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Re: (ET) Snowblower issue: Pivot bolt bad?



When I did it I was swapping the motor from a rusted out snowblower to one in better shape that came to me without a motor.  I don't remember exactly how I got the auger/axle assemblies apart, but I think it involved a giant wooden mallet that didn't survive the ordeal.  I remember that there are set screws holding the bearings to the axle, and that one of the axles had a plate welded to the end so I had to slide the bearing down the whole length of the axle to get it off.  The other axle had a different setup that let me take each bearing off from the end.  The two axles were interchangeable because I did interchange them, for a compelling reason that I can't remember now.  Maybe to avoid that plate.  
I still have the spare axle and auger in a shed and can take photos if that would help.  Also if I go look at it I'm sure I'll remember why I chose to swap axles.  
I rebuild (and use) old woodworking machines as another hobby, and I get my bearings from Accurate Bearing.  I don't remember the price for the snowblower bearings, but I think it was pretty reasonable.  You definitely want sealed bearings.  There's nothing on the tractor that has a high enough RPM to require shielded instead of sealed.  

Ben

On Wed, Feb 10, 2021 at 9:21 AM Nick Skinner <kc2dzb nycap rr com> wrote:

The auger runs on a solid shaft that runs the full width of the blower. If you take the chain off and remove the large bolts from each side, the auger/axle assembly will come right out.

 

I’ve found on the few machines I’ve had apart that the bearings are seized to axle. Unfortunately, you have to remove the shaft from at least one of the side bearings to get the axle out of the auger. I ended up using a cutting torch to blow the balls out of one side, allowing me to remove the axle. Once it’s out, it’s much easier to remove the bearings.

 

I’m sure our suppliers can furnish the replacement bearings. I’m fairly certain they’re common enough, you could get them from a bearing supplier. I believe I put sealed bearings in the blowers that I have worked on.

 

Nick

 

From: Hank Ralston [mailto:Hank RalstonAgency com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2021 7:17 AM
To: Chris Zach; Ben Griffith
Cc: Elec-trak list
Subject: Re: (ET) Snowblower issue: Pivot bolt bad?

 

Did it 20+ years ago to paint it.  Only thing I remember is that it was a two person carry. It was fairly easy to dis assemble.  Why do you need to take it a part now?

 

Hank Ralston 

From my iPad 


From: Chris Zach via Elec-trak <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2021 10:50:09 PM
To: Ben Griffith <griffithba+ET gmail com>
Cc: Elec-trak list <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Subject: Re: (ET) Snowblower issue: Pivot bolt bad?

 

Hm. What's the way to get the auger off? Take off one side of the blower?

On 2/9/2021 8:33 PM, Ben Griffith wrote:
> Yes, it is possible to replace the auger bearings, and in my case it
> quieted down the blower considerably.  The old ones were pretty crusty. 
> I don't remember the bearing numbers but I just read the numbers and/or
> measured the old ones and ordered new ones.  I don't think they were
> anything unusual.
>
> -Ben
>
> On Sat, Feb 6, 2021 at 4:18 PM Chris Zach via Elec-trak
> <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu <mailto:elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>>
> wrote:
>
>     Yes, it has the spring thing. It's fixed-ish now, here's what happened.
>
>     First I noticed that the motor was about 1/2 way forward on the 4
>     carriage bolts that hold it to the blower. No biggie, use the lift to
>     raise the blower, put logs under it in case the belt breaks, go under
>     with a 1/2 driver and...
>
>     Break two of the bolts and spin the other two. Sigh....
>
>     Drop the blower, remove from tractor, put on side with motor down, grab
>     the cutting grinder (god this is the right tool), cut off the nuts on
>     the two spun bolts, put 4 new 5/16 carriage bolts in (stainless), 4
>     5/16
>     fender washers, 4 5/16 lock washers (stainless) and nuts (cheap o
>     because Home Depot doesn't stock anything properly), drop the blower
>     back on the ground, hook up to the tractor, lift, adjust the motor so
>     it's centered and as far back as it goes and tighten the bolts.
>
>     Then adjusted the spring/eyebolt/bolt assembly so there is good
>     tension,
>     put it all together, fire it up, no more chain dragging on the
>     adjusting
>     bolt. Lube the chain and we should be in business.
>
>     Good afternoon's worth of work. But that should hold it till spring
>     when
>     I can replace the other skid and the ice scraper on the bottom. More
>     bolts to cut :-)
>
>     I wonder if it's possible to replace the bearings on the auger. That
>     should come off one of these days...
>
>     C
>
>     On 2/6/2021 2:15 PM, Rob Brockway wrote:
>      > Was yours designed to work with a spring?
>      >
>      > Sent from my iPhone
>      >
>      >> On Feb 6, 2021, at 12:24 PM, Chris Zach via Elec-trak
>     <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
>     <mailto:elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>> wrote:
>      >>
>      >> While blowing snow last weekend I heard more noise from the
>     chain than is normal. So today I took the access port above the
>     chain and motor off and peered in.
>      >>
>      >> The chain feels pretty loose. More interestingly though is that
>     when I press the chain down to check slack the motor moves inward.
>     It looks like the pivot bolt isn't holding the motor back properly,
>     is this normal and if not is it a replace the bolt thing or a major
>     repair on the frame thing?
>      >>
>      >> Chris
>      >>
>      >> _______________________________________________
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>     <mailto:Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
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>      >
>
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