4600, snowblower, chainlink fence, & SVC levers

[Hound Dog]

Have our '99 4600 with 74" Farm King snowblower for a week today. Earlier in the week I broke two 1/4" shear bolts barely touching the fence. The manual calls for 1/4" grade 5 shear bolt and I didn't have any more so I drilled it out to 5/16 and put in a grade 5 bolt. (5/16" grade 5 bolts came with the snowblower-no 1/4" bolts came with it) Saturday afternoon I was cleaning inside the dog fence and ended up removing 10' of fence that killed the tractor motor w/o breaking the new shear bolt or the PTO shear bolts.

Is there that much difference between 1/4 & 5/16? Today I replaced the grade 5 bolt with a grade 2 bolt and nylock nut on it and stayed away from the chainlink fence.

Is there an adjustment for the SVC lever? My leg hits the lever while backing up with the snowblower. I know there is a lock but while using the FEL, backing up and moving the bucket lever, it hits my leg to the point of barely moving the bucket. It would be nice to be able to adjust it as it doesn't come near the fender when dumping the bucket.

 

[jd110]

Unfortunately there is no real adjustment on the scv lever. You could bend it to a position that is better for you. I would recommend heating the area you want to bend with a torch, and then shape it your satisfaction.

Yes there is a huge difference in the shear strength of 1/4" and 5/16" bolts. Luckily the engine stalled before something broke. It is frustrating when shear bolts break, but they are there for a reason. They are supposed to break when something is hit besides snow so something doesn't break.

 

[Hound Dog]

After reading more posts here concerning shear bolts, I picked up some grade 2 fully threaded 5/16" bolts and nylock nuts. I installed one tight and then slightly loosened it. Yesterday the small log buried under the snow broke the bolt perfectly with it barely in the auger. Gotta love this site. :thumbsup: