How Do You Fix a Broken Snow Blower Shear Pin?

[Q_Goest]

How’s your snow blower these days? We got 24” of snow a week back and more yesterday and today. The skiing at Blue Mt was FANTASTIC yesterday! But my snow blower regurgitated a rock and left me stranded. The fix is easy, so I thought I’d pass this on to folks that might have a similar problem.

If the engine is running but the blades don't turn, the problem may be the shear pin on the is auger broken. It's a safety device of sorts. The axle that rotates those big auger blades is actually inside a tube onto which the augers are welded. So the axle that rotates the auger, can’t rotate them if there's nothing connecting the auger tube to the axle. What they do is put a bolt through both of them. I’ll call it the auger bolt. So if the motor is running but the augers don't turn, try rotating the auger by hand. If the auger rotates freely, the bolt is probably broken. If it's broke, you'll find a hole where the bolt was and some if it may be stuck inside the shaft.

To fix it, you'll have to line up the holes of course. To rotate the shaft (not the auger) the easiest thing to do is to rotate the second stage blades. Just reach in and push (while it's not running of course! lol) You need to line up the shaft with the hole in the auger tube. Look in with a flashlight till you see the end of the broken bolt. Then take a http://www.ted-kyte.com/3D/Pictures/Drift%20Punch.jpg" and knock out the broken bit of bolt with a hammer. If you don’t have a punch, another bolt or sturdy screwdriver will do.

Hardware stores may have shear pins to replace it with. I just used a standard bolt (but a very weak one so it has a chance of breaking). You can use a piece of wire or anything to get you by till you can get a new one.

 

[turbo]

For people who haven't dealt with this much:

Most small-engine repair shops have a good supply of shear-bolts. If you don't have a spare, remove one of the good ones from your machine and take it to the repair shop so that the parts-man can duplicate it exactly - (both diameter of the bolt and the locations of the thinned sections.) Buy more than you think you'll need. I never let my stock at home get below 2 spares. If you use a regular bolt in a pinch, and you forget to replace it with a real shear-bolt, you risk damaging the snow-blower's transmission if you hit another rock. Even if you use a smaller-diameter bolt than the standard shear bolt, there is no guarantee that it is going to break in a controlled fashion that will allow the drive shaft to spin freely in the auger's hollow center shaft.

 

[lisab]

Here in the Seattle area, rain blowers are popular. I've never had much luck with them, though.

 

[Astronuc]

I keep a set of shear pins for my tiller. I figure I'll break one each season. So when I go to the hardware store to replace the last one, I'll buy three or more. We loan out the tiller to the local middle school for their gardening program, and I think they've replaced a couple of shear pins.

 

[turbo]

Here in the Seattle area, rain blowers are popular. I've never had much luck with them, though.

Right now, I could use a slush-blower. This stuff just clogs the discharge chute, so I have to move most of it by hand (oh, my back!).

 

[Integral]

Snow Blower?
I saw some snow last week when the weather was nice. The 3 Sisters, Mt Washington, and Mt Jefferson were magnificent, the snow was on them and being at least 50mi away was just where I like it.

Here in the valley it is spring, the Crocus and Daffodils are in full bloom and my Stellar Magnolias are well on the way.

 

[Redbelly98]

How’s your snow blower these days?

I am quite well, thank you for asking.

 

[Astronuc]

The narcissus were breaking ground here. Now they are under more than a foot of snow and ice.

 

[Q_Goest]

If you use a regular bolt in a pinch, and you forget to replace it with a real shear-bolt, you risk damaging the snow-blower's transmission if you hit another rock.

Yes yes... <sigh> I'm such a procrastinator I was going to leave the other bolt in, but thought twice after YOUR comment. So this morning I picked up a box pack of 4. They'll do me for years no doubt.

Turbo - I can tell your garage is MUCH neater than mine if you store such things in there and are able to find them 24 hours later. This morning, I put the box down and almost lost it. <no I don't have altzeimers... or at least I don't think I do>

No - I'll store mine by duct taping the spares to the snow blower handle. I'll be like some Guitar Hero with his spare picks carefully woven into the strings on the end of his guitar. My neighbors will be thoroughly impressed.

 

[turbo]

Yes yes... <sigh> I'm such a procrastinator I was going to leave the other bolt in, but thought twice after YOUR comment. So this morning I picked up a box pack of 4. They'll do me for years no doubt.

One of my best buddies runs a small-engine repair shop. When he has snow-blowers in for repair, the most common ailments are fouled fuel system (bad gas, old gas with no fuel stabilizer) and damaged transmission (due to using a regular bolt instead of a shear-bolt).

Turbo - I can tell your garage is MUCH neater than mine if you store such things in there and are able to find them 24 hours later. This morning, I put the box down and almost lost it. <no I don't have altzeimers... or at least I don't think I do>

No - I'll store mine by duct taping the spares to the snow blower handle. I'll be like some Guitar Hero with his spare picks carefully woven into the strings on the end of his guitar. My neighbors will be thoroughly impressed.

That's a good idea. My garage is probably no neater than yours, BUT I have a pretty good idea where to find stuff as long as my wife hasn't moved things in an attempt to neaten it up. Then, it's irretrievably lost until I buy a replacement, at which point the item I was looking for rears its head.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W8YAVRS/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Q_Goest]

My garage is probably no neater than yours, BUT I have a pretty good idea where to find stuff as long as my wife hasn't moved things in an attempt to neaten it up. Then, it's irretrievably lost until I buy a replacement, at which point the item I was looking for rears its head.

So true - Murphy is such a jerk. The best way to find something is to buy a replacement.

... and you always find a use for that widget that's been taking up space on a shelf and collecting dust - one week after you throw it away.