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

Would appreciate suggestion.  Newbie to snow blowing.

My craftsman has started and ran great for the last year.  Today, only half of the auger ("passenger" side) turns  when engaged.  The impeller is still working.  With the engine off, the "passenger" side will rotate nearly one revolution freely, until hitting a stop, which I assume is the engine.  The "drivers" side freewheels.  How do I fix this?  We've got quite a load outside.  Many thanks.  I'll reply with the model # if I can find it.

There is usually a bolt that runs through each half that is meant to shear in case it hits something.  Better for the shear bolt or shear pin to break than something in your drive train or engine.  Look at the two halves and you will see the bolts going through the augers.  The one on the side that is not moving is probably broken.

Thanks.  I thought it might be something simple.  I'll check it out and get some replacement from Sears.

Well, shear bolt replaced, but the augers have no power.  I took the front housing to expose the belts.  The front one is floppy, even when engaged.  Guess it is stretched.  I'll replace it and see what happens.  The impeller is strong.  Guess that is driven by the rear belt, which is still relatively tight.

Well, the belt being stretched was not the problem.  The auger still has no power, and moves slowly.  I ran it with the pulley cover off, and the belts and pulleys engage strongly.  There are two shear bolts in the auger shaft.  Is there another shear bolt between the pulley and the auger?

puck1263 wrote:
When you depress the auger drive lever, it should cause the idler pulley to press against the auger drive belt thus engaging the impeller/auger drive shaft.  When you depress the auger drive lever, does the idler pulley engage the belt tightly enough to spin the auger shaft pulley?  If so, is the auger drive pulley spinning?   If it is, does the impeller/auger drive shaft turn with it?   If not, the pulley may have a problem with how it's fastened to the end of the impeller/auger drive shaft.  Not sure if it uses a woodruff key or splines.  If the pulley spins and the shaft doesn't remove the pulley  to see why. 

Yes, the auger drive pulley is spinning nicely when engaged.  Not sure where to look for the auger drive shaft spinning.  The pulley is flat against a metal plate, so I suppose on the other side where the auger is?

If the auger drive pulley is spinning, look into the chute to see if the impeller is spinning.  If it's not, the impeller/auger drive pulley is no longer properly fastened to the end of the auger shaft.  If you have a manual and a bit of mechanical know how you should be able to fix it.  You will have to separate the impeller/auger housing from the chassis and find out what the problem is with the pulley on the impeller/auger shaft.  Could be something a simple as a missing key or set screw possibly a damaged pulley.  Now if the impeller is spinning good and fast, that means the pulley is fine.  The problem now will be in the auger gear case in the center of the two augers.  Either way, find a warm place and see what's going on. 

The impeller spins very well with the pulley, but still no auger.

It sounds very much like a gear case problem where the impeller shaft and augers meet.

Part of the problem description said the augers were turning ... slowly. This may be a problem in expectations. Relative to the impeller the augers are supposed to turn relatively slowly since they are much larger.

I would think that if there is a problem with the worm gear then more than a shear bolt would be damaged and neither auger would be turning. The only other thing I cna think of is that I've seen some augers that have 4 sections, two on each side, they require a total of 4 shear bolts.

looks like the impeller and shaft to the gear box are spinning...but the auger doesn't move.....so either this model (536.886190) has more than two shear bolts, or gear box broken I guess.

More than likely a gear box problem if your positively sure that the shaft to the gear box is turning. I took a look at a parts breakdown as per your model number stated and looks like your auger assembly is only a two part system not as Nibbler mentioned possibly a four part auger system.

Puck, in your original post you said that half of the augers turned, are you saying now that neither of them are turning or is it still just half of the augers?

Puck

If you depress the auger lever with the motor off ,spark plug wire disconected and tie something around the lever to keep it engaged (depressed) you then should not be able to rotate the augers by hand. .So if when you have it depressed and the impeller does not move and the augers still spin freely, both sides ,then you have  a gear box issue assuming you have shear bolts in place. If while depressed the impeller moves too then your problem lies in the area of belt and pulley .

clay,
Originally, the one side moved some, slowly.  Now, with the shear bolt replaced neither move.

If I engage the auger with the engine off, I can turn both augers , but the impeller does not turn, so I guess gear box.  I have both shear bolts in.

If you're lucky, there might be a locking pin that secures the drive gear to the drive shaft.  If it has sheared, you might just need to replace that.  So, pull it apart and tell us what you find.  Pay close attention to how it comes apart.  Watch for bushings, seals and washers.  Take some digital pics to aid in re-assembly.

puck1263 wrote:
Puck
Lets see some good pics of your problem before the fix.Best of luck,Allan.

Guys,
Not sure how to take a picture.  Any picture I take will look like a normal unit.  I think I found the cause of the damage, however.  It appears the previous owner used a regular bolt, not a shear bolt in the other half.

I took all the bolts out of the gear housing, thinking it would split in half so I can get to the gears, but it hasn't.  Any good ideas how to take it apart?

Puck,

Did you resolve the problem?  I have the exact same thing happening with my 3 month old Craftsman. One Augur spins freely (same side as yours).  I'm about to take it apart and i'm hoping it's as simple as a sheared locking pin.  Here's the link to my snowblower.

 http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B001JHWG1O/sr=1-4/qid=1233242236/ref=sr_1_4/185-2559315-2707731?ie=UTF8&searsBrand=core&mqnodeid=394759011