# Ariens 921005 Snow Blower Shaft Wobble Problem



## FrostyTheBeerMan (Jan 13, 2017)

Hello everyone, 
about a year ago, I posted a video to my YouTube channel, never thinking of posting it here. 

I own an Ariens 921005 model snowblower. It's been through a number of years of snow, and I guess the years of doing very compacted snow at the end of the driveway left by the
city snowplow it what has caused this wobble on the pinion axle. Watching my video ( link below ) will give you a much more clear idea of the problem vs me explaining it in words,
but to try and describe it -- the pinion axle does NOT go into any type of bearing.... it slides directly into the chassis of the snowblower and what used to be a circular hole has now become
an oval hole. I realized this one day when the wheels started slipping. Upon inspection I saw the hole in the chassis had become oval, and this was causing the gears to spread apart and thus
the slipping of the wheels. I do not have access to a welding machine, or can I move the Ariens snowblower to a welder, so I came up with a temp solution, where I bought a large U-bolt and
slipped it over 2 of the axles and tightened it. This worked, and I went through about 5 or 6 of these bolts over the months that followed. The problem - this was a quick fix, and... one of the axles
now ( the pinion gear axle ) is now ground down to about 1/2 the original diameter. NOT good. I thought ... how could I fix this ...... how about some large washers welded to the outside or inside
of the body of the snowblower where the axle meets the body - basically re-creating that ROUND hole once again so the axle would not stray.... as it does now in the oval hole. I was thinking of also
getting a steel plate drilling a hole into it, then bolting that to the outside of the frame -- so drill a hole for the axle... then other holes to use to bolt that plate to the body.... this could be a solution also.

Anyway, I hope some of you chime in with your thoughts, suggestions etc.... below is the video. I should shoot a new video showing the extreme wear on the axle.
Perhaps I'm wrong but to me the design just doesn't seem to be very good. I was at my local Home Depot ( in Canada ) and noticed brand new Ariens models have this same design...
but..... smaller models ( also Ariens ) do NOT have this design and instead use bearings ! .... I also took a good 5 minutes walking around all the other brands there, and not one other brand
used this bad design that caused my problem. 

Ariens Snowblower DRIVE SHAFT Wobble Problem and Quick Fix ARIENS 921005 




 <--------- my YouTube video


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## deezlfan (Nov 8, 2017)

You should have asked the first time you attempted a repair [If you can even call what you did in the video a repair]. Now you have done more damage. Gotta say it's hard to understand why you did what you did.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

LMAO .... this is the Daryl and Daryl repair video ... made my day ... hehhehhe


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## russ01915 (Dec 18, 2013)

OMG!!!!! HeHeHe


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I'm still laughing ......


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## classiccat (Mar 1, 2014)

well... you got donyboy73 to comment on your video. That's somethin'  did you guys ever link-up?


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## FrostyTheBeerMan (Jan 13, 2017)

Thanks everyone, and thanks for going easy on me LOL.

You gotta take into account, that I have zero mechanical skills, don't own many tools... and this for a 100% amateur was as good as I could do.
I was in my gmail and see comments that are not here... and some of the posts are not full.. email shows more text ( what people replied ) than shows up here on the 
forum.

Even one post from user: deezlfan was totally snipped out from what he originally put. I just can't figure out the forum I guess, and other comments that came in email
are not even showing up ( from others ) it's like they never got posted here... hmm strange.

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
The Ariens 921005 parts breakdown shows a bushing and flange there. You should have asked the first time you attempted a repair [If you can even call what you did in the video a repair]. Now you have done more damage. Gotta say it hard to understand why you did what you did. Number 29 Ariens 05500035 and number 32 Ariens 05500111

All that said, - I looked at the diagram for my model, and there is absolutely NO bearing that goes into that hole that has gone from circular into an oval. To make sure I was correct, I made a trip to Home Depot and looked
at a brand new snowblower that has the same axle setup, and I looked at it very carefully and there is NO bushing, no sealed ball-bearing unit anywhere on that side of the machine. There's nothing... the axle just slides
directly into the frame.... anyway not sure what else to say.... I'm no good with fixing things, and was just here to get a bit of help. I know if you guys were my neighbours you would be helping me out, and yeah laughing your arses off too... but in a good way... right ? .... I'm buying the beers of course !


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

Yes Frosty, you gave use all a good chuckle, in a good way ...

So, now to the repair. That shaft would have went into what Ariens called a bearing/bushing. It is actually an oil impregnated bronze wear bushing. Now that your hole is egg shapped, I would either get the original bushing and tack weld a heavy duty washer with the interior diameter of the bushings outside diameter to outside of the casing, or inside or both. Or just get a regular bearing that will slide over the shaft and devise a housing for it and bolt it to the housing in the proper position. There is probably a few other ways to do it as well, or just bring it to a welder and let them repair it.


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## deezlfan (Nov 8, 2017)

Sorry, this thread just make me feel like you are trolling for hits for your video. So I will refrain from here on out. 

There are plenty of good guys here that will offer their advice and I wish you luck.


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## 351beno (Oct 12, 2017)

Ariens designed the pinion shaft to not rotate that's why they don't have bushings or bearings where the shaft goes thru the frame. Look on the left side of the frame outside where the pinion shaft comes out of the frame there should be a anti rotation tab #00503500 with a roll pin or hair pin to stop the shaft from turning. If missing the shaft will turn and cause the wear so its more of a maintenance issue than a design flaw. They do have a plate to fix the wear #00951859 you just need to drill holes and bolt it on.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

351beno said:


> Ariens designed the pinion shaft to not rotate .


Exac


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## 351beno (Oct 12, 2017)

jtclays said:


> Exactly what Beano said. When taken apart you'll likely find the 2 flange bushings inside the pinion to be worn or gunked to the shaft also.
> Pic of the kit beno mentioned for better idea of the outside fix brackets.


 I did edit my post. The kit is for a 926 series not 921. I think you can use everything but the pinion shaft for the 921.


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