# augers won't turn



## KDF

Flashlight fell out of my pocket and unknowingly ran it over. Three shear pins came off; can't swear that it was a result of this episode. Replaced them today. augers won't turn. Is there a reset of some sort, or is there likely another issue? I'm not a knowledgeable guy with this stuff; not too handy. I can follow instructions, read the manuals, etc, but didn't see anything obvious or any likely solutions in the manual online. Thanks for any guidance.


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## KDF

I should add: removed all foreign objects/pieces. Model 31AH6ZFH500.


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## Kiss4aFrog

It's an MTD ?? What MTD ??

Have you checked the belt to make sure it isn't broken, still on the pulleys and it's turning when you pull the engagement lever ??
Is the impeller turning and not the augers or is the impeller dead too ??


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## Kiss4aFrog

If it ate the flashlight it might have broken the sear pins feeding it to the impeller and it still made it to the impeller and caused further damage. Did it toss the flashlight out the chute or did you fish it out of the auger or impeller ??
If the auger and impeller aren't spinning I'd be looking at part #54. The auger drive pulley and how it attaches to that adapter and the shaft.
.
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## Shryp

You need to clarify "augers won't turn".

With machine off augers should have a slight wobble in them, but not turn. If they turn on the shaft the shear pins are broken. Sounds like you ruled out shear pins since you replaced them.

If with the machine off the whole front axle spins and all the augers spin you have a broken front gear box. That could be the gears inside or the pins that holds the gears to the shafts.

If with the engine running you push the handle down and the impeller turns, but not the augers you have the same issue as above, a damaged gearbox. Ditto for if the impeller keeps turning, but the augers stop when you drive it into snow.

If you are not getting anything from the impeller or the augers you have a problem with the belt between the engine and the impeller.

Unfortunately, those MTD machines are not built too well and I fear if you managed to brake 3 shear pins at once you probably damaged the front gears.

One last thing to check is make sure that both sides of the auger shaft are still in the bearing supports on the outside edges. Those are known to pop out pretty easily if you hit anything. That happened to the one at my mothers last week.


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## KDF

OK, took the top cover off where the belts are. The larger belt is off. Tomorrow, I'll run the engine to empty the gas, remove the bottom plate as described in the manual and put the belt back on. It seems intact. Then I'll be in a better position to know what the problem is if it's not working at that point.

Don't know what happened with the flashlight. It was actually my wife who was running the machine at the time; for simplicity's sake I just wrote the post quickly and said I did it. So i don't actually know what exactly was moving and what was not. Too late here on the east coast to run the machine now so it'll have to wait til a.m. to give all this a shot. Thanks for all of the good and quick feedback. I'll update when I know more.


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## Shryp

You don't have to run the gas out to put the belt back on. 

If you are planning on tipping it on the front end it is best to be under half a tank though.


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## HCBPH

*Tipping*



Shryp said:


> You don't have to run the gas out to put the belt back on.
> 
> If you are planning on tipping it on the front end it is best to be under half a tank though.


 Yup, and if you have a gas line shutoff, I like to turn them off also. Just in case there's a carb leak, it reduces the amount of gas you could drip on the ground.


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## KDF

You were right. Took the plate off the bottom and found the auger drive pulley in 4 pieces at the bottom.


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## KDF

@Kiss4aFrog: it's actually part 54 that I found in pieces. Not sure if that's the auger drive pulley. I googled that term and see pictures that look like the wheel onto which the belt goes.


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## Kiss4aFrog

Blame it on your wife, shame on you !! 

#60 is the pulley itself, the big one with the groove for the belt.
I said to check #54 as I thought from looking at the drawing the three bolts on that adapter might shear off if something jammed in the impeller.
#54 looks to be a triangular shaped adapter that locks the pulley to the shaft.

These are the numbers I come up with on searspartsdirect but I'm guessing you can get better prices on Ebay. They both came up about $30
#54 Pulley adapter P/N 748-04053A








#60 Auger drive pulley P/N 756-04109


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## Shryp

So basically the bolt came off and that caused the pulley and all the spaces to fall out? That is an easy fix as long as the bolt didn't break. Although, if this was started my a jammed front end it sounds like maybe the bolt did break. I had one apart a couple weeks ago and that bolt is pretty tight. I am not sure if they use some type of locktite or if it is just one of those crimp style self locking bolts.


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