# Anyone recognize this bolt from a new Pro32?



## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

As mentioned in other threads, I have a brand new 2018 Pro32 with just a few hours on it. The dealer did an absolutely terrible job of setting it up - loose nuts and bolts everywhere, etc. - so I had to go through the whole machine to make certain all was well.


We're expecting snow tonight so I was out walking my gravel driveway and parking area, scanning for new rocks, when I came across the bolt in the photo below. It's a 4in long bugle head hex drive bolt, looks to be 12-32 threads. The only piece of equipment I've run recently in the area where I found it is, you guessed it, the new Pro32. I went over the machine looking for anything missing, or another bolt like this that might be missing its partner, but I can't find anything wrong. Anyone know if a bolt like this belongs on a Pro32? If so, where?


Thanks!


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

Somehow this post got duplicated, I've asked for the other one to be deleted. Please respond to this one. Thanks!


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## bkwudz (Jan 14, 2013)

Picture?


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## russ01915 (Dec 18, 2013)

I advise anyone, when they get a new machine, ( new or used) to go thru the machine and check all screws, bolts and nuts. Check all cables and make adjustments as needed. Check the oil level, don't take it for granted it is. Lubricate areas that need it. After running the machine for a few hrs, do it again.


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## tlshawks (Feb 9, 2018)

Welp, there has to be a parts manual involved here, correct?


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

russ01915 said:


> I advise anyone, when they get a new machine, ( new or used) to go thru the machine and check all screws, bolts and nuts. Check all cables and make adjustments as needed. Check the oil level, don't take it for granted it is. Lubricate areas that need it. After running the machine for a few hrs, do it again.


Yep, did all of that as noted in other threads. This is a completely separate issue... I found what appears to be a "spare part" lying on the ground and can't find where it might be missing from the Pro32, but then again it's brand new to me so I'm not as familiar with it as my other equipment (yet).


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

tlshawks said:


> Welp, there has to be a parts manual involved here, correct?


 True, and I have it, but there's a LOT of bolts shown and I was hoping someone here would see the photo and say from knowledge "Oh yeah, that's the ABCXYZ bolt" or "Nope, I can say for certain Ariens doesn't use a bolt like that on the Pro32".


Thanks!


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

bkwudz said:


> Picture?


 It's in the other (original) thread, but I'll load it here too:








EDIT: Hmm... that's twice now that the photo appears in my editing window when I link to it (I can see it right above this line, in fact) but doesn't appear when I simply read the thread. Here's a direct URL:

http://articles.richardhartman.net/misc/MysteryBolt_sm.jpg


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## paulm12 (May 22, 2015)

note that some machines come with an extra shear bolt loosely attached to the machine, or in some kind of pouch on the machine.


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

paulm12 said:


> note that some machines come with an extra shear bolt loosely attached to the machine, or in some kind of pouch on the machine.


I'm reasonably confident that's not a shear bolt. {grin} And you're correct, the Pro32 has two extra shear bolts and nuts on a dedicated plastic carrier. They're still there (and even with that, I picked up a couple extra bags of them when I got the machine at the dealer).


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## russ01915 (Dec 18, 2013)

*bugle head hex drive bolt*



IDEngineer said:


> It's a 4in long bugle head hex drive bolt, looks to be 12-32 threads. The only piece of equipment I've run recently in the area where I found it is, you guessed it, the new Pro32. I went over the machine looking for anything missing, or another bolt like this that might be missing its partner, but I can't find anything wrong. Anyone know if a bolt like this belongs on a Pro32? If so, where?
> 
> 
> Thanks!


I have never seen the bolt you describe on this machine. Then again, I have never seen a bugle head hex drive bolt period. I stand to be corrected.


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

I dont think its from the blower
the shear pin was all i could think of but i thought you know better
That has to be the longest bolt on the machine if it was from the blower something would not be working right


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## russ01915 (Dec 18, 2013)

I agree. I finally saw the link with the bolt. I believe the proper name is a Flat Head Cap Screw. I stand to be corrected.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

It's no shear bolt for sure.

I was thinking of a bolt for a folding handle as some are pretty long so the wing knob with the nut inside is able to back out to allow the handle to fold but not have to be removed and be loose. As on mowers or SS blowers. BUT, most of those have a carriage bolt style head.

Could this have been something from the shipping container to hold the blower in the crate or the crate together that got dropped on the machine and lodged there until you got it home ? Maybe swing by a dealer and show them ?

.


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## tlshawks (Feb 9, 2018)

Definitely looks like it was threaded into something about halfway down it for a period of time, too. The threads have an off-color look either side, like they were exposed to air but the middle wasn't.


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

You have to consider the REAL problem you are now faced with. If that bolt is not from your snowblower, where IS it from?? You might have some other machine or gizmo that is going to fall apart unexpectedly next time you use it.

