# Snoblower Pushes snow to the right



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

I have a Craftsman - 11hp, 30 inch width; model: 536881113. The blower is working, but seems to work better on the left. I tried to blow through 7in of fluffy, powdery snow today and it kept leaving a large pile on the right hand side, no matter how slowly I went. Any ideas as to what the problem might be?


----------



## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

Broken shear pin.


----------



## penna stogey (Nov 25, 2019)

First post needs a hearty welcome....Hearty Welcome....


----------



## powertosatisfy (Dec 17, 2019)

Are all the augers turning properly? My neighbour was put blowing today and I noticed one side the augers wasn't turning. He must have broken a shear pin. Just a guess but a good place to start looking.

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

I believe the augers are turning because it is throwing snow - just not very efficiently. Since the augers are turning, doesn't that rule out a broken shear pin?


----------



## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

@Peter,

No, as each side has its own shear pin …...


----------



## Dauntae (Nov 10, 2016)

Peter Lassey said:


> I believe the augers are turning because it is throwing snow - just not very efficiently. Since the augers are turning, doesn't that rule out a broken shear pin?


Not at all, It may have friction turning it but when full of snow is may stop, With machine off see if it will spin by hand. if it's hard turning but still spins then it also needs greasing.


----------



## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

oneacer said:


> Broken shear pin.


agree agree agree to the 10th power.

sometimes when a shear pin is broken the auger may still turn a little due to rust but will not be at all effective.


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

Ok - working theory. I asked a friend to come over and look at the augers - both are spinning equally. However, it appears that the auger on the pusher's right is on backwards. Instead of pushing snow toward the middle, it is pushing it to the side. I have a video of it, but unfortunately can't attach it to this thread. 

Any opinions on this theory?


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

Here is a picture of the augers. I have a video of it on youtube:

Do you think the auger on the pusher's right is on backwards?


----------



## oneboltshort (Dec 16, 2019)

People are saying shear pin given your symptoms.

If it just started happening, shear pin. If you don't see this /////O\\\\\ when looking at the front, one is on wrong. However, that can't just start to happen. Is this just purchased , BIL just replaced the auger gear, or dad just got done painting it?


Just see your pics, refer to the second part of my answer


----------



## cranman (Jan 23, 2016)

right side is backwards....they want to look like this /// \\\


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

oneboltshort said:


> People are saying shear pin given your symptoms.
> 
> If it just started happening, shear pin. If you don't see this /////O\\\\\ when looking at the front, one is on wrong. However, that can't just start to happen. Is this just purchased , BIL just replaced the auger gear, or dad just got done painting it?



I think that is the culprit. This is a used blower that I got for free from a local marina. They were getting rid of it because it didn't work, and my friend who works there said some of the guys had taken it apart a while back. Must have put it on wrong! 

Check out the video I posted earlier in the thread: 



.


----------



## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Welcome to SBF Peter. Yes, the auger on the left as looking at it from the front is on BACKWARDS. Has anyone recently worked on the machine, or you bought it this way?


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

I got it for free recently


----------



## toromike (Aug 20, 2018)

Peter Lassey said:


> I think that is the culprit. This is a used blower that I got for free from a local marina. They were getting rid of it because it didn't work, and my friend who works there said some of the guys had taken it apart a while back. Must have put it on wrong!


That machine has two left side augers installed, flipping the auger won't help, you need to get a right side auger.


----------



## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

toromike said:


> That machine has two left side augers installed, flipping the auger won't help, you need to get a right side auger.



I just drew the current auger direction \\\ on a piece of paper and turning the paper over, the direction changed to ///, so I "think" it will be ok when removed and installed in the other direction, "IF" the shear pin holes line up.
:icon-shrug:


----------



## 2.137269 (Nov 15, 2019)

if the pin hole is centered hopefully he can flip it over going to be a pile of work thou


----------



## toromike (Aug 20, 2018)

Grunt said:


> I just drew the current auger direction \\\ on a piece of paper and turning the paper over, the direction changed to ///, so I "think" it will be ok when removed and installed in the other direction, "IF" the shear pin holes line up.
> :icon-shrug:


 You rotated in the wrong plane, leave the paper on the table and rotate it 180 degrees.


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

I am beginning to think I will need a new part. Augers (left - 760589E701MA; and right -760590E701MA) are listed on the Sears site as two different parts. The shear pin holes will not line up if I flip this one around but I wonder if I could just drill a new hole. Or, as @toromike suggests, will that even work? A replacement auger is $180 and I can't find any after market replacements.


----------



## toromike (Aug 20, 2018)

Peter Lassey said:


> I am beginning to think I will need a new part. Augers (left - 760589E701MA; and right -760590E701MA) are listed on the Sears site as two different parts. The shear pin holes will not line up if I flip this one around but I wonder if I could just drill a new hole. Or, as @*toromike* suggests, will that even work? A replacement auger is $180 and I can't find any after market replacements.


Flipping the auger will not work, that's why there are separate part numbers for left and right. The ribbons spiral in different directions.


----------



## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Flipping it won't help, as was said. The flights on the augers are basically a thread. A nut and bolt will still go together normally (the same way), even if you flip the nut over and thread it on again. Which is effectively the same as flipping the bolt (the auger), just a little easier to visualize. 

The way you "reverse" their threads is by moving them from one side of the machine to the other (like when you accidentally re-install them on the wrong sides), rather than flipping them over. 

