What A Bite!

[Mean Machine]

I don't know about you, but I go through quite a few shear pins for my snow blower each season. The first year I had my big Craftsman, I went almost the whole season on the originals. Then we had a really big snow and I took a large stone. Didn't have any spare pins on hand---what a bite!

 

[JDgreen]

I don't know about you, but I go through quite a few shear pins for my snow blower each season. The first year I had my big Craftsman, I went almost the whole season on the originals. Then we had a really big snow and I took a large stone. Didn't have any spare pins on hand---what a bite!

I've had my Craftsman 5 hp dual stage since '89, over half my driveway is gravel, there are some stones golf ball size partly exposed, but I have the skid shoes down far enough so it will never (hopefully) ingest one. How the heck did you manage to get one in your blower big enough to shear a pin? About ten years ago I was clearing a path thru the back yard to my north barn, unknown to me UPS had left a box at the rear door containing an assortment of telescope eyepieces I had ordered, the wind blew it into the drifiting snow and it got covered, the second I saw something dark blow out the discharge chute I let go of the auger drive control, they were just starting to bite into the box containing $350 worth of optics... but none got damaged.:thumbsup:

 

[noma]

Hi Mean Machine


I could see how you sheer those pins off, we have a gravel driveway and there are some rock that if they got wedged into the auger that would sheer off a pin not to often. Most the time the first time it snows like 2 or 3 inches i just drive on it to pack it down then i wiln't pick up any loose rock. One time the electric company came out and dug a ditch through the drive way to put power cables under ground and then when they got done they put 3/4 crushed rock on that part of the drive way so i have to be carefull when i blow that part of the drive way and not to get a rock because they never went into the drive very good.

 

[Mark1]

Just remember those shear pins are there for a reason.they break before something else does. A friend of mine not having any spare shear pins installed what he had. class 8 bolts.he ruined the whole gearbox.

 

[AndyMan]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who goes through shear pins. At the first of each winter I buy several, knowing that I will be needing them. Nothing worse than needing one and having to shovel by hand just to get out to buy new ones!

 

[Green Girl]

It is key to understand that shear pins are supposed to be used and that they are meant to be breakable. It seems instinctive to prevent their breakage by using strong bolts, but that is exactly what you don't want to do!

 

[noma]

Andyman

I think i would make one or two before i shoveled by hand. Just take the right size bolt and cut groves in it where the pipe and the shaft meet on booth sides with a grinder with a cut off wheel in grinder and make sure you cut it deep enough so it will break easy, so you don't break anything like a gear box . Then when you get new one put them in before you use blower again.:wink:

 

[johnc]

The shear pins on my 8.5hp Craftsman don't work as intended, instead a bolt through the axel within the housing snaps. What a PIA to have to remove the housing to change the bolt. I finally replaced it with a harder bolt. I hope this works.

 

[KennyV]

The shear pins on my 8.5hp Craftsman don't work as intended, instead a bolt through the axel within the housing snaps. What a PIA to have to remove the housing to change the bolt. I finally replaced it with a harder bolt. I hope this works.

A lot of the smaller machines have small shear pins to fail when they ingest newspapers... That is most likely the main thing that caused failures... If you don't have papers regularly on your drive, there are not many other things that would get stuck in the blower...
My big blower has no shear points... It will make confetti out of the largest news paper... You don' even feel a difference as it shreds it... KennyV

 

[Driller]

Did you forget the famous motto, always be prepared? It is absolutely essential. I try, but I'm not always prepared. Then again, I was never a Boy Scout. :}