# Worn out auger fix



## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

Hi all. I picked up a late 80's model Craftsman snowblower model 536.886190 for $110. Replaced the carb with a $12 Amazon clone with an adjustable fuel screw and it runs like a champ. Everything seems to work fairly well, but the auger rakes are completely worn out and Sears has discontinued the RT side (why the Rt side only?) and the replacement left side is more $$$ than I paid for the machine. 
Does anyone think I could just buy a set of rubber paddles intended for a single stage machine and bolt them to my existing worn out augers?
I currently have the skids adjusted up as far as they will go and the auger tines are still 3/8-1/2" above ground level.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

If you can weld, a number of people have welded "teeth" (triangles) onto their worn auger spirals to rejuvenate them.

Otherwise, you may be able to find a used set of Murray augers that will fit? Did yours look like this?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Murray-175...369199&hash=item3d69caea47:g:zWwAAOSwRq1cv78F


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

I know how to weld but I don't have a welder, good idea though to weld some teeth on it. Might think about renting a 110v wire feed for a couple of hours. Mine looks like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/Murray-339...CF-LH-SNOWBLOWER-SNOW-BLOWER-OEM/351877506809


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:welcome: to SBF Dan


.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

I bought this Honda HS1132 that a master welder owned and he did a terrific job reconditioning these worn out augers.


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

orangputeh said:


> I bought this Honda HS1132 that a master welder owned and he did a terrific job reconditioning these worn out augers.


 :bowing:

Holy cow that's awesome! I plan on just welding on some 1-1/2" x 1" pieces of mild steel about every 2 inches or so. :grin:


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## penna stogey (Nov 25, 2019)

Welcome to the SBF from Gettysburg


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## Dauntae (Nov 10, 2016)

Is that a gray 8.5hp 26” craftsman with a 9” impeller? If so I have at least one side, the other I could not get off the shaft, If they are the correct ones and your not too far I’ll give them to you as I was going to toss them as I’m in the middle of moving and was getting ready to dump scrap metal, what is your location?


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

Dauntae said:


> Is that a gray 8.5hp 26” craftsman with a 9” impeller? If so I have at least one side, the other I could not get off the shaft, If they are the correct ones and your not too far I’ll give them to you as I was going to toss them as I’m in the middle of moving and was getting ready to dump scrap metal, what is your location?


Yep that's the one. If you wouldn't mind shooting me a price that you think is fair that would be great! Oh, I'm in Centennial, CO 80016.


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## Dauntae (Nov 10, 2016)

I’ll see which one is stuck, I’ll give it one last shot at getting it off but before you spend too much you could get a better blower cheap that the engine would bolt right into, On a good day these versions of the craftsman were not very good and the 9” impeller was small. But if you want them it’s just the price of shipping as I was going to scrap them as the engine is now on another blower.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Dan Horn said:


> I currently have the skids adjusted up as far as they will go and the auger tines are still 3/8-1/2" above ground level.



Welcome to SBF Dan. Setting the skids all the way up will now create another problem. The scraper bar and bucket housing will now be dragging on the ground and wearing them away. The rubber edged augers wouldn't be able to chew through EOD or hard pack snow, but they would work.


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

I ended up welding slotted 1"x 1/8" strips to the existing augers. I'm happy with how it turned out and it should cut through ice and hard pack pretty good too. Just waiting for the next round of snow now.


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## Shovel (Mar 26, 2019)

Dan Horn said:


> I ended up welding slotted 1"x 1/8" strips to the existing augers. I'm happy with how it turned out and it should cut through ice and hard pack pretty good too. Just waiting for the next round of snow now.


I like it.. You could also grind off the trailing edges of your plates as well..giving the leading edge more ability to tear up that ice and packed snow.

I drew that yellow in with my phone
The middle yellow one is best one as far as what I am trying to say









Sent from my LM-Q710.FG using Tapatalk


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## foggysail (Feb 21, 2015)

OK.....looks great............but why bother????

Snowblowers were made and used for years without them. My old Bolens 32 with a puny 12HP engine did not have them and I had zero trouble with snow. Sure ice is another matter but if I got to the end of the driveway before it froze with street plow ice there was no need for them


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

foggysail said:


> OK.....looks great............but why bother????


Go back and read from the beginning of the thread... His augers were too worn to reach close to the ground.


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

foggysail said:


> OK.....looks great............but why bother????
> 
> Snowblowers were made and used for years without them. My old Bolens 32 with a puny 12HP engine did not have them and I had zero trouble with snow. Sure ice is another matter but if I got to the end of the driveway before it froze with street plow ice there was no need for them





tabora said:


> Go back and read from the beginning of the thread... His augers were too worn to reach close to the ground.