I remember many years ago attending an air show in Wilkes Barre, PA with my family. My son, who was about 6 or 7 at the time, loved planes. We stopped by to look at a Canadian F18. The pilot was standing there and looking kinda bored. 

I maneuvered my son in his general direction and then started telling him about some of the stuff on the plane. There is a nose cone on the plane that is held on by a single slotted screw. I told the boy that if you took that screw out, the whole back end of the plane would fall off if you didn't have the special cart in place to catch it. He gave me one of those looks where he wasn't sure if I was trying to fool him. Gotta give credit to the pilot. He had overheard my BS session (as I hoped he would) and backed up my story! He also told us why the Canadian version of the F18 had a tail hook when we both knew that Canada is fresh out of aircraft carriers. It is apparently cheaper to take it with a tail hook and all the hardware and doodads that go with it, than it is to manufacture the plane without those parts. Go figure...:nerd:


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## Ariens hydro pro (Jan 24, 2014)

If that fell off the blower the only spot I think of is the dash, All the other bolts are bolts and not tightened down with a screw driver.


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## Motor City (Jan 6, 2014)

It seems like most fasteners Ariens uses are yellow zinc plated. I think Kiss4afrog might be on to it being from the shipping box at best. But its highly unlikely off your machine. Did they deliver the machine to you, and it fell off the dealers truck?


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## bkwudz (Jan 14, 2013)

That’s 99% not from the blower, might be from the steering box on you wife’s car😂


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Given the length, at 4" long, I'm putting in another vote for it not being part of the blower. I don't have that model, of course, but I'm struggling to think of anything on my Ariens that uses a bolt that long.


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I also don't believe it's from the Ariens machine but wanted to check with the experts here.


As noted earlier, I haven't had any other pieces of equipment in that area of the property in a very long time. Certainly not a car or truck. I have had our Case 580SK in that area but it's from 1994 and that bolt looks way too new for something that old.


I picked up the Pro32 from the dealer in my pickup, so it can't be from the dealer's truck. I suppose it could have come from the crate but I went over the machine rather well after realizing the dealer did such a shoddy job of assembly and didn't see any loose FOUR INCH bolts lying around {grin}. However, I suppose it's possible.


This bolt IS yellow zinc plated, and I agree most of the hardware on the Pro32 is too, which is another reason I thought it might be from the machine.


If it were a screw (meant for wood, with pointed tip) it would be easier to explain. I would imagine Ariens uses wood screws in the crates for these machines, not bolts requiring female threads. Or a wood screw might have come from any number of projects around here. But the fact that it's a yellow zinc plated machine SCREW, and Ariens likes those, and it's right where the Pro32 has been run lately, and nothing else has been there... it just feels like the blower is the source. Hopefully not!


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

The parts list diagrams would be one way to look for a long bolt. Or you could call the dealer. Or tip the machine forward so its standing on the bucket, and remove the bottom cover, to look underneath, into the belts and transmission area. Most of the "guts" would then be visible.


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

RedOctobyr said:


> tip the machine forward so its standing on the bucket, and remove the bottom cover, to look underneath, into the belts and transmission area. Most of the "guts" would then be visible.


Yep, been under there when I first got the machine (and discovered the bent/damaged retaining nut/clips as I documented in another thread, that made reinstalling the bottom service panel almost impossible). I didn't notice any bolts like this back then, but I also wasn't specifically looking. Lacking a garage and in the middle of snow right now, I'm kinda reluctant to drain the fuel tank and tip the machine and open her up again at the moment unless someone actually believes this bolt may have come from inside the mechanical space. My curiosity might eventually force me to look, though. {grin}


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Personally, I doubt it's from in there. But that's one possible "source". I close my fuel shutoff (don't know if yours has one), and put a plastic bag over the tank opening, then screw the cap on. For my Tecumseh engine, that's usually enough to avoid leaks, when tipping it up. It does help if the tank is under maybe half-full, so it's not just trying to pour out of the cap area. If you do have a fuel shutoff, close it with the engine running, and run until it dies, to use the fuel that's in the carb bowl, so that doesn't leak.


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## IDEngineer (Oct 16, 2018)

I've read through the parts manual. Lots of 1/4-20 bolts in there, some with hex heads, so it's the correct "type" of part. But the longest I found was 2.25in while this unit is a full four inches in length. I'll give the machine one more lookover but I'm feeling reasonably confident this bolt didn't come from the Pro32.


The burning question then remains: What DID it come from?!?


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Aliens. 

Shhhh. (furtively) They're looking for it.


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## guyl (Jun 12, 2016)

It fell off the Boeing 737 that flew over your house an hour earlier.


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