# 826 Question



## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

I am working on a friends 826 and have a question for the group. 

This is the back side of the blower impeller. As you can see there is a pice of metal welded on the back side. I am guessing that this is on there so the shaft assembly doesn't go to far back, but not sure. As you can see it is worn out completely. 

















I can't seem to find out any info on this, but that is my best guess. I am assuming it got that way because the bushing that the shaft goes through is also worn out. 










Is there anything else that I should be looking for at this point? 

The repair started out that he couldn't get it started and burned out the starter, fixed that, then every time I tried it out in some snow it would quit blowing, which lead to noticing the slop in the auger shaft with the pully on it. 

"Helpful" suggestion if it won't start holding the starter button won't help.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

My guess at first was a stiffening thing, but on only one side I would probably rule that out. Maybe it was there as a counterbalance like wheel weights on a car?

If the impeller shaft it loose forwards and backwards I would say the bushings in the front gearbox are worn out.


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## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

Shryp said:


> My guess at first was a stiffening thing, but on only one side I would probably rule that out. Maybe it was there as a counterbalance like wheel weights on a car?
> 
> If the impeller shaft it loose forwards and backwards I would say the bushings in the front gearbox are worn out.



Thats what I was thinking. Not exactly where I want to go with this one but might have to.  It started out as a simple carb cleaning and replacing the starter. Now it just keeps getting worse the farther I go. He is paying me for parts, but didn't really think it would need any of this extra stuff. I have a new bushing assembly coming for the impeller shaft, so I have some time to look into the front gear box assembly.


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## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

Well I got it apart, and the front bushing is shot. In fact there nothing left of the bushing that controls the front to back movement.






Here is the new bushing I got.



So, now the problem I have is that I need to get the augers off so I can punch out the old bushing, but I don't think the have moved on the shaft in a long time. Been using my MAP gas torch and penetrating oil, I think I might need to have one of my mechanist friends help me get it off, not a one person job.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

You could try drilling and taping a couple holes in the bushing, screw in a couple short bolts and use a puller or a pry bar to remove it???


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## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

Well in order to replace the auger bushings I needed to get the augers off, so I could get the shaft out, so I could hammer the old ones out. That was a lot more work. I ended up having a friend who teaches automotive repair help me get it off at the shop. Oxy/Acetylene torch and a air hammer, and it is free. 




Guess I will be doing some painting after I get this reapired.


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## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

So now that the housing is free I could drive out the bushings. That went very nicely, for a change. As you can see the front bushing was completely worn out. The bronze one is the new one, and since it was all apart I might as well replace all of the other ones. They didn't look bad, but its apart so let's replace them and make it good for another 30 years.










Now off the the John Deere Parts Page to order new parts.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Kind of amazing that with a little care and some new parts it really can make it another 30 yrs.


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## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

I figure that since it had virtually no care for the first 30 years and now that I am here to take care of it, it should be good for the next. 

I plan on putting in some grease zerts on the auger so the auger won't seze on the shaft again. Plus since I torched off some of the paint  I will be doing some reprinting on the front housing.


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## sufu05 (Feb 16, 2015)

How did you get the auger flights off. I have been trying everything and they wont come off the shaft. Are they suppose to just slide off the ends once they sheer pins are removed?


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## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

sufu05 said:


> How did you get the auger flights off. I have been trying everything and they wont come off the shaft. Are they suppose to just slide off the ends once they sheer pins are removed?


They are supposed to move freely on the shaft when the shear pin is removed. I spent a week or so soaking the ends and shear pin hole with penetrating oil. 










Then I went to his shop where we used his oxy/acetylene torch to heat them up nice and hot. Then he used his air hammer with a hammer bit in it to pound out the shafts while I held the augers. 

The hammer bit looks like this










It worked, but took a bit of doing to get free. 










Now It needs to it to warm up a bit (currently-2F) so I can sandblast them and re paint them.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Unfortunately, yes they should just slide off. They are supposed to be able to spin easily on the shaft if the shear pin breaks. As they age and don't get lubricated they can rust up and seize on the shaft.

A hot torch and a lot of PB Blaster and sometimes the use of a hydraulic press are necessary. On a collectable machine one guy had to cut them open and then once off weld them back up as there wasn't any way to get parts !!


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## sufu05 (Feb 16, 2015)

Thank you very much, I'm thinking that im going to have to use a grinder to cut open the shafts of the flights and just but new ones. When i start the snowblower it drives fine but when i engage the augers it makes a bad winding sound and the augers only turn one or two times for every ten rotations of the impeller shaft. I'm thinking the sprocket or worm gear is bad but i cant get the axle out of the case in order to see whats going on. Any helpful ideas or just keep trying to get the shaft off.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

Pandaguy, how is it coming ??

Installing zerks on augers that don't have then is an excellent idea. I did a similar thing to a gear cluster on my Craftsman. It rides on bronze bushings but no way to lube. Drilled a hole through the middle of the cluster and added a zerk so once a year I can pump in a little grease.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

sufu05 said:


> Thank you very much, I'm thinking that im going to have to use a grinder to cut open the shafts of the flights and just but new ones. When i start the snowblower it drives fine but when i engage the augers it makes a bad winding sound and the augers only turn one or two times for every ten rotations of the impeller shaft. I'm thinking the sprocket or worm gear is bad but i cant get the axle out of the case in order to see whats going on. Any helpful ideas or just keep trying to get the shaft off.


There is a 10:1 reduction so the impeller should spin 10 times to every 1 turn of the augers.


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## sufu05 (Feb 16, 2015)

Hmm well thats not good then cause I have no idea whats wrong then. It makes a lot of noise coming from the gear box and smokes alot.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

The gearbox could still be bad. Where is the smoke coming from? The belts? It could be something as simple as bad bearings or something bent.


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## Pandaguy (Sep 8, 2014)

Well, I finally got this blower finished. Just in time for winter. Had to get a new job this summer, so I was short on time to work on it. I replaced all the bushings and seals on the front end of the machine. Only had to take it apart once to get the augers on the right direction. :icon_whistling: Running great and my friend is ready for some snow.


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## Old_Deere (Feb 27, 2015)

Nicely done Pandaguy. 
I have pretty much gone through all you have to restore your JD. Didn't have to change the thrust bearing in the auger diff though. Wish I had provided better details and pics along the way like you have.


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