Woodmaxx Snowblower Shear Bolts?

[KanakaRick]

I just got a SB84 for my DK50 tractor, and the shear bolts which came with it for the PTO to the gearbox are snapping like twigs. The manual says they are grade 2, with I would expect to break very easily. What grade are you guys with the same blower using? Grade 5? Grade 7? I was blowing champagne powder this morning and I went through about 10 shearbolts on that PTO to gearbox connection. It made it a serious pain in the butt and made the "blower" just about useless. I probably wouldn't get 2 feet in Sierra Cement with those stock bolts.

 

[RNeumann]

Sounds like a bad batch or wrong size. Going to 5 or 8 could cause other parts to break. The other possible issue is something else is binding. It definitely shouldn’t be breaking like they are.

You can try breaking on of the bolts in a vise and see what it does compared to others.

 

[KanakaRick]

Sounds like a bad batch or wrong size. Going to 5 or 8 could cause other parts to break. The other possible issue is something else is binding. It definitely shouldn稚 be breaking like they are.

You can try breaking on of the bolts in a vise and see what it does compared to others.

Yeah, it is crazy. I literally have the blower sitting on the ground, with no snow around, and I turn on the PTO, and the bolt breaks. Yet, I can turn the pto and blower components by hand with the tractor off. So nothing is binding. But I turn the tractor on, and turn on the PTO and the bolt breaks, WITHOUT actually touching the snow I need to blow.

 

[PEJ5]

Time to contact the company to get a professional opinion. Their website says grade 5.
84" Snow Blower, Tractor Snow Blower, Hydraulic Chute Rotation - WoodMaxx

My Lucknow blower PTO shaft takes a metric grade 8.8 which is equal to SAE grade 5.

 

[KanakaRick]

Time to contact the company to get a professional opinion. Their website says grade 5.
84" Snow Blower, Tractor Snow Blower, Hydraulic Chute Rotation - WoodMaxx

My Lucknow blower PTO shaft takes a metric grade 8.8 which is equal to SAE grade 5.

Yeah, I will call them in the morning. I put a grade 8 bolt in there. Both the pto drive and the blower free wheeled so nothing was binding either of them. Turned the tractor on. Idled it down and turned on the pto (on my snow-free driveway) and the grade 8 bolt snapped before it even saw a lick of snow. Something is amiss.

 

[atsah]

Something wrong for sure. I have used my Blizzard on hard packed bankings that made it sound like a wood chipper and I didn't break a bolt.

 

[KanakaRick]

The only possible thing that I think it could be.... is in the instruction manual, the photos of the way the pto shaft is set up is opposite of the way mine is. They show the outer sleeve of the adjustable PTO shaft attaching to the tractor, and in my PTO shaft, the outer sleeve has the U joint that takes the bolt at the gear box and the slide in part (inner sleeve) is attached to the tractor with the pull back collar (which I am also have serious issues with trying to put it on). And what I discovered today is when I was done trying to use the blower and tried to take the blower off, the inner and outer sleeves were frozen together because the water from the inner (attached to the tractor) must have dripped down towards the outer sleeve (pointing upward on the blower) and they froze together. So no sliding it off there, without heating it up and moving the tractor. It is (in my mind) beginning to make sense that the pto shafts have the wrong U joints at the wrong ends. But would just that make a difference on breaking shear pins?

 

[atsah]

Can you post a picture of your shaft setup. It sure sounds like something isn't setup correctly.

 

[RNeumann]

The frozen sleeve could be pushing or pulling on the blower gear box as you raise and lower the slower. This could cause it to bind and break bolts. Leave that driveshaft above freezing till it thaws and get some more grease in it. Put it on properly and give it a test. I think that will go a long ways to fixing it.

FYI- it will only stop snowing when it’s fixed so get on it!

 

[KanakaRick]

The frozen sleeve could be pushing or pulling on the blower gear box as you raise and lower the slower. This could cause it to bind and break bolts. Leave that driveshaft above freezing till it thaws and get some more grease in it. Put it on properly and give it a test. I think that will go a long ways to fixing it.

FYI- it will only stop snowing when it痴 fixed so get on it!

But I am not moving it up and down. It is sitting on the edge of the driveway, 2 feet away from the snow I am going to blow.The box is level, a couple of inches off the ground. The tractor is idling, I turn on the pto, and the grade 8 bolt breaks. I never get a chance to even put it in gear to move it towards the snow.