retired

 

[shvl73]

I did see one deer, coyote and a black lab on the return trip last night. The dog scared me the most as he was in the road in Smyrna and it was all ice. I got lucky and all made it.

 

[Dyer retired]

I did see one deer, coyote and a black lab on the return trip last night. The dog scared me the most as he was in the road in Smyrna and it was all ice. I got lucky and all made it.

Shvl73,

Smyrna is a great place for animals in the road, but they are normally Lilley's Dairy cows that have made their escape from pasture. There was a horse down there years ago that was always in the median and the only one that could rope the thing was the Oakfield Post Master. He'd get a rope around the neck and drive a steel spike into the ground in the median with the other end of the rope tied off and call the owner to come get his horse. Black dogs against snowbanks at least give you a fighting chance. The deer must be having a hard time moving around up there now, but some of the largest deer yards in the State are in that area....more toward Island Falls. Drive carefully. Dyer, retired

 

[ChuckinNH]

John, yes, that is an albino moose that is hanging around Boscowan, NH... near Concord. My son sent me a series of pictures this morning. Had a coyote watching me yesterday on snowshoes, but didn't know it until I circled back, and cut his tracks. In the soft snow, he was probably after turkeys. (OK, no comments here! )
I still have 3-4' of snow on the ground here, so it is still winter for a while. It sure is nice today though.
There is a thread on the Massey forum about problems with the pto shaft on the GC (same size as BX) snowblowers. Might be worth checking it out since I think the Kubota ones are made by the same company in Canada.
Hope you are seeing steady progress with your neck John!

 

[Dyer retired]

There is a thread on the Massey forum about problems with the pto shaft on the GC (same size as BX) snowblowers. Might be worth checking it out since I think the Kubota ones are made by the same company in Canada.
Hope you are seeing steady progress with your neck John![/QUOTE]

Chuck,

Thanks for asking, the neck is doing better each day and I am sleeping better now than I have in 15 years....it's hard to explain, but I am still in that stage where you are kind of dreading it all coming back, but it won't, so given another 4 weeks or so, I'll have forgotten how miserable it used to be on a daily basis.

I have a theory about any coyote that snags a turkey, either got an old turkey or an injured one. I've seen those things take off and suspect a coyote would have a difficult time getting it's teeth on one. We seldom see flocks of turkeys in this area smaller than 14 or so and I am always impressed with how well they've managed to repopulate....pretty hearty rigs to live in these conditions. I attached a picture of a group of 3 that were out in front of my sunroom the other day. The glass needs a little cleaning...sorry about the quality.

The shear pin, shaft alignment problem was solved for me by "kevinj" on TBN yesterday. I attached my response to him from this morning, so I think I'm all set now. I am enjoying and learning an awful lot from this forum!

kevinj,

You were right on the money. I went out this morning and put an allen wrench on the bearing set screws (2 on each side of the auger shaft) and not one of them was even remotely tight. I decided to take the bearing support (flange bearings the parts book calls them) off and take a look while I was right there. I'm assuming those bearings are sealed, but the left side, even with the set screws completely removed did not move on the shaft until I put some light pressure with some expandable pliers. They sure move now, are all greased, adjusted, locktite set, reinstalled and working like a charm. Everything now lines up as new and does not show any spacing between the auger shaft and side housings, so I'm pretty happy....until I hit the next thing and move the bearing on the inner shaft again. I then took the sheer bolt out, with some difficulty and thought...here we go, but it turns out that the bolt had already begun to shear from previous work. The holes line up perfectly and I slid a new shear bolt in through like it was covered in butter. In other words, I'm pretty happy and thanks for solution. I know it's not the biggest job in the world, but it sure is satisfying to do work that Hammond Tractor would charge a minimum of god only knows! Thanks again. Dyer, retired