Haha yeah the augers were only an inch wide in places. The previous owner must have been trying to till his concrete driveway with it. It was a fun project anyway and a good excuse to buy a cheap little welder (that worked surprisingly well).


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

Dan Horn said:


> ...a good excuse to buy a cheap little welder (that worked surprisingly well).


Which welder did you end up with, Dan?


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

tabora said:


> Dan Horn said:
> 
> 
> > ...a good excuse to buy a cheap little welder (that worked surprisingly well).
> ...


I got the FDS MIG 130 (which isn't really a MIG welder at all) 
It's really a fantastic little welder when used with some good quality Lincoln wire. For $85 it's hard to go wrong.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Nice! You aren't going to build a cargo ship with a 110V welder (like mine), but they sure are handy sometimes. Much like your solution, mine has let me fix things that would have been extremely difficult to properly fix otherwise. It's a great tool.


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## Dauntae (Nov 10, 2016)

Great fix, Glad you got it as the stuck auger is permanently stack as using a puller only bent it without so much of a nudge of movement, Even in good shape these augers didn’t have much on them to begin with but your mod looks to be a great improvement. You have a link to the welder, That looks like it may be useful.


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

Dauntae said:


> Great fix, Glad you got it as the stuck auger is permanently stack as using a puller only bent it without so much of a nudge of movement, Even in good shape these augers didn’t have much on them to begin with but your mod looks to be a great improvement. You have a link to the welder, That looks like it may be useful.


https://www-ratemywelder-com.cdn.am...ew-goplus-mig-130-welder-with-automatic-feed/

You can find them on eBay for $90 shipped. Thanks for looking into that for me.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I got the Flux-core welder years ago at HF when it was on sale for 79.00 … does a great job for me around my equipment, as I am surely no welder …


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## CarlB (Jan 2, 2011)

Dan Horn said:


> I ended up welding slotted 1"x 1/8" strips to the existing augers. I'm happy with how it turned out and it should cut through ice and hard pack pretty good too. Just waiting for the next round of snow now.


I foresee one or more of them breaking off in the future and becoming a 200 mph 2oz projectile. just my 2 cents


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

And if he has an impeller seal, it may be 220 mph. I agree !


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

It truly amazes me how a person can let a machine just scrap the ^&$% out of the augers, to wear them, along with the bucket down a good 2 or 3 inches.... 

Just goes to prove the old saying, cant fix stupid. lol


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## Dan Horn (Feb 20, 2020)

RIT333 said:


> And if he has an impeller seal, it may be 220 mph. I agree !


Naw they're not gonna break off. I grabbed them with a large vice grip and I couldn't break one if I tried to. 
That being said, the machine is still utterly and completely useless for wet heavy spring snow.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

Dan Horn said:


> That being said, the machine is still utterly and completely useless for wet heavy spring snow.


Is the problem chute clogging? If so, an impeller wiper kit would probably help: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SNOW-BLOWE...493436?hash=item4647cf867c:g:FIUAAOSwgotcFrJ6


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## dman2 (Sep 22, 2019)

Here you go:










I just put a few more extra welding beads on my auger to prolong its life. It took me the whole day to weld, clean and de-rust it. All it needs now is 2-3 layers of paint.

After 10 years of using, there were some rust on it. It was mostly surface rust. I was just going to clean and paint it, but then I saw rust at the joints (where paint wasn't able to get to). So, it doesn't matter how well you painted it, there will always be rust on it.

What rusted out the most was the inner tube. They didn't paint it of course. I'm going to smear anti-seize on it.

Factory welding beads looked nice, but they were more to hold everything up for 20 years. Their paint job wasn't that good either. Like some members have said, they would paint over rust, so you get paint bubbles. The paint held up very well where it was thick layer, but not where it was thin. It is something to be expected, because no one would do extra works to make it wonderful for you.

It is the reason why you want thick metal on snowblowers. With no maintenance at all, you will end up with a rust holes in bucket, or a broken auger.


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## dman2 (Sep 22, 2019)

It is an Ariens Deluxe 24. I got it used. I always do maintenance on my snowblowers.


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## dman2 (Sep 22, 2019)

Dan Horn said:


> I got the FDS MIG 130 (which isn't really a MIG welder at all)
> It's really a fantastic little welder when used with some good quality Lincoln wire. For $85 it's hard to go wrong.


Those cheap welders, like the one at Harbor freights will get the job done, but I heard they got extra hot, consumed more electricity and low duration.

Well, your new fixed auger look good good, though. That is a lot of welding right there.


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