Snow Attachments Blowin snow and glad I got the xtra HP!

[bigpete]

Ouch. Shear pins/bolts are supposed to be the weakest point in a drive assembly--for any powered assembly (but all you guys knew that anyway). What happened to you is the exact reason for the existence of a shear pin. By putting a Grade 8 bolt in there, they made your engine's output the weakest point in the powered assembly.

Bolts are cheap. If the manufacturer's specs still results in the problem, I would recommend starting with the lower grades and working your way upward. I'm sure you will be annoyed by having to replace them under low load levels at first, but you will find the sweet spot pretty quickly. If for some reason your TC24 is not creating the PTO HP up to spec and still won't shear the bolts, you have a bigger problem. That is highly unlikely, though.

Grade 8 and better are used in applications where a bolt needs to supercede most all other possible points of failure. I can't believe they shipped the blower that way.

Ouch, again /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[BigEddy]

Exactly - both mine are Grade 2 now - I don't know what they started at, but I know they break easily enough not to damage anything, yet only when they need to. Never broke one from snow alone!

Start soft - work up. Be careful where you buy your bolts though- my TSC stock grade 5 as standard. Don't assume they are all Grade 2. I have to go to Home Depot for the soft ones.

 

[JimMorrissey]

Brad,

I used Grade 2 for awhile until I was breaking the **** things every ten minutes in -10F at night....Not fun. Finally I moved up to Grade 5 for the fan and auger. It has helped a lot. Early season blowing is also a problem because there is no "base".

Be careful moving snowbanks back too....They are full of larger rocks (at least on my property) from where the plow digs in before the ground freezes on the main drive.

Good luck,

Jim

 

[msocko3]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I was running at PTO speed (2500 ish RPMs) and picked up a rock in the fan blade of the blower. Stopped the motor cold /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I mean cold!!!! I would have much rather seen the shear bolt let go than put enough shock through the drive train to stop a 24 hp tractor dead in its tracks.

It has bothered me that the manual for the blower lists a Gr8 bolt, 5/16" x 1" as the shear bolt in the drive shaft.
Thanks - Brad )</font>

Last year I was clearing snow next door to me and all or a sudden I had a large bang and the engine unloaded on the BX2200 that I was using to blow snow with. I shut down the PTO and walked around the back and found a frozen dead squirle lodged in the 2nd stage fan. I consulted the manual for my snowblower and found that the PTO shaft took a 3/8x1" grade 8 bolt, I called the dealer because it sounded fishy and they confirmed that it indeed was a 3/8x1" grade 8 bolt in the drive shaft for the PTO. When that bolt snapped the tractor never even grunted it just litterly made the bolt explode.

 

[MajMac392]

I figured when you said you went to the manual you looked up the Section: What to do when frozen squirrel gets stuck in blower. I knew Woods made good equipment but didn't know they planned for even frozen varmints! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Still hard to believe that a GR 8 bolt should be used. I guess there is so much mass/inertia that it doesn't make much difference what grade it is.

 

[Rick Jay]

msocko3

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...found a frozen dead squirle lodged in the 2nd stage fan. )</font>

This is one of the few times I'm kinda glad a picture wasn't posted. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If this is a Woods snowblower, you might wish to read my previous post regarding my SS60. Woods states that the driveline shear bolt should be grade 5, not grade 8. Both auger and driveline shear bolts should be grade 5 on my Woods snowblower.

Also, I too, was expecting you to say that you were going to check your owners manual for the procedure to dislodge frozen varmints. I got a good laugh out of that!!! Still glad there's no pic, though. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

~Rick

 

[art]

I think the bolt should have sheared! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[msocko3]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( This is one of the few times I'm kinda glad a picture wasn't posted. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
If this is a Woods snowblower, you might wish to read my previous post regarding my SS60. Woods states that the driveline shear bolt should be grade 5, not grade 8. Both auger and driveline shear bolts should be grade 5 on my Woods snowblower.

Also, I too, was expecting you to say that you were going to check your owners manual for the procedure to dislodge frozen varmints. I got a good laugh out of that!!! Still glad there's no pic, though. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
~Rick )</font>

I never thought of getting a camera /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif The make of my blower is a Buhler/allied, I thought it odd they called for a grade 8 bolt which is why I called the dealer after reading it in the manual, I figured it had to be a misprint. I do know a frozen squirl is tough to get out of your 2nd stage fan. I had to get a large pry bar and work it around till the frozen critter got to the chute, at that time I was able to reach in and pluck it out.

