# auger vibration



## drvr464

I have a craftsman 247.88830 With a 357cc engine and last winter while doing the drive way for the neighbor I sucked a news paper into the impeller which broke the shear pins. And now I have a bad vibration when I engage the auger. I am wondering if it is a bent impeller or worm shaft? Any info. will be greatly welcome.....thank you.


----------



## Shryp

Could be lots of things. Could be that you bent the augers or the impeller fan blades. Could be that you bent the auger shaft or the impeller worm shaft. Could be you still have some newspaper stuck in there somewhere. Could be that the shear pins on the impeller sheared and it pushed the fan blade further back. Worst case is you might have damaged the gears in the gear box.

Unfortunately this does't sound like a problem that can be easily diagnosed online without some video. Any chance you can get someone else to run the auger while you stand in front and look for something that is wobbling?

If you pull the spark plug out of the engine you can probably turn the impeller over by hand and look for something that seems bent or something making noise. Just be careful you don't get you hand caught on anything and make sure the engine can not start.


----------



## drvr464

Thank you I will go out tommorrow and ivestigate a little further and let you know.


----------



## td5771

when the newspaper got stuck, did it jam in the auger area only or did it go into the impeller area? 

look into impeller area. make sure all the vanes on the impeller are uniform. in angles pitch bends etc. all have to be the same.

either way an easy test to start with is pull all the shear pins. then spin the auger halves. should spin easy and smooth with minimal effort and no binding. they would be tight on one side or the other if bent anywhere other than dead center in the gearbox.

or if the worm shaft is bent way back, depending on the machine it may cause the auger pulley to wobble. take the belt cover off and start it up and engage the auger and look for a wobble.


----------



## HCBPH

*Vibration*

All the above is good info, but there might be one other thing.

It's hard to tell from the schematic, but does the auger shaft (#42) go all the way through to the bushing on the outside of the housing (22 & 34)?
I saw a machine once where something went in and pushed the auger rake out of the bushing/bearing extension (the auger shaft stopped inside the rake). They had to pull the bearing & guide off the outside of the housing and get that piece that slips into the end of the rake reengaged.

Can't tell if that applies or not to yours.


----------



## drvr464

Thanks for all the input guys. I finely got out to the garage and pulled it all apart and found out the impeller was 3/16 of an inch out of track on one of the three blades. Also checked worm drive and auger just to make sure I had no further damage. Parts should be in next week, I will let you know how it goes.
Thanks again.


----------



## Shryp

You probably could have bent it back close to straight. Those things don't have to be perfect, but they do have to not rub on anything.


----------



## drvr464

Yeh I know what you mean Shryp but I would probley need a tourch to heat it which I do not have, or do you think a vice and a big hammer would work?


----------



## HCBPH

*Bent Impellers*

I've straightened a few impellers where something was ingested that shouldn't have gone in there.
Here one I straightened








Used a heavy hammer and anvil and got it to this point








No vibration out of it when rotating. I did tweak it a little more after taking that picture, but it was already very close. You do need to watch the point where the vanes are rivoted to the backing plate, sometimes they can tear some. The angle brace on these were just slipped through a slot and clinched over, I tighten those up a little too to reduce noise and vibration. Note that it's easier to straighten the vanes etc if you unmount it from the impeller shaft so you can use a vice etc to hold them while straightening.

I have had a few that were fairly bad that I ended up having to add a little heat. I use a Mapp Gas torch (available at most home supply stores) and that will help in bad cases.

Remember there is one more thing to check, the backing plate (Large round disk on the back side). Sometimes that gets bent along with a vane. I rig up a shaft and spin them before putting them back together. It's easy to see if that's bent also. A little light hammer work can bring that back into alignment.

Hope that helps, let us know how yours turns out.


----------



## drvr464

I wish I would have known that cause the impeller cost me $35.00 But I will not have to beat and bang the old one yet. I will keep it as a spare incase the same thing should happen in the future. I love this site, thanks for all the help guys you have all really educated me on this stuff.


----------



## Shryp

You might be able to get away with an adjustable wrench down the chute to straighten it.


----------

