# John Deere 826 Auger Shaft Play



## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Hello All! Im new to the forum and would love some assistance! I consider myself mechanically inclined, but not so much with snowblower and gear boxes. 

I inherited a John Deere 826 from my father that needs a bit of work. When the auger is engaged, the auger pulley is moving in/out of the auger housing. You can visually see the pulley moving and you can also see from the auger that it is moving in and out. 

I have split the motor and the auger house to ensure that the auger bearing behind the auger housing is not damaged. The auger bearing/bushing both look in great shape. The issue is also that the auger shaft/pulley is moving in/out and not side to side play or up and down as would be expected from bearing/bushing wear from the auger bearing. 

If i grab the auger shaft and pull in/out, i notice that the shaft moves slightly from the gear box. I dont believe the shaft is supposed to move in/out but ill leave that to an expert to tell me otherwise. 

From this thread i found https://www.snowblowerforum.com/for.../110226-john-deere-1032-auger-shaft-play.html , it seems to be a similar issue; mine does not seem to move that much in and out; but i did not remove the gear box cap and cap screw attached to the auger shaft under the cap. 

Would next step be to remove the auger cap and make sure the cap screw is tight? Any guidance is appreicated!


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

addisonm06 said:


> Hello All! Im new to the forum and would love some assistance! I consider myself mechanically inclined, but not so much with snowblower and gear boxes.
> 
> I inherited a John Deere 826 from my father that needs a bit of work. When the auger is engaged, the auger pulley is moving in/out of the auger housing. You can visually see the pulley moving and you can also see from the auger that it is moving in and out.
> 
> ...


* There is always going to be play when grabbing the auger shaft from the gear box. that is the backlash from the gears mating in there. I am going to need a pic or 2 so I can have a looksee at the other thing you are talking aboot here. Anyhoo, ALOHA From The Paradise City. :smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027::smiley-rpg027: *


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Hi POWERSHIFT93! is there a way to attach a local video i recorded?


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Attached are a few photos of the auger pulley. Under auger operation, that pulley is moving in/out. Hopefully the images help a bit  

I do have a video of the pulley under operation moving in/out but i cannot seem to attach it here.


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

addisonm06 said:


> Attached are a few photos of the auger pulley. Under auger operation, that pulley is moving in/out. Hopefully the images help a bit
> 
> I do have a video of the pulley under operation moving in/out but i cannot seem to attach it here.


u cant attach videos in a forum but u can
upload vid to utube then post a link to that vid in a post


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Thanks Vinny! I kind of figured that out  If only i had a youtube account... lol


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

addisonm06 said:


> Thanks Vinny! I kind of figured that out  If only i had a youtube account... lol


just setup up a google gmail account, easy, that will be your youtube account....or upload vid to gdrive


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Should be able to view the video here. Hopefully this helps


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

i think u have a bent auger shaft, either the left or right one or both, dont think its your impeller shaft thats bent


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Would a bent auger shaft cause the impeller pulley to push in and out like that?


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Also, are there any troubleshooting steps recommended to pinpoint that it is a bent auger shaft or any other potential parts?


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

addisonm06 said:


> Would a bent auger shaft cause the impeller pulley to push in and out like that?


yes, its forcing the gear box/impeller shaft to be pushed in and out.
to verify, see if auger blades are moving up and down in relation to bucket, or use a straight edge on the auger shafts or you could remove the auger and impeller assembly and remove auger blades and see if auger shafts are bent with a straight edge.

if they are bent they would cause premature wear on aguer bearings, gearbox, belt and impeller bearing


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Ok Look like i have some work to do. I should i left it apart when i pulled the auger pulley and check the auger bushing lol. It might be difficult to get a straight edge on the auger shaft as the blades are likely in the way.

Would one really know if the shaft is bent without taken the blades off? Also, would the bend have to be near the gearbox to cause the gear box/impeller shaft to be pushed in and out? Sorry for the ignorant questions, trying to learn at the same time


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

addisonm06 said:


> Ok Look like i have some work to do. I should i left it apart when i pulled the auger pulley and check the auger bushing lol. It might be difficult to get a straight edge on the auger shaft as the blades are likely in the way.
> 
> Would one really know if the shaft is bent without taken the blades off? Also, would the bend have to be near the gearbox to cause the gear box/impeller shaft to be pushed in and out? Sorry for the ignorant questions, trying to learn at the same time


Would one really know if the shaft is bent without taken the blades off? depends if u can see the auger wobble or getting a straight edge on the shaft between the blades.....but auger blade tube can be straight but inner shaft can be bent.
can be anywhere along its length.

we are all here to learn so there are no stupid questions only those not asked


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

I couldnt notice any wobble from the auger blades, just notice the gear box movement. I dont recall seeing any bent in the auger blades, so Sounds like ill have to take the auger blades off to see if the shaft is bent at all. I assume the entire auger has to be removed to get the blades off?

Thanks again for all the support and help, it truly is appreciated!


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

addisonm06 said:


> I couldnt notice any wobble from the auger blades, just notice the gear box movement. I dont recall seeing any bent in the auger blades, so Sounds like ill have to take the auger blades off to see if the shaft is bent at all. I assume the entire auger has to be removed to get the blades off?
> 
> Thanks again for all the support and help, it truly is appreciated!


u assume correctly.
the only logical thing that can make the impeller shaft go in and out like that is its connection to the gear box, so either auger shaft is bent or sometning weird is happening in the gear box.
least likely is impeller shaft but since u need to take it apart u can check that also

or while still intact, motor off, turn impeller by hand and see if u can tell where or if the play is coming from


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Only thing by hand that i could tell the play was coming from was very slight play from the auger shaft into the gear box. I know there is a bushing where the worm gear goes into the gear box; i was wondering if its possibly that has worn out. 

