# one broken shear pin on Simplicity 860



## johnharvard (Oct 1, 2013)

I have a Simplicity 860 snowblower that has 2 shear pins (one on either side of the auger). I found a chunk of shear pin with a cotter pin through it in the driveway and sure enough one of them is missing.

The problem is that I can't move the auger by hand to line up the holes to put the new one through. Do I have to remove the other shear pin first to be able to spin the auger to line up the holes?


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## td5771 (Feb 21, 2011)

No. The Auger should turn by itself. When the shear pin broke the Auger shaft kept spinning. The portion of the shear pin that goes through the shaft is still in there and not lined up with the holes. It will spin, just not freely as if you took out the pin intact.


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## johnharvard (Oct 1, 2013)

So to get the holes lined up with the shaft I'm going to have to get it to spin. But it really feels like it doesn't want to move. Should I just use more muscle or will that hurt something?


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Use more muscle (within reason). If you put too much force on it your are defeating the purpose of the shear pins and putting all that force into the gear box. If you get to where you are going to start damaging the gear box you are going to have to hold the other side of the auger shaft while attempting to turn the auger.

It is possible that whatever broke the shear pin is still stuck between the auger and the bucket somewhere. One other thing you could do is turn the impeller back in there and see if both augers turn or if only the one with the pin still attached turns. If they both turn the auger is probably only wedged on the remnants of the pin. If only the good side turns it is jammed against something. Turning the impeller might require holding the handle down slightly as when it is released it applies a break to stop it from turning. Usually they don't grab very tight though so it should just ad a slight bit of resistance.

Most people will recommend removing the spark plug before attempting to turn the impeller by hand just in case. You could also turn it with a stick. Another way of turning it would be to hold the auger clutch down and try to start the engine with the engine switched off. If you use the pull rope you will probably need a second person to watch.

Make sure you get proper shear bolts to replace them and not just put regular bolts back in there unless you really need to. It could be a good time to take the other side out and examine it for wear as well. If you get them both out it is a good time to grease the auger rakes and spin them around the shaft a few times as well if they have grease zerks.


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