# Shave Plate Missing Bolt Holes in Housing



## TomMsp (10 mo ago)

I have a Troy Bilt 2410. I discovered the hard way that my Shave Plate should have been replaced sooner. While snow throwing some wet, heavy snow it came loose and went into the auger. I cut it off to get it out of the auger and then I discovered it damaged the auger drive gear too. 

I got a new Shave Plate but the bolt holes to attach it to the show thrower housing have worn away -- see attached picture. I can bolt it to the side skid plates -- but is that enough? Any ideas/suggestions?


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## Toro-8-2-4 (Dec 28, 2013)

In the past I have welded a backing plate on or used mending plates from the hardware store with nuts and bolts. You have to bend it to fit the profile of the bucket.









Everbilt 8 in. Galvanized Mending Plate 31970 - The Home Depot


The Everbilt 8 in. Mending Plate is ideal reinforcement for flat surface joints, seams or cracks. Countersunk design allows screws to sit flush with material. Easy to install.



www.homedepot.com


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## dr bob (Dec 12, 2015)

Welcome to Snowblowerforum!

Your skid shoe adjustment should have the scraper bar 1/8 to 3/16" off the driveway surface. Many of us use paint stir sticks as handy gauges. That eliminates most of the wear on the scraper bar, and at least in my case it saves damage to the paving stone driveway. I do the checking/adjusting very regularly, on the flat garage floor.

I let my skids shoes wear a lot when I first got the machine, and my scraper looked a lot like yours. I got replacements, and installed the new one on top but moved the old worn one to the bottom, sandwiching the bucket metal between the two. The old bar serves the same purpose that Toro-8-2-4 might use that mending plate for. New bolts were needed, since as you report they are pretty worn from dragging on the pavement.

The parts list for mine spec's 5/16"x5/8" carriage bolts in grade 8. Finding those locally was impossible, plus the added scraper thickness demanded 3/4" long carriage bolts anyway. I bought regular grade-5's and a box of flanged nuts and it's been fine. Double-check the old bolts diameter, as I think others have said that theirs uses different diameters. Keep the skid shoes adjusted correctly, and you'll not be dragging the scraper or the bolts/nuts much on pavement in normal practice. I still see the ends of the bolts wear some, but not nearly the same as what I saw the first time around.

HTH!


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## Toro-8-2-4 (Dec 28, 2013)

Dr, Bob makes a good point about setting up the skid shoes and checking the clearance from time to time as they are a wear item. For me I used stainless steel caragige bolts with stainless lock nuts. I also found it very Hard to find in the 5/8 length in any hardware store. St.Stl. has about the same strength as a grade 5 bolt. I ended up ordering from my local Fastenall. It is not real critical. For all practical purposes you can use other types of hardware. If you just want to get it togeather fast for the next few weeks of potential snow and then get better hardware for it later when the weather is nicer,I would understand that.


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## dr bob (Dec 12, 2015)

Looking a little closer at your picture... Ouch! Combination of wear and corrosion have chewed up the bottom of that bucket pretty well. Were it mine, I'd be at Home Depot in their metals-materials bin, looking for the 2-3" wide steel strip they sell in a length long enough to cover the full width plus the bent end flanges. Mark and drill the new piece, either as a whole replacement of the original (3" wide piece), or as a repair piece (2" wide) to which you can then fasten your new scraper. Don't be afraid to go thicker on the new material, as it's going to need to be strong enough on its own to both do the scraping but also to support the damaged bucket. the good news, if there is much, is that the new bolts will be higher up and won't drag anymore.

Bend those ends flanges in the new metal like the original, and drill the holes so those can bolt to the ends of the bucket. It will be a lot stronger, critical since the original bucket is so damaged. MAP gas torch until red then bend it in a vise until it fits just right. The short end sticks up from the vise so the main sections stays straight as you bend. You can use your purchased scraper as a template for the holes, and also as a stiffener to sandwich the bucket metal and help it stay straight. You might have to cut off the ends, but it will be easy after drilling and bending the new piece.

Clean up the rust remaining on the bucket, and get new paint on that metal after the holes have been drilled for the new scraper metal. Paint the scraper too, so it can survive the corrosive environment a little longer than that last one. As Toro-8-2-4 suggests, see if you can find some stainless steel fasteners so they do better in that same service than plain cad-plated hardware store bolts. If you use those cad-plated bolts, just plan on replacing theme every few years. 

I'll guess that your local streets get salted, and the bucket and scraper corrosion is partly due to that salt in your street-plowed snow in the end of the driveway. Don't be afraid to hose that salt out of the bucket after you use the machine if you can. Every little bit helps.

Share back what you end up doing. The forum members here are often folks who would rather than fix than buy a new machine, and take pride in that ability. Join the group! You are among friends here.


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

Welcome to SBF, moved this to the Troy-Bilt forum.


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

OP should list a location in case someone has a bucket available locally


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## RickCoMatic (Dec 29, 2020)

"Hey, sarge. You remember that case we tried to make when those pusher-type snow shovels went missing and we suspected those kids using the handles from them for fishing poles? What if it wasn't the poles they were after?"


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## RickCoMatic (Dec 29, 2020)

Check-out a few YouTubes, man. Yo, ... there was this one where a skinny guy wearing just gym-shorts, flip-flop's and sun glasses welded the cracked block of a Rolls-Royce™ Merlin with nothin' more than a couple of bags of charcoal and a half-dozen railroad spikes. Took like twenty minutes tops.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Toro-8-2-4 said:


> In the past I have welded a backing plate on or used mending plates from the hardware store with nuts and bolts. You have to bend it to fit the profile of the bucket.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This is a GREAT Idea! Thanks. A couple of these would work well. I see this all the times with Honda's and spend a lot of time welding in extensions for the scraper bar. Drilling holes etc. This seems like a faster alternative. Will give it a try someday.


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