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

Hoping someone out there might have an auger shaft assembly they could sell me for a 2 stage 5hp / 22" width craftsman snowthrower. Model 536.918200 from the late 70's - early 80's. Originally made by Western Tool & Stamping for Sears.   It didn't do very well after sucking up a piece of concrete on the neighbor's sidewalk. I've looked at sears.com and they do have it listed, but the parts I need are no longer available. Thanks for any help!

Jon Davidson

Hey Millwright glad to see you made it over!  Good deal!

C

Is there a reason it cannot be straightened?

Good to see you made it over Millwright.
 Welcome jdavidson.

The auger shaft is 1" in diameter.  I've got things disassembled, the left side auger slid right off, but the right side auger will not budge from the shaft.  I also can't get the gear and right side of the gearbox off because of the stuck auger.   I work at the local school district here and have it at the auto shop at the high school, working with the teacher there so far we've tried to press it out in a 17 ton shop press with about 1200 pounds pressure, it did not budge.  Tried heating and pressing and nothing.  Tomorrow we're going to make a long lengthwise cut along the auger just deep enough to expose the shaft, and then try heating again and pressing.  Hopefully that will do it.   I'm looking for a replacement shaft assembly as a backup plan, if we can't get the auger apart without destroying things...  Thanks for all the replies!

With enough heat and a whizzer  wheel Fort Knox would come apart.

Have you tried any OPE parts places to see if they might have the parts you need?  I saw a post on another forum from someone looking for an old Sears snowblower gear which Sears no longer had, but was listed as available at Jack's Small Engines.  Some places that come to mind are:

http://www.rcpw.com

http://www.m-and-d.com

http://www.jackssmallengines.com

http://www.mfgsupply.com

Hello all,

    I have Craftsman 9 HP, 29" snowthrower. Recently, its Left Hand side Auger blade broke.
    Its welding came off where it attaches to the sleeve that slides over the shaft.

    I have ordered the LH Auger but now the problem is I can't get the Auger off. I removed
the 3 bolts on each side of the housing and the whole auger assembly was supposed
to come forward, so I can slide the auger off, but the if does not come forward. I could not
figure out if there is anything else I need to do.

Please help....I know Jon Davidson here successfully took one side off, could you please
help me here?

Thanks,
Manish.

jdavidson wrote:
If its mainly a bent shaft thats the problem after you get it disassembled, perhaps it would be easier to purchase a piece of 1 inch shatt & fabricate what you need. Keyways are easily & inexpensivly cut by a competant machine  shop  & any pins or bolt holes can be reproduced easily with a little careful measurement & time at a drill press. This might be more expedient than trying to straighten the existing shaft, & the possibility of getting it as straight as remanufacturing one is nigh well impossible, as well as the time & cost it could take to straighten it sufficiently. another factor in having a not true shaft is the excess wear and pressure on gears, bearings etc, from running out of true.
What ever method turns out to work the best for you, dont forget a coat of anti sieze on shafts/sleeves, & any fasteners. it'll sure help disassembly time should the need arrise again.

There are some augers for sale on eBay, you might get lucky.

To get the rakes off the auger shaft of  a couple of old Ariens machines, I had to slit them as shown, and heat them in a 40 ton hydraulic press to get them off.

I covered the slit with epoxy and painted over it to keep water out, and you can barely tell. Painful at the time but I now have a spare auger assembly as a result: once I replace the seals...