# Shear bolt boss not flush with auger (HS724)



## ibid (Feb 10, 2013)

I was mostly done cleaning up from the Blizzard of 2013 here in the Boston area when I lost a shear bolt on my right auger. Trying to replace it, I see that I can't because the shear bolt boss is no longer flush with the auger -- and the gap is big enough that there isn't enough of the bolt protruding for the nut to grab. 

Based on the shop diagram, it looks like the auger may not be seated completely on the shaft, but I don't know what would cause that. Other than replacing shear bolts and standard maintenance, I haven't done any work on this and am looking for some guidance. 

Anyone have any ideas?

Josh Simons
Boston


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I have never used a Honda blower myself, but I believe the shear bolts are shouldered and one side of the auger has a larger hole than the other. Are you sure you are attempting to put them in correctly?


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## ibid (Feb 10, 2013)

On the Honda, the bolt head is on the auger side and the nut is held in place by the boss. I tried reversing them, but same problem. The gap is about 3/16" so the threads barely protrude at all.


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## snow80 (Dec 31, 2012)

ibid said:


> On the Honda, the bolt head is on the auger side and the nut is held in place by the boss. I tried reversing them, but same problem. The gap is about 3/16" so the threads barely protrude at all.


My HS80 has the shear bolt perpendicular to the auger shaft (and the bolt has a shoulder on one side). The shear bolt goes through the auger shaft. I think that's the design Shryp is thinking of. 

However, other Honda designs have the shear bolt parallel to the auger shaft. I suspect that's what you have. In those designs, the auger shaft is very short (which is good if it corrodes and you ever have to get the auger off the shaft). From your description, I'm pretty sure that's what you have. I've seen a video on disassembling the auger for that style, and what you describe would be the result of not fully seating the auger on it's shaft. You should be able to pull/tap/bang the auger onto the shaft to close the gap. Possible a C-clamp could be used to pull the gap closed, or a longer bolt could be used to engage it and pull the twp parts to9gether, then replaced with the shear bolt.

If none of that works, it's likely your shaft is very corroded.


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## snow80 (Dec 31, 2012)

Take a look here to see if part 13 is your shear bolt. When the shear bolt breaks, the shaft has a tendency to move relative to the shear boss. If it's heavily corroded, it can be very hard to move it back.


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## ibid (Feb 10, 2013)

snow80 -- thanks for the responses. Part 13 in the diagram is my shear bolt, as you guessed.

I managed to reinstall the shear bolt by removing the three bolts that attach the auger to the auger housing. I was then able to slide the auger further onto the shaft and bring it flush to the boss. It was difficult to reinstall the three bolts because now the auger assembly was not flush with the auger housing -- but it was easy to put pressure on the housing enough to catch the bolt threads.

It seems like my underlying problem is that the distance from the shear bolt boss to the inside surface of the auger housing is too large on the right side, while it looks okay on the left side. I don't see any sign that the auger housing is bent outward on the right side, so I'm mystified as to how the geometry changed enough to cause this problem.

The one other tidbit I'll mention is that while the manual shows that the shear bolt should be installed with the bolt on the auger side and the nut on the boss, in practice I need to install them reversed because there is a rim on the nuts that prevents them from seating correctly into the boss. They are Honda shear bolts and nuts -- maybe they sold me the wrong ones for my model.

In any event, I at least have a method for replacing shear bolts that works. 

Thanks for your help.


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## snow80 (Dec 31, 2012)

ibid said:


> I managed to reinstall the shear bolt by removing the three bolts that attach the auger to the auger housing. I was then able to slide the auger further onto the shaft and bring it flush to the boss.


I've noticed that my augers, although different from yours, aren't exactly centered either. I suspect the tolerances just added up to make it tricky to install your shear bolts. You found a good solution. I suspect you'll have to do the same thing again, next time the shear bolt breaks.


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