Seems like you will need to buy the proper auger. If you're lucky, you might find a used auger on eBay, or get one from a cheap dead machine (blown engine, failed auger gearbox, etc). But as this is a pretty big machine, there may not be a lot of used options.


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

Thank you all for your help. I just looked at a screw from all directions and now understand perfectly. Since this was free, and I see some for sale for around $300 used and I have taken apart snowblowers before, investing in a new auger seems like the right choice. Cheers!


----------



## squid3083 (Jan 20, 2020)

Actually, I think your right, if it was dismantled in the past. At first i thought of one shear pin that was broken, but if they are intact, the left auger from my viewpoint and the right auger from the snow viewpoint is pushing snow away from the center, so yes it could affect the snow pushing. Both augers are supposed to push snow inwards. In all videos i see the first thing they mention is to put the augers on each side not to invert them lol


----------



## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

It's not so much a question of improper-reassembly in the past. The problem is the machine was either built with two of the same-side augers, or maybe someone replaced an auger at one point, and bought the wrong one. But just a single side being wrong isn't really something you can mess up while working on your machine. You could swap the two sides, but then they'll both be wrong. For just one side to be wrong, requires the wrong part being installed, perhaps by the factory (oops!).


----------



## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Peter Lassey said:


> I am beginning to think I will need a new part. Augers (left - 760589E701MA; and right -760590E701MA) are listed on the Sears site as two different parts. The shear pin holes will not line up if I flip this one around but I wonder if I could just drill a new hole. Or, as @toromike suggests, will that even work? A replacement auger is $180 and I can't find any after market replacements.


wow. auger cost morethan machine is worth? i'd drill a new hole somehow if that is even possible. or else keep it as a parts machine and get another blower like it cheap during the off season.


----------



## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

The shear bolt hole location isn't the big problem, making a new hole won't help. The flights on the "bad" auger are going in the wrong direction, like if it was right-hand-thread, instead of left-hand-thread. 

I think the only way to fix the auger itself would be to try something like cutting the flights (ribbon) off the auger, bending them in the other direction, and welding them back onto the auger. But I don't think that would be very practical, and may not even work.


----------



## Peter Lassey (Jan 19, 2020)

So, here is what I think happened. This blower was used at a local marina, and they replaced the augers - except instead of getting a left and right auger, they purchased two left augers and installed them. When you go to the Sears part site, it is somewhat misleading. In the parts diagram for the auger housing, only one of the augers (left-side) has a label (520). So, to someone who knows little about snowblower augers, I can see why they bought two of the same part and then installed them both. A little more investigating, and the right auger is listed as a separate part with a separate part number - and it costs $180. It just isn't indicated in the parts diagram. 

However - and here is the good news - my friend who works at the marina went in today and found the old right-side auger. It's a little bent, but should work better than what is on there now. I'll be taking apart the machine today and hopefully installing the new (old) right side auger tonight.


----------



## toromike (Aug 20, 2018)

Peter, it's great news that the old auger was still there. A little work with hammers, wrenches and pry bars and you should be able to get the auger straightened out. Good luck.


----------



## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

The shaft can only turn in one direction, and that direction is usually "down" at the front of the augers. So the one on the operator's left would tend to feed snow to the middle, while the one on the operator's right would tend to feed snow to the outside edge. I'm surprised it can be (mis)assembled that way, it means the shear pin holes must be exactly centered on each auger. Simply offsetting that hole during design would absolutely prevent this from happening.


----------



## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Peter Lassey said:


> However - and here is the good news - my friend who works at the marina went in today and found the old right-side auger.


That's great news, you're a lucky guy! Free blower, *and* not having to buy the $180 part to get it working properly again. That's awesome, good luck getting it re-assembled! Hopefully it can be straightened out first.


----------



## NMLHoldingsLLC (Dec 15, 2019)

Peter Lassey said:


> So, here is what I think happened. This blower was used at a local marina, and they replaced the augers - except instead of getting a left and right auger, they purchased two left augers and installed them. When you go to the Sears part site, it is somewhat misleading. In the parts diagram for the auger housing, only one of the augers (left-side) has a label (520). So, to someone who knows little about snowblower augers, I can see why they bought two of the same part and then installed them both. A little more investigating, and the right auger is listed as a separate part with a separate part number - and it costs $180. It just isn't indicated in the parts diagram.
> 
> However - and here is the good news - my friend who works at the marina went in today and found the old right-side auger. It's a little bent, but should work better than what is on there now. I'll be taking apart the machine today and hopefully installing the new (old) right side auger tonight.


GOOD FIND!
Give that guy a beer - way better than $180!!


----------



## squid3083 (Jan 20, 2020)

RedOctobyr said:


> I think the only way to fix the auger itself would be to try something like cutting the flights (ribbon) off the auger, bending them in the other direction, and welding them back onto the auger. But I don't think that would be very practical, and may not even work.


So little time so little work lol cutting those and bending it would be a lot of fun !!!


----------



## Doninvt (Jan 21, 2020)

Not on backwards, but there right and left augers are supposed to be mirror image of each other. Yours are both the same.


----------



## whitegreg (Jan 18, 2020)

In order to keep things straight, instead of "left" and "right", perhaps they should be called "port" and "starboard"!


----------



## hammer6315 (Dec 15, 2019)

orangputeh said:


> agree agree agree to the 10th power.
> 
> sometimes when a shear pin is broken the auger may still turn a little due to rust but will not be at all effective.


And that's when you grease the 'zerks!'


----------