When motor is off, its difficult to turn the impeller by hand but cannot notice any other play. I cant turn the impeller by hand enough to see if their is a bend in the auger shaft. Might be one of those things i just have to take apart again to negate or concur suspicion. 

In this parts diagram, i was originally thinking that Part #3 could be worn out. Or its possible; highly unlikely that Part #11 is not screwed in tight. 
John Deere - Parts Catalog


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

addisonm06 said:


> Only thing by hand that i could tell the play was coming from was very slight play from the auger shaft into the gear box. I know there is a bushing where the worm gear goes into the gear box; i was wondering if its possibly that has worn out.
> 
> When motor is off, its difficult to turn the impeller by hand but cannot notice any other play. I cant turn the impeller by hand enough to see if their is a bend in the auger shaft. Might be one of those things i just have to take apart again to negate or concur suspicion.
> 
> ...


for easier impeller turning if u slightly depress the auger lever it will release some of the brake friction....or remove belt.


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

i release auger lever all the way; brake doesnt seem to fully stop auger as i believe the pulsing motion is causing that issue. belt i can definitely remove from the top pulley; but heck if im taking it apart again lol


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

I went out and took a look again. The auger blades do not appear to have any bends in them at all. I did notice that grabbing the gear box and lifting slightly that both sides of the auger housing seemed to have slight play. Should the auger housing bearing have a bit of play? It’s not a lot of play at all, but wondering if 1 or both of the auger housing bearings wearing out could cause the same issue?


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

Yes worn out auger bearings/bushings would probably give u same symptoms


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

How much play is normal on the auger house bearings? I would assume that bearing wear would cause more left/right and up/down movement not the in/out im experiencing. Is that fair to assume?

Im not sure there is enough play to cause the drive gear movement as it is. It seems that the impeller shaft turning is relative to the gear movement as is the auger pulley. The more i think about if, the more i think i start coming up with other ideas on what it could be; The in/out movement of the auger shaft has me thrown off.


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Hi All, 

Just an update. I took the entire auger assembly out again. I checked all auger bearings and none were damaged at all; they seemed to have normal wear. 

I next started to remove the so called "sheer bolts". Well i guess on this model snowblower, they were bolts... not sheer bolt. I spent a good 45 mins on a stuck auger bolt. Finally got them both free and the blades were not move off the shaft. I tried PB Blaster and letting them sit, but i think the only way to get the blades off the shaft is to use a torch. I didnt want to get into all of that this winter (i have a working snowblower this was just a project). 

The auger blades didnt appear to have any bends of anything on them. At this point, the bearings are good, the impeller shaft is straight, the only thing i could think of it being is the auger shaft; but i cannot 100% verify until getting the blades off. The auger gear box appears to be fine as well. 

I did find someone semi local that is willing to sell me the front 1/2 of the their salvage for about $70. It appears to be in good shape and he says there is nothing wrong with it at all. 

Would you guys suggest giving it a try and dropping $70 for that 1/2 (or just swapping auger assemblies, my snowblower bucket seems in better shape) and see what happens?

If the shaft is actually bent, my thought is a replacement is around $125.


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Hi again! I replaced the auger assembly thinking that the shaft had a small bend and was causing my issues. After replacing the assembly, the augers works much better now without the gearbox jumping and the pulley pulsating. 

I still have a small issue where it the the auger brake harm is not stop the auger from spinning. It slows it down, but won’t stop. If I push really hard on the brake arm, it stops the auger obviously. Any ideas on what the issue could be with the auger brake? 

I really hope one doesn’t say the pulley May need to be replaced lol


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## guzzijohn (Mar 31, 2014)

While turning does the auger gearbox move? A bent auger shaft would cause that. Also hard on impeller bearing behind pulley.


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Auger and gearbox and shafts are good. Auger brake is now the issue


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Is is possible that the belt i put on is too tight and causing the auger pulley to spin due to tension regardless of the brake on or not? My father in law did replace the motor with a predator 212cc and he had to shim the motor to get the pulleys to line up; so the standard 36" JD Belts are not true anymore.


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## addisonm06 (Dec 3, 2018)

Just a quick update for anyone that may have been following.

I took my chances and bought the front 1/2 of another 826. It was in great shape; the auger assembly spun fun, blades werent stuck to the shaft, housing looks good, and all bearing were good. 

I swapped the auger assembly from the one i purchased after numerous hours of trying to get the auger pulley off the shaft. The wobbling issue did not re-occur; i assume that the original auger shaft must have had a slight bend somewhere in it. 

The brake arm still want stopping the pulley after replacement. I look further and lost more sleep overthinking it. I did replace the belts and i realized that the auger belt, even though being a V belt and correct size, the bottom of it was almost like a rubber. The Kevlar belts are more of a synthetic material. I had come up with a theory that the belts was gripping the pulley to much, even with the auger disengaged, and that was causing the brake to be ineffective. 

I went out a bought a different belt; same size but not the rubbery bottom. Slapped it on... and sure enough the brake actually works now. It does have a very very slight slip where the auger turn, but not much at all and wont throw snow. Im sure once the belts is used a bit and stretches slightly, it wont engage at all. 

So all in all, i spent a few bucks on a belt and a few on another 1/2 of the snowblower and all seems to work great now! If only MI would get some snow now...


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