# Just got my first snow blower !



## Whitebassbenny (Apr 8, 2014)

This winter I was able to use my dad's extra 8hp snow blower for my apartment and acouple houses. I've been searching craiglist for awhile and found this craftsman 536886331 10hp 29" cut blower for $200. I washed it up real nice cleaned the carb and adjusted it all. Needs a set of skids and a scrapper bar but runs good now and the light works on it but was thing of putting a led on it. Just thought I'd say hi to everyone. 
Both wheels are frozen on. Any ideas on hot to free them ? Already tried big hammer and pb spray and a big 2x4 in between wheel and frame. 

Cheers Ben


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## BB Cub (Jan 10, 2012)

welcome to sbf. theres a lot of good reading on here and the guys are very help full. gayland


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

hello benny, welcome to *SBF*


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

ALOHA to the forms.. you will have to soak them in PB BLASTER. works good. get a dead blow hammer 24-32oz. and go to town on them things..


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

some pb blaster and a little bit of heat if you dont mind repainting the rims


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Welcome*

Welcome to the forum. Congrats on the blower, looks like a beast
Before I'd started soaking things down or hitting it with heat, I'd do some investigation. 
Try some penetrant like PB Blaster or Kroil first. I've bought a few machines that the wheels were rusty on the hubs (you did pull the bolts - right?).
They don't come off quick but most did, though it make days of treatment and swearing to get them off. I had one though that was so bad I ended up having to cut the hubs off the axel. When you get them off, use some antiseize on the axel where the wheel goes prior to putting them back on, it will save you headaches in the future.


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

when i got my toro 824 3 years ago, the first thing i did was pull the tires off and greased the axles. i mentioned the heat because the heat will help to spread he pb blaster in between the axle and will help it go in deeper, dont forget to pull the pins


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

While you're doing this you might as well check the augers to make sure they aren't seized to their shafts too  If you wiggle them or pull the shear pins the augers should be free on the shafts.

What I've had to do on tillers and blowers is to let the air out and remove the tire and tube if it has a tube. That way you can heat it as was mentioned earlier and when heating you want to shut off the torch and let it start to cool a bit before you start adding penetrating oil. +1 P.B. Blaster or Kroil. The cooling action is what will suck it into the joint.

Without the tire in your way you can also use a big three jaw puller to help apply some force as hammering on it is just bad. Some time it's the only way but any time you can avoid hammering it's a good thing as you're hammering on the wheel you're also hammering on the axle bearings or bushings.
If you don't have a big three jaw puller an auto parts store usually has "loaner" ones available. You buy it to take it from the store but get a full refund when you return it. Just don't grab a new one off the floor or you'll own it. Ask for the loaner tool.

2X4 against the body will likely only bend the body so be careful with that one.
.









I have a Troy that needed skids and I found Ariens skids on the shelf at Home Depot. They were double sided and much thicker than the TroyBilt skids. Just need to paint them now that it's warm.
I have gravel so the metal skids are good for me but if you have concrete or asphalt you might want to consider the plastic ones. They don't leave runner marks behind the way metal will.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

A popular thing to do with equipment with seized wheels that is still usable is just to removed the pins / bolts locking the wheels to the axle and then use said equipment until the wheels fall off. Obviously, that doesn't work if you need to get it apart to fix something that prevents use.


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## craftyman (Jan 25, 2014)

DO NOT pull the pins on a craftsman and use it. it could cause the axel shaft to walk and the wheel hubs keep the shaft centered cause that is what the chain gear is on and you could cause more damage. you have a similar blower to mine, there is a plastic sleeve between the wheel hub and the axel (spacer). rust forms on axel and hub causing everything to jam. penetrant may help but when I needed to remove mine to replace some parts and good dead blow hammer and a bit for brute force and ignorance it eventually came off. hit it from the inside, then out side work it back and forth and it will come. make sure you use and dead blow or rubber maul, a steel hammer will not transfer force and will destroy your rim.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

If a gear puller can be attached to it securely (onto areas that can take the load), I would give that a shot, vs just whacking it with a mallet. 

I was trying to get the auger impeller hub off my machine recently. Using a deadblow mallet didn't get me anywhere. Admittedly I didn't just pound on it. The reason was what Kiss4aFrog mentioned. I was also transferring the load to the bearings, the auger gearbox, the bucket housing, etc. I was afraid of damaging something expensive. 

The gear puller (edit- borrowed for free from AutoZone!) worked beautifully for me. It pulled on the hub, and pushed on the shaft itself. No load was transferred to other items. I'd put Kroil on several times, heated it with a propane torch, and started cranking on the gear puller, and it came off. 

