# Zerkless Augurs - Do they have plastic sleeves now?



## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

My new Toro Powermax 826 OE (model 37780) does not have grease fittings. I read a post about newer Ariens Deluxe models that are supposedly also zerkless but do have plastic sleeves so no metal to metal contact. 

Does anyone know if this is the case for Toros?


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

barney said:


> My new Toro Powermax 826 OE (model 37780) does not have grease fittings. I read a post about newer Ariens Deluxe models that are supposedly also zerkless but do have plastic sleeves so no metal to metal contact.
> 
> Does anyone know if this is the case for Toros?


*Can't really say aboot the plastic part. but you need not worry aboot any BLOODY SHEER PINS Popping. Because TORO DOES NOT use any BLOODY SHEER PINS!!!! The motor will stall oot if you go cutting a rug, or any other strange objects that might appear oot of nowhere!!!*


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

toro has never had zerks anywhere in their machines . stop worrying about it.


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## 351beno (Oct 12, 2017)

Every year just take the bolts out and use some kind of spray lube/ penatrant on the ends and bolt holes. Give it a few spins and your good. Also works on the axle/wheel. If you don't they can freeze up over time. But Toros don't rust as fast and bad as the Ariens if not lubed.


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

351beno said:


> Every year just take the bolts out and use some kind of spray lube/ penatrant on the ends and bolt holes. Give it a few spins and your good. Also works on the axle/wheel. If you don't they can freeze up over time. But Toros don't rust as fast and bad as the Ariens if not lubed.


Well I don't see many posts of guys with seized Toro augur shafts on here which is good. So perhaps just spraying some lubricant in the bolt holes and spinning them as you indicate is sufficient.

I watched an excellent video on YouTube of a guy removing his Toro augur/impeller and then taking it apart to grease the augur shafts. Maybe he's anal retentive.

*This is what he had to say about it:*
"Toro doesn't want you to do this basic maintenance procedure that EVERY other snowblower needs... adding grease to the auger blade shafts. The service manual for PowerMax snowblowers specifies anti-seize on the shafts, but that will quickly wash away. As you will see in the video, mine were rusted, and when I first tried spinning them, they would not move! "


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

351beno said:


> But Toros don't rust as fast and bad as the Ariens if not lubed.


I highly doubt that is true..there is no evidence to support that, and there is no reason to suspect that Toro uses some kind of different metal formula that is less likely to rust.



barney said:


> Well I don't see many posts of guys with seized Toro augur shafts on here which is good. So perhaps just spraying some lubricant in the bolt holes and spinning them as you indicate is sufficient.


There have been some. You found a video that shows its a problem, and here are two threads that also say its a problem:

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/foru...x-rusted-shaft-impeller-add-zerk-fitting.html

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/forum/toro-snowblowers/42314-rusted-sheer-pin.html

And there are a few more. These machines should have been fitted with grease zerks, its a genuine concern that they dont have them, and it has clearly been known to cause rusting problems because they dont have them. Trying to squirt some grease into the shear pin hole will not adequately grease the entire auger shaft. It was a bad decision on Toro's part.

Scot


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## 351beno (Oct 12, 2017)

sscotsman said:


> 351beno said:
> 
> 
> > But Toros don't rust as fast and bad as the Ariens if not lubed.
> ...


I only have work and sold Toro and Ariens for 17 years. I see it all and have fixed them all. Most people don't even take the shear pins out to grease them so the grease don't go thru the whole shaft anyways. Yes if you take the bolts out and spray them even with wd-40 and spin them once a year they will never freeze. Not having grease fitting on a Toro is not a problem. If you do simple maintenance you will not have a problem.


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

Isn't the point of greasing the auger shaft to make sure the auger rotates on the shaft if a shear pin breaks? However I thought all PowerMax snowblowers have hardened gears and no shear pins. So I'm wondering if no shear pins is it really necessary to have grease fittings on the PowerMax blowers?


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

sscotsman said:


> I highly doubt that is true..there is no evidence to support that, and there is no reason to suspect that Toro uses some kind of different metal formula that is less likely to rust.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Personally I think I agree with you. I would rather have a few zerks. I will however be spraying the shafts as best as I can with some kind anti rust & lube spray at least once a year if not twice.


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

Zavie said:


> Isn't the point of greasing the auger shaft to make sure the auger rotates on the shaft if a shear pin breaks? However I thought all PowerMax snowblowers have hardened gears and no shear pins. So I'm wondering if no shear pins is it really necessary to have grease fittings on the PowerMax blowers?


Pretty sure my 826 OE has one shear pin each side.


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

351beno said:


> I only have work and sold Toro and Ariens for 17 years. I see it all and have fixed them all. Most people don't even take the shear pins out to grease them so the grease don't go thru the whole shaft anyways. Yes if you take the bolts out and spray them even with wd-40 and spin them once a year they will never freeze. Not having grease fitting on a Toro is not a problem. If you do simple maintenance you will not have a problem.


That appears to be a pretty strong affirmation as to the effectiveness of simply spraying the augur shafts; and with wd 40 no less. 
17 years experience and only spraying them down once a year with wd 40. 

* I didn't think wd 40 was known to be a very effective anti rust agent. Interesting and puzzling at the same time.


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

barney said:


> Pretty sure my 826 OE has one shear pin each side.


Is it a shear pin, or a regular bolt that just attaches the auger to the shaft?


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

Zavie said:


> Is it a shear pin, or a regular bolt that just attaches the auger to the shaft?


