Snow 54 inch Snowblower

[Kamik]

My 54 inch quick attach snowblower just crapped out for the third time - a piece of frozen snow from the plow bank passed thru the auger and snagged the fan, causing the fan drive train to strip out. For some reason the shear bolt never breaks. The last repair cost 1200+ dollars and I have no appetite for paying it again.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, with either the 54 inch or 47 inch snowblowers? Is the 54 inch design just a POS?

I have a 2520 CUT. What are the realistic down-sides of getting a 47 inch blower to replace the 54 inch?

Are there alternatives to a snowblower that I should consider, that might work better or more reliably, e.g. a third-party plow or loader attached plow?

Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

K

 

[Deere Dude]

Wow. I would make sure the shear pin is the right one. Take it out and see if it works like it is supposed to. Stay away from ice chunks or at least big ones. They are hard to see I know, but hit the banks before everything turns to ice.
I had a 47" on a X740 and its predecessors and it was a nice blower. But the biggest noisy chunks I hit were maybe softball size, and it was noisy as all get out. It broke a few shear pins like it was supposed to.
I don't think a smaller blower is the answer.

 

[2458n]

Softer shear bolts are the answer,but you would grow tired of replacing those.you need someone to tell you what model has the heavy auger and fan ,but with a reduced width. Any one with the facts?

 

[Dutch445]

Kamik what are you referring to when you say the fan drive train "stripped out"?
the fan is attached to a shaft with key and setscrews, that shaft is driven on the back
side of the blower by chain and sprockets, which are driven by the front pto kit
on the tractor.

 

[Henri88]

I was kind of questioning the same thing as Dutch. I have shear a few bolts on my fan without doing any damage. Grade 5 is what I'm using on my 47'' blower. When you damage it were you operating your blower at 540 pto rpm?

 

[jgayman]

I was kind of questioning the same thing as Dutch. I have shear a few bolts on my fan without doing any damage. Grade 5 is what I'm using on my 47'' blower. When you damage it were you operating your blower at 540 pto rpm?

The front-mount 54" blower runs off the mid-PTO which is 2100 RPM. If in doubt about the shear bolts I would recommend stopping by a local JD dealer and buying some factory replacements. They are very inexpensive. In addition, the 54-inch blower shipped from the factor with some spare shear bolts stored near the exit chute.

 

[Henri88]

Thanks for clearing this up jgayman. I assume that everyone knew what I met when I said ''operating at 540 pto rpm''.

 

[Labrat]

Does his 54 have the plastic fan? Is it possible to change it to the steel fan? Someone has them on ebay for $275.00
My 47 has digested some pretty large chunks of ice and possibly some frozen vermin as well and I've never sheared a fan bolt but have a couple of auger bolts when it tried to eat a rubber hockey mat. I do find that the shear bolts loosen up over time and need to be re-tightened

 

[bigtiller]

Does his 54 have the plastic fan? Is it possible to change it to the steel fan? Someone has them on ebay for $275.00
My 47 has digested some pretty large chunks of ice and possibly some frozen vermin as well and I've never sheared a fan bolt but have a couple of auger bolts when it tried to eat a rubber hockey mat. I do find that the shear bolts loosen up over time and need to be re-tightened

I also use blue lock tight when I replace a shear bolt and lock nut. They last a lot longer this way.

 

[PILOON]

When it comes to shear bolts, soft metal (like box store stock) will stretch and cause elongation B4 shearing,
Grade 5 bolts, while harder, will shear clean when the limit is reached.
You want the holes that the shear bolt fits to be like a shear (sharp edges) to be effective.
Never torque up tight, just snug but always use a lock nut.
I used from time to time soft hardware bolts and they simply messed up my cutting edges.
Ever since I went to grade 5 my troubles went away.
So far this winter I am on the same shear bolt that I installed last mid winter.

 

[Labrat]

I also use blue lock tight when I replace a shear bolt and lock nut. They last a lot longer this way.

Great idea I will definitely start using blue loctite as I have several bottles f it.

 

[Redfox2]

My 1023 with 54" sno-blower has not been ' trouble-free '. The first trouble was with the PTO shaft ( probably not properly installed ), and then late last winter the drive chain jumped the sprocket, and a couple weeks ago the drive chain broke. Aside from the occasional sheer-bolt ( I have a long gravel drive ), the actual function of the auger and impeller has been satisfactory. So far this winter we've had water-logged snow on the coast of Maine which the snow blower absolutely HATES!

 

[jgayman]

My 1023 with 54" sno-blower has not been ' trouble-free '. The first trouble was with the PTO shaft ( probably not properly installed ), and then late last winter the drive chain jumped the sprocket, and a couple weeks ago the drive chain broke. Aside from the occasional sheer-bolt ( I have a long gravel drive ), the actual function of the auger and impeller has been satisfactory. So far this winter we've had water-logged snow on the coast of Maine which the snow blower absolutely HATES!

I don't want to jinx myself but I have a long gravel driveway with a lot of loose rock and so far I'm at 5 years with no broken shear bolts. [knock on wood - knock on wood!) I keep the skids raised about 1 3/4 inches.

If the chain jumped the sprocket it was probably too loose. The tension adjustment is a bit critical and difficult to get right. Did you have to disassemble much to replace the chain? This past summer I bought some bulk #40 chain and made myself a section with a master link identical to the factory continuous loop. If I have a chain break I can then quickly replace it without much trouble (hopefully). For about $20 I got enough chain to make several replacements.

If your blower doesn't like water-logged snow I suspect you still have the plastic impeller.

 

[jgayman]

I also use blue lock tight when I replace a shear bolt and lock nut. They last a lot longer this way.

I'm at 5-years on the same shear bolts and I have a gravel driveway. My bolts all have nylok nuts. I've never had one loosen up.

 

[jgayman]

My 54 inch quick attach snowblower just crapped out for the third time - a piece of frozen snow from the plow bank passed thru the auger and snagged the fan, causing the fan drive train to strip out. For some reason the shear bolt never breaks. The last repair cost 1200+ dollars and I have no appetite for paying it again.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, with either the 54 inch or 47 inch snowblowers? Is the 54 inch design just a POS?

I have a 2720 with the 54" blower. It's dumb that JD doesn't sell any parts for the auger gear box. The only recourse is to purchase a complete unit. Oddly, the price on the gear box has gone down since I bought my blower. When I first got it the gear box was $900 and then a couple years ago the part number changed and now the replacement is $400. Perhaps they went to plastic gears. :-(

The 47" and 54" are identical. Have you removed the impeller shear bolt and made sure that the impeller can turn freely on the shaft with the shear bolt removed? My blower was only 1-year old when I swapped the plastic impeller for a steel one. I was surprised how much rust had already accumulated on the impeller bushing. I didn't have any trouble removing it from the shaft but it is easy to see that it wouldn't take long before the impeller bushing and center shaft could completely rust together - defeating the operation of the shear bolt.

It's a shame JD didn't install a grease fitting on the impeller hub so grease could be pumped in and prevent the accumulation of rust.

My standard practice now is to remove the impeller shear bolt after each season, verify the impeller spins freely and then spray a little Fluid Film down into where the impeller bushing meets the center shaft. I also periodically remove the shear bolts from the two auger sections and ensure that the inner and outer auger tubes spin freely on each other.