Thanks for all the feedback guys/girls. Now to address some points raised if I can remember them all.
First, I was only junking w/ the crud comment. I was replying to the others guy's comments and feeling very bitter about my situation. I wanted to buy a Provonost when I was looking, but simply couldn't afford one. I did a lot of reading before deciding on the Meteor blower. And aside from them being the "basic" brand of blowers they seemed to have a decent reputation for sturdiness. So I went with it and it does perform well when operating. My biggest gripe is that they don't come standard w/ skid shoes. But that's what you get when you buy inexpensive product lines.
Maintenance wise I'm religious about upkeep. My drive way is 2,200' long and must be kept accessible b/c one of my sons has some server disabilities and medical assistance has to be able to make it. I follow the manuals scheduled maintenance to the "T" and more. Plus, we spend a boat load of $$$ on these things, why short change yourself w/ poor upkeep and performance.
There are 2 sheer bolt locations on this blower. One on the PTO shaft itself and one the cross shaft that goes from the gear box to the chain drive for the auger. I suppose they were thinking the sheer bolt on the PTO shaft would provide some protection for the fan, but this seems like a less than stellar design.
I've busted up a handful of sheer bolts. Especially the PTO shaft one b/c after the gearbox dieing last year I decided to run #2 bolts in both locations. The manual recommends #5 bolts on the PTO shaft but I figured a "softer" bolt would break easier hopefully sparing me this fate again. Was that a wrong assumption?
The week before this incident as I said before the blower was fully serviced. I didn't use a dial gauge but I did make sure the fan and auger turned true, spun very easily and were lubed. There was no play in the auger's movements and the tips of the fan blades are not bent or mangled and stay equidistant inside fan shroud when turning. In no way do they appear bent. The fan housing has some scrapes etc, but appears true and it decent shape.
The auger bearings run smooth and quiet and are lubed. With one finger you can easily spin the auger/fan and they are quiet and spin freely after you push them.
The chain is lubed and tensioned according to the manual. The sheer bolt in this spot was replaced w/ a new one. I use motorcycle chain lube that sheds water and does not "fling" when the chain is running. The drive shaft for the chain drive is not bent and in good shape.
The PTO shaft was taken apart, inspected, lubed and reinstalled w/ a new sheer bolt. It turns true and appears fine.
The gearbox was new near the end of last season. And no, I did not use the same oil as the first gear box. Completely new bottle. I removed the fill plug and made sure it was full.
I haven't inspected the gearbox closely yet b/c honestly I was too f'in pissed off and disgusted. I knew if I started inspecting it I'd simply get enraged and probably take a sledge hammer to it. But I can tell from the quick look that the fan shaft has broken b/c it's cock-eyed and puking oil all over my garage floor. Thank god for kitty litter. The shaft is what broke last year too, but it was not evident until the gearbox was removed b/c it was not cock-eyed like this one is and did not leak any oil.
I do make sure when running the blower to keep my PTO shaft angles w/in the accepted range and do not over-run the PTO. In fact I usually run a little lower than "PTO speed" simply because I hate sucking fuel. This breakage occurred at about 1900 rpm b/c it was barely 6" of snow and it was very light.
I guess I'll just have to tear it down, make sure nothing is bent or damaged and see what happens. Grrr....
j