 

[PineRidge]

Everyone that has ever used a snowblower has snow plug the chute from time to time. However I would think that if the shear pin/bolt was properly sized to begin with that it would break before the snowblower would jam with hard debris like a frozen squirrel or the like. In all the years that I have owned my Woods 6' I have broke many a shear but never jammed the blower. The pins always vaporize first and I use mine on a gravel drive.

 

[dass]

I have a Forage King 51" blower that I bought used a few years ago. It was used very little and in new condition. I picked up a small rock and it stalled the tractor....NOT GOOD ! I checked the shear bolt and found that it was the wrong grade.Manual calls for a grade 2, the one on it was a # 5. So it was a lesson well learned as long as there was no damage done. CHECK those bolts....on new or used equipment.

 

[keeney]

The favorite thing to get jammed in my snowblower used to be a frozen newspaper. Those stupid free ones that they always just throw on your driveway even though you never subscribed or anything.

They would lay buried in the snow just waiting to get stuck in the snowblower. They are the perfect size and mass when wet/half frozen and compress just enough to really get wedged in the fan really tight.

I always felt like I dodged a bullet when I would find them before blowing, or even better when I see one go through the blower without getting stuck!

Luckily now, I live in a town where they don't throw the free papers on people's driveways.

- Rick

 

[Trev]

Brad,

From all the replies here, it seems clear that everyone agrees that stopping the engine suddenly is a bad thing.

The only "somewhat related" experiences I can share is with my PTO tiller.. when I pick up a rock, the engine RPM begins to lower quite rapidly, but not instantly. If I simply disengage the PTO lever, the engine keeps running. I'm assuming the tiller has a clutch of some kind built in. Seems like the best solution. No bolts to replace, no sudden engine stoppage. I just raise the tiller, jiggle the PTO on and off a couple times, and the rock falls out and I'm back on my merry way.

If you could get a clutch for this snowblower, I think it might be the best solution...

Question: do the various manunfacturers who make these sheer bolts adhere to decent standards? Or is one's grade 5 bolts way different from another??

Bob

 

[SacandagaBrad]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If you could get a clutch for this snowblower, I think it might be the best solution...

Question: do the various manunfacturers who make these sheer bolts adhere to decent standards? Or is one's grade 5 bolts way different from another?? )</font>

Bob,

For now, I've stepped down to a grade 2, but without any decent snow storms /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif, I have not had much of a chance to try it. I basically have made it the weakest link (as it should be), if it is too weak, I will go to the grade 5 which is the correct one for the drive shaft. I will check into a clutch for the shaft if all else fails, especially keeping a gravel road clear.

As far as the "quality control" on shear bolts - I would imagine they have to meet minimum standards such as SAE. Does that mean they are all the same strength? I doubt it. That is why I started with the grade 2 to see how it works. The bolts most of us are using are not specific shear bolts, rather standard bolts of a specified size and strength.

Anyway, with these lousy little clipper systems dumping 1" to 3" at a time, the blower will probably stay in the garage and I'll continue to use the back blade. It's still seat time /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Brad

 

[Trev]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The bolts most of us are using are not specific shear bolts, rather standard bolts of a specified size and strength. )</font>

Just a thought, Brad, but is it possible that, since the bolts are not specifically intended as shear bolts, that the specs simple require them to be "at or above" the specs for a given grade of bolt? Of course it would be the "or above" part that might be the problem here. Normally, people wouldn't object to getting a bolt that's stronger than what they are paying for.. except in this one case of needing it to shear when we expect it to. I probably am all wet here, knowing zero about bolt manufacturing.

Bob

 

[art]

I'd be taking the shafts apart and make sure that the shear bolts can shear. We find that from time to time that the shafts might be damaged and can't shear.

 

[MCA]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I never thought of getting a camera /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif The make of my blower is a Buhler/allied, I thought it odd they called for a grade 8 bolt which is why I called the dealer after reading it in the manual, I figured it had to be a misprint. I do know a frozen squirl is tough to get out of your 2nd stage fan. I had to get a large pry bar and work it around till the frozen critter got to the chute, at that time I was able to reach in and pluck it out. )</font>

I have the same blower on a BX2200 - I popped my first shear bolt last week. I didn't even hear it break over the sound of the engine and the PTO running. What broke it? Not a rock or even a squirrel - just lifting the 3PH up a little too high, binding the u-joint a bit too much while changing positions without turning off the PTO.

MCA

 

[BigEddy]

Popped a shear bolt myself the other day. Kids left the shovel lying on the drive and it drifted over. Never knew it was there till the snow stopped coming out the chute. 3 minutes and 7 cents later, I was back blowing again. I like the soft ones!