I assumed the two bolts are meant to shear off if over loaded but I haven't so much as used a snow blower yet in my life so don't actually know for sure. :smile2:


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

My Toro brochure lists this about all 2 stage Toro snowblowers, including the PowerMax of course:

"HIGH-STRENGTH AUGER GEAR BOX
Special, hardened gears are designed to withstand the
highest of stresses and provide worry-free performance
— no shear pins needed."


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

Zavie said:


> My Toro brochure lists this about all 2 stage Toro snowblowers, including the PowerMax of course:
> 
> "HIGH-STRENGTH AUGER GEAR BOX
> Special, hardened gears are designed to withstand the
> ...


Now that you have that copied that I do remember reading it. I'm not sure that I've read about any other brands going this route. They seem to be an outlier in regard to 'no shear pins'.

For me, the rest of the blurb reads like ad copy one finds every where these days, but perhaps the gears really are "special" and the whole augur system is more heavily built than those that employ shear pins. One would suppose they build them tough enough to avoid warranty claims etc.


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

barney said:


> Now that you have that copied that I do remember reading it. I'm not sure that I've read about any other brands going this route. They seem to be an outlier in regard to 'no shear pins'.
> 
> For me, the rest of the blurb reads like ad copy one finds every where these days, but perhaps the gears really are "special" and the whole augur system is more heavily built than those that employ shear pins. One would suppose they build them tough enough to avoid warranty claims etc.


Best bet is to read your owners manual. If nowhere in there are shear pins described, shown or how to replace them, then it's pretty certain that you have no shear pins on your blower. I think you can trust the engineers at the Toro company to know what shear pins are and if you needed to deal with them they would let you know.


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## 351beno (Oct 12, 2017)

That appears to be a pretty strong affirmation as to the effectiveness of simply spraying the augur shafts; and with wd 40 no less. 
17 years experience and only spraying them down once a year with wd 40. 

* I didn't think wd 40 was known to be a very effective anti rust agent. Interesting and puzzling at the same time.[/QUOTE]

I use mostly pb blast. But the guy I worked for before always used wd mainly to flush any rust out. If I have one apart I will grease it otherwise there is no point in ripping it apart. Most people wait 3 to5 years to bring the powermaxs in for a service at my shop. None of them grease or spray them and they spin fine. Just the other day I was working on a 9 year old 1028pm that was never serviced both the augers and impeller spun fine. I'm not saying toros can't rust they just don't freeze on the shafts as easy as most.


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

Zavie said:


> Best bet is to read your owners manual. If nowhere in there are shear pins described, shown or how to replace them, then it's pretty certain that you have no shear pins on your blower. I think you can trust the engineers at the Toro company to know what shear pins are and if you needed to deal with them they would let you know.


I didn't note any apprehension about the lack of shear pins. And I see that we are in agreement about Toro probably building them tough enough to avoid warranty claims. But thanks for the patronizing pointer about trusting Toro engineers to know what shear pins are. Who'd a thunk it.


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## classiccat (Mar 1, 2014)

I wonder if an auger shaft caked with old grease actually makes matters worse.

It took me several weeks to get a mid-90's Ariens ST724 "zerked" auger apart; I doubt that the previous owner even owned a grease gun.

Just because they put zerks on there doesn't mean the owners will use them.

One of my favorite goops for coating auger and axle shafts is Evinrude triple guard grease. One of it's applications is coating prop-shaft splines.


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## wfd44 (Nov 10, 2014)

If I had one apart I would certainly clean up and lube the shafts. I don't see much future in tearing the gearbox out to grease the shafts. I do however pull the wheels off and grease the axles every fall.


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

classiccat said:


> I wonder if an auger shaft caked with old grease actually makes matters worse.
> 
> It took me several weeks to get a mid-90's Ariens ST724 "zerked" auger apart; I doubt that the previous owner even owned a grease gun.
> 
> ...


that grease both marine companies use on the shafts is a syntech water proof grease, hence it stays put longer and better.
yet if you say, look in tractor supply, you will find the same grease without a marine name on it for farm use that in reality is the same water proof grease 
toro uses grade 5 bolts on the auger and impeller.grade 8 on the wheel to axle that says something big about how well built they are . over a machine using shear pins and bolts


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## classiccat (Mar 1, 2014)

87 powershift said:


> that grease both marine companies use on the shafts is a syntech water proof grease, hence it stays put longer and better.
> yet if you say, look in tractor supply, you will find the same grease without a marine name on it for farm use that in reality is the same water proof grease


i'll have to check out that TSC version... my tub of 'Rude is runnin' low.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

* Even with a zerks on the shaft does not mean they will coat the whole shaft. so there still will be areas with oot grease on it. the only way to ensure the shaft has a good slobbering of grease is to rip it all apart and slobber it all up by hand. even if you drilled zerks in every inch the whole length of the shaft. does not mean it would disperse evenly in there.*


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

classiccat said:


> i'll have to check out that TSC version... my tub of 'Rude is runnin' low.


saw it at my local TSS yesterday, syntech waterproof, price was less than 1/2 of mercruiser $4.99 a tube
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...te-nlgi-2-grease-14-oz-cartridge?cm_vc=-10005


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## Blosumsno (Dec 7, 2016)

There are no shear pins or shear bolts on the Toros, you can get the parts manual download from the Toro site and you'll see that they call out regular bolts. We had a Toro 3521 with the drum auger, no shear bolts or pins either, back in the early '90's and I ran over a small garden tool, just stalled the engine so I removed the tool and continued like nothing happened.


That said, my current 2003 Snapper has shear bolts, not pins, that have a torque spec to them so if they're too loose they could shear if I start the auger with a bucket full of snow or something but so far in the 13 years never has one broken under normal use (never ran over anything either....so far!).


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