Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Well I bought a 926LE new in the box from Home Depot taking advantage of the great savings.
I put everything together but found out there were no axle lock pins on the snow blower, and nowhere
to be found in the packaging. The store I bought it from is cleaned out of snow blowers and I would
assume the other Home Depots in my area are probably sold out as well ( I'll check tomorrow). 
The home depot I bought the snow blower did give me a set of lock pins when I went back
(Generic, off the shelf I guess) but they were small and didn't fit properly.

Of course here on Long Island we are waiting for the BIG snow fall this weekened so I'm short
on time for a solution.

If I can't find pins locally that fit do you think it would be OK to use shear pins for a temporary solution?
The extra set of shear pins that the snow blower came with fit pretty well in the axle.

Does anyone know of a dealer/repair shop in suffolk county Long Island that sells these parts?
I plan on calling Ariens, but I need parts now. I really don't want to sufffer through another big storm
with my old Toro S200.

Thanks.

My only concern with the shear pins would be them Shearing... Normal bolts would probably work. I dont see any problem using a hex bolt with an UNTHREADED shaft for the portion that would be in the axle.

Mike

You can put any old bolt through the axle to lock the wheel. The only reason they use pins is so that you don't need to use a couple of wrenches to remove them. Frankly, I wouldn't even fret about whether the shank was smooth or threaded if you are just talking about a single use. Any port in a storm, as they say....

Long term, a threaded shank will mess up the holes in the axle or wheel hub. I suggest that you just order the right pins and some extras through HD or the Ariens dealer, and locate some temporary regular bolts, in case you get a snowstorm. If the snow hits, you can install the bolts. If not, it won't hurt to wait on the right parts.

Of course you should NEVER put regular bolts in the auger shaft!

John Davies
Spokane WA

BBgarage wrote:

I agree with BBgarage, i don't see a problem whatsoever wih using regular bolts. Keep in mind there are two holes on the axle, putting the bolt in the inner hole will lock the wheel to the axle, putting the bolt to the outer hole will let the wheel freewheel.

Do not put both bolts to the outer hole, if you do the blower will not move. With the bolts in both inner holes both wheels will be engaged for best traction, however more difficult to manuever. I generally keep mine with one in the inner hole and one in the outer hole for easy manueverability, but sometimes if the end of driveway is too high I must engage both wheels. Use the blower for this storm with the bolts, then either have HomeDepot or Ariens replace the missing ones with original parts.

I think you'll be hard pressed to find an available Ariens machines in Home Depot in Suffolk/ I know Commack has none, Deer Parks has none either. I was in the Bayshore store yesterday (Friday) and picked up the last Ariens 7624 for a friend, they had three 926's left in boxes but the assembly crew was there to assemble and I'm quite certain those flew out the door very quickly. Just to give you an idea, I saw eight 7524 in boxes on Thursday, by Friday at 11 am there was one left. The weather report created the panic buying not to mention the 50 % off. I found the Bayshore store had the most inventory remaining at the time when the others sold out. That may be your best chance to get some, I highly doubt there are any left or that they even would give them to you since it would prevent them from selling the machine. Use the bolts for now and get the job done is by best advice.

I bought some some hex bolts this afternoon that fit perfect to get me through this storm.
I'll call Ariens on monday to have the missing parts shipped.

I have four Home Depots very close to me and not one had a single snow blower left!

I guess I should be happy just to have gotten one at the heavily discounted price.

The pins should have been on the axle in the outer hole. This position both wheels free wheel. You should have the pins there if not the wheels would fall off. You move the pin from the outside to the inside to lock either the left or right wheel for easier steering or lock both for traction. There should only be a pin in one of the holes on each side not both.  See fiqure 13 on page 16 of the manual. Hope this helps.