# Oops. Put gearbox woodruff key back in? How'd it get out?



## chilly (Oct 11, 2018)

I picked up a 924126 - ST11526DLE this fall and was going over it today. Turns out one of the shear pins was sheared and someone failed to get it out, and it had sat for a long time and the axle had rusted, the zerk fittings were blocked, and the pin was indecipherable amongst all the nicks from the failed attempts someone made trying to get it out. 

The good news is that I was able to pull the whole auger assembly and with a tremendous and sustained effort, get the offending auger off. Then I could see the shear pin clearly, along with all the errant whacks. Certain I would have to drill it out, I was relieved that I actually got it out fairly easily when all was said and done. I deburred everything and cleared out the grease fittings... all is well. 

So now the bad news. 

Since everything was apart, I was going to pull the other side pin and auger and clean it all up. Having removed one side already, when I pulled on this second auger, of course the axle slid from the gearbox. Not all the way out just a few inches in that direction. Far enough that the woodruff key fell out. I have no idea how. It's a half round / half disk shaped bit that fits into a round shaped slot in the axle. I didn't pull hard and the seals don't look damaged at all... I just heard 'slide' 'plunk' as the key hit the floor. So I don't know how it got under/past the seals. But it did.

So finally my question... any tricks to getting that back in - or theories on how it got out. Did it rock in it's rounded groove like a little puzzle under the seal on it's way out... maybe I can reverse that? I tried briefly but it didn't seem likely. Am I stuck buying some gaskets and pulling apart the gearbox?


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## Ariens hydro pro (Jan 24, 2014)

Add a dab of grease on the key. Hold it with a finger and slide the auger over it. It might take a try or two but if the key is perfectly parallel to the mating keyway it will slide right on.


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## chilly (Oct 11, 2018)

Oh yeah... that's going to be the hard part - even if it goes under the seal, getting it in the right spot is just guessing. Any idea if the gaskets on the cast iron crank case are re-useable?


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## chilly (Oct 11, 2018)

Ah, it was easy... the part I didn't realize is that where the auger butts up against the crank case, there is a washer. I thought it was a solid part of the crankcase seal, not a separate washer... and it didn't have a notch for the woodruff key. Once I realized that, it popped up and you could see the slot and all went together easily. All makes sense now.

Now I have to figure out why it's making so much noise even when the auger isn't turning.


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## gusgt18 (Jan 18, 2014)

I would take the gear box apart and look inside. There is supposed to be thrust washers on each side of the worm gear that keep the it in place. They can break depending how hard you have to beat on the auger to free it up.


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## chilly (Oct 11, 2018)

Everything looks good. i think it's the main auger bearing it's dry and loose and I think rattling a lot. I'm going to replace that, and one of the axle seals in the gearbox that's weeping a bit.


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