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

I just used my 1350 for the first time (bought used about a month ago, but only a year old)... 944.527394 (well the model doesn't show up, but that's the right number - it's a 27 inch OHV B&S 1350 series 305 cc machine) It snowed about 5 inches of snow a couple of days ago and of course I had to deal with the snowplow "droppings" at the end of the driveway. It went through it all pretty good. Good shooting of the snow and no problems with things when I was blowing the snow. I come out to the garage the next morning and I thought 5 or 6 dogs took a leak on my garage door from the pool of yellow liquid I saw. I open up the garage door and see this pool of yellow liquid under the front of the blower and going out and under the garage door. Question, would this be the auger gear oil? It says it takes Ronex ED #1 (Extra Duty) and I think it is yellow in colour, but wow that just baffles me as to how much was there. After that there seemed to be some light green liquid there too. Maybe the other guy coated it with something, but I'm afraid to start the blower for fear of destroying the auger casing. No gas smell and the oil level is perfect at the fill level... Before I start taking things apart, I'd appreciate some input as to what this likely is and what I need to do (new auger gearcase maybe, new auger gasket,) Also good place to get parts in Canada? I see that these are Husky machines, but not sure if Craftsman parts are cheaper than Husky or not. good info in these threads so hoping borat or snowmachine can chime in http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/32378-A-1.html http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/33989-0-1.html Cheers

Last "20 seconds" of this guys video on Youtube shows you typical stock movement of auger in these units----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnAOcOmoK2o

Here is a short video of my auger in action---> http://tinyurl.com/yemv6y3

   It looks like the machines of snowmachine, thorn and the belt change machine all are fairly new and have the same problem.  It’s got to be a design or build problem.  If I had a second hand machine that jumped around like that I couldn’t sell it to anyone.   The belt change machine sounds like it has some banging like it's 15 years old and had lots of service.

 

   When the belt change guy first starts his augers the gearbox jumps a half inch then seems to go in a oval.  It’s like it has side slop and either the rake axle is not long enough, rakes not pinned and the axle has a bend in the middle. 

 

   Snowmachine’s video is bouncing around so though to tell but it looks like his gearbox has the wobble also.  He’s got his shaft ends anchored and so does thorn.  It seems like the most likely thing is the rake axle is not straight and bowed in the middle along with side slop. 

 

   One possibility for the seeming oval movement is the axle is bowed and the two side bearings are not in the same plane with the center of the gearbox.  With a little slop that would make an oval.

 

   The machines all work and could last for years but it’s got to be taking a toll on the flanges and bearings.

I do have the 5-year Sears warranty so if it does fail in that time it will be covered. My blower use is probably far less than most visitors to this site so if I get 10 years out of this unit I will be happy. I will likely buy what is perceived as the premium unit at that future time. I know far more now than I did when I purchased this unit. This Electrolux/AYP design has been in production since the early 2000's so there is likely a 5-10 year service life at minimum. All the old service manuals I find show the same design.

EDIT: IMO: You will probably find most Husqvarna snowblowers with the same symptoms.

   I think that gearbox has been around for many years and a proven good design. Something fuzzy is going on to cause the wobble.  Installing a top brace might not be such a good idea.  Given the movement, forcing the gearbox to stay in place might wear the internals even faster.  It would want to wabble and can’t so put even greater pressure on the bearings, flanges and internal thrust washers.  

I have a Honda hs624.  A few years back while cleaning it I noticed that the gearbox could move if I grabbed it and put pressure on it.  I grabbed the fan shaft and was able to move it up and down aprox 1/2".  I thought this was odd as my Ariens is solid .   I then noticed that the newer Honda's had a brace.   Still I gave it not much thought.  Then I came across the Honda OPE service manual on cd rom. 

 While looking through it I noticed some service bulletins and started reading.  Honda had a problem with the auger shafts snapping in 2.  The Ariens uses a solid shaft going straight through the gearbox and augers to the bucket sides. So it is solid and firm. 

 Honda used a small nub as a shaft that only goes a few inches into the augers so there is flex.  After flexing or hitting some solid ice the auger shafts snapped.  Honda would replace the broken shaft,  Add a new gearbox housing with boss holes in the top and add a brace.  All newer Hondas have this brace.  I think flex is bad.  The brace should help him in my opinion.  When his gearbox moves it puts force on the busings, bearing and seals which could cause his leak.

 KNEE_ BITER wrote: I think flex is bad.  The brace should help him in my opinion.  When his gearbox moves it puts force on the busings, bearing and seals which could cause his leak.

If the fan shaft is warped and causing the wobble then I agree with you and that should be corrected.  If the shaft is true and the flex is from the force of the power being applied then the brace is the way to go.  I would think that the shafts are true where I see several doing the same thing.  Sounds like a thin wall where the ends of the augers mount,  A shaft that does not go all the way through, And force of power being applied and released causing wobble like the Honda was doing. 

I'll try to take some video today that may capture where some of the residual slop & play is in my blower.

Here is video of slop in mine even with bearings---> http://tinyurl.com/yk898xx