# Update on broken shear pins



## ujoint56 (Apr 8, 2020)

Facing the front of the blower, the auger on the right freewheels on the shaft and is fixable with a new shear pin. The auger on the left has shifted about one half inch to the left and the auger will barely move on the shaft and not enough to line up with the hole on the shaft. I'm thinking I will need to remove the auger/shaft assembly and gearbox assembly to be able to pull the auger off and drive the broken pin out. Does that sound like a reasonable thing to do? I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks!


----------



## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

If it moved one.way it'll move back. Be careful driving.it back. You don't want to mangle it. Use a wood block or something. You're welcome.


----------



## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

while possible to bang it back it may be hard to find the holes in the shaft so it is way easier to split the units remove the auger assembly ,that way your sure the broken piece is out, while apart clean the shaft apply grease to it and reassemble , i would replace all of the bolts while apart 2 on the augers 2 on the impeller and the 2 on the wheels


----------



## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

If you rotate the stuck auger on the shaft, can you get it to free up a bit? Maybe adding penetrating oil at the ends, and at the shear bolt hole? Does it feel like the auger is stuck to a rusted shaft? Or stuck on a broken shear bolt? 

If it's rusted up, I would expect the auger won't wiggle at all. If it was stuck on a broken shear bolt, that would be on one point, near the center of the auger tube. It might then be able to tilt or wiggle slightly on the auger shaft. 

If it's rusted, you really need to get it to loosen up. Otherwise, even if you can install a new shear pin, you'll risk blowing the auger gearbox if you hit something solid. The drag from the rust will make it kind of act like an extra-strong shear bolt. The actual shear bolt won't break properly, and you'll over-stress the gearbox, which can be much more involved and expensive to fix.


----------



## ujoint56 (Apr 8, 2020)

No rust but that auger is not moving without removing from the blower. Also bought new shear pins which I got yesterday and also which don't fit. I ordered the pins that Toro said were for my blower but they are too big to fit through the holes. When I rotate the auger on the good side, It looks to me that the holes in the shaft are larger than the holes in the auger. The 322-11 shear pins I received are 8mm and the holes in the auger are 6mm. Wondering if there are sub-models for the Power Max 826OXE That would account for the difference in sizes?

This is getting to be quite the adventure.


----------



## Johnny G1 (Jan 28, 2020)

I would be making sure that the holes in the shaft and auger match because either one that don't will only add to more wear and what you are saying the shaft will be the first to go, everything should be tight, just my thought's, on old machine's I have drilled new holes for both.


----------



## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Johnny G1 said:


> I would be making sure that the holes in the shaft and auger match because either one that don't will only add to more wear and what you are saying the shaft will be the first to go, everything should be tight,


What are you meaning that "everything should be tight"? The augers should be able to move freely on the shafts and the shear pins or bolts should be loose enough to allow that auger movement. Am I missing something?


----------



## Johnny G1 (Jan 28, 2020)

What I meant was, you don't want the auger moving back and forth on the shaft if the hole is to big on either only gets everything loose and there goes another shear pin, if the hole's don't line up to size somebody has change the shaft or auger, can't see it coming from the factory with 2 different size's, have seen the holes on the auger's oblong for about half an inch or more on old machine's, either weld them up or drill new hole's through both. I get your point that the auger should be loose on the shaft, isn't what I was talking about.


----------



## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

ujoint56 said:


> No rust but that auger is not moving without removing from the blower. Also bought new shear pins which I got yesterday and also which don't fit. I ordered the pins that Toro said were for my blower but they are too big to fit through the holes. When I rotate the auger on the good side, It looks to me that the holes in the shaft are larger than the holes in the auger. The 322-11 shear pins I received are 8mm and the holes in the auger are 6mm. Wondering if there are sub-models for the Power Max 826OXE That would account for the difference in sizes?
> 
> This is getting to be quite the adventure.


those machines use USA SAE bolts not metric, the augers are 5/16x18 thread and impeller are 1/4x20 thread . while 8mm is close to 5/16 and 1/4 near 6mm one should not use metric unless for emergency use till the correct part can be obtained. metric and USA sizes are different. 

each auger has 1"one" hole each side of the 5/16 size and uses a spacer under the jamb nut, the impeller has 2 "two" 1/4 drilled inline of the other there are NO spacers under the nuts there, the wheels on a power max are GRADE 8 bolts and use a spacer under the jamb nut , 

the correct numbers 322-11 for the auger bolt, the spacer 1-633545 , jamb nut 3296-29 
the impeller numbers are bolt 321-11 nut 3296-42


----------



## Kneed2No (May 21, 2013)

If the auger is rusted on the shaft would heat from a torch loosen it up?


----------



## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

Kneed2No said:


> If the auger is rusted on the shaft would heat from a torch loosen it up?



Depends on how rusted it is, and how much heat you have. A friend with a rosebud tip on an acetylene torch helped me get mine off, and another time, I soaked it with PB Blaster for a over a week, and was able to get it off. It is not a fun project, for sure !


----------



## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Kneed2No said:


> If the auger is rusted on the shaft would heat from a torch loosen it up?


I've never had to wrestle with one, thankfully. But I've heard that you can need a LOT of heat, like probably more than you will manage with a typical household torch. And sometimes people with big hydraulic presses still have trouble. 

There's a lot of surface area to rust together, when you think about how difficult it is to remove a rusted bolt that has a fraction of that surface area. 

For a traditional auger (not a drum style), you might be able to carefully grind some slits along the length of the auger tube. To let that tube expand some, and relax its grip on the auger shaft.


----------



## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

@Kneed,

Dismantling and freeing up an auger from its shaft can certainly be done. I have done a few and it is no fun.

Using heat, Trizol (good penetrating oil), and a puller.


----------