If a gear puller can't reach to the edge of the hubs (I don't know what yours look like), you might be able to drill some holes in the hubs, and use a harmonic balancer puller, with the bolts slipped through those new holes. I'm picturing the hubs on my Ariens, yours may be totally different, of course.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Gear puller*

Something like this might just fit your situation: 14 Piece Gear Puller Set


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## threeputtpar (Jan 16, 2014)

For the frozen on wheels, first look inside the frame and see if the gear on the shaft for the wheels is welded on or bolted on. The last blower that I needed to get the wheels off of had the drive gear bolted on the shaft, so I just cut the shaft and remove the two pieces with the wheels stuck on.

Then I used a shop press to get the half shafts out of the wheels and made a new shaft out of 3/4" steel round bar. I just drilled holes where they were on the original shaft. Cost me all of $6 in parts.

This is assuming that the shaft runs through the sides of the frame like most consumer level blowers do. In the case of my Powershift, the shaft is outside of the frame so the whole unit just unbolts from the machine and I can take it over to the press and remove the wheels. That's what I need to do this summer and maybe repaint the wheels to get rid of the rust.


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

craftyman said:


> DO NOT pull the pins on a craftsman and use it. it could cause the axel shaft to walk and the wheel hubs keep the shaft centered cause that is what the chain gear is on and you could cause more damage. you have a similar blower to mine, there is a plastic sleeve between the wheel hub and the axel (spacer). rust forms on axel and hub causing everything to jam. penetrant may help but when I needed to remove mine to replace some parts and good dead blow hammer and a bit for brute force and ignorance it eventually came off. hit it from the inside, then out side work it back and forth and it will come. make sure you use and dead blow or rubber maul, a steel hammer will not transfer force and will destroy your rim.


I never had my wheels off of my Craftsman and when I joined here a few members suggested pulling the wheels.
I did last weekend while getting ready to put her away for the summer. 
Mine came off easy and I was surprised to see that plastic sleeve in there. I assumed it was made that way with the thought that it would help keeping rust from forming?

Do most snowblowers have this plastic sleeve on the axle? 

I had very little rust, what was there I cleaned up and I then put a light coat of grease on all.


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## tolona (May 9, 2014)

Sounds like a minor problem; i wish i had a problem like this...


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

A plastic sleeve will help but I've had plastic sleeved items that the metal on both sides of the sleeve rusted and seized the item to a shaft or pivot point. Recently had to take a torch to a JD deck as the tensioner arm pivot that has a plastic sleeve seized to the stud it pivots on. No tension on the belt, cut like a dull blade. A very dull blade.

You still want to pull the wheels and make sure they're clean and lubed once in a while.


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## Big Ed (Feb 10, 2013)

OK, do you really need the plastic sleeve in there?
Or is it OK to use the blower without them installed?
I am guessing that they act like a spacer too?

I wonder what happened to the original poster?
Never let anyone know what the outcome was?


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

On my John Deere deck I went and purchased a new sleeve after I burnt all the old one out. The spacing was more than I'd want in there. I would think the same with the wheel. IMHO - Unless it's just total crap and about to be tossed or parted I'd make sure to replace the plastic sleeves. It would wear much faster on the click pins and start to auger the holes in the axle possible causing the axle to fail. No clue if it would wear that bad in a month, a season or take decades but having the axle not centered in the wheel hub I can see where it would cause a problem.


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## Whitebassbenny (Apr 8, 2014)

No luck yet. Got some kroil and soaked it a lot. Just been super busy working 6 days a week. I'll have to try again to see if it moves .


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

And . . . on my new to me Murray that I just brought home this evening it has just such a sleeve on the left side only. It uses it on the wheel that the axle drive shaft is drilled so the klik pin can be moved and that wheel will free wheel. When I first took it apart I thought one was missing 
.


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## Whitebassbenny (Apr 8, 2014)

Tryed the other day again with a hammer and block of wood with no luck. Went a got a bottle jack and will have to try that now when I have free time. 

On the other note got a ccr 2000 for $30. Put on a new pull rope and cleaned the carb and gave it a bath and some extra paint. Runs great.


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## Whitebassbenny (Apr 8, 2014)

Tried the bottle jack. I had it ratchet strapped around it and only bent the wheels. Hope I never have to replace anything this year on it because I give up. Now next time I'm free it's time to see if the augers turns free. Also need different size bolts for axle sheer pins.


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