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

The first thing to do is to confirm where the oil is leaking from. Do that and get back to us. My neighbour thought that he had "blown" his snow thrower motor last season and sent it in for repairs. Problem was that the engine had been over filled and oil was being forced out through the crank case ventilation valve. You may be experiencing the same situation. Trace the source of the oil before you start taking things apart.

thanks borat... will do... I'll take a closer look at things tomorrow. quick glance it seemed there was an oily film around the auger gasket, but it could have been from something else. I'll check the vent valve as that seems to be common. As it was used the former owner could have overfilled it, but I thought I checked that when I bought it and thought it wasn't overfilled at the time. time to do some digging :) Cheers

thorn wrote:

I have found shopping parts as Husky versus Craftsman seem to be cheaper. You can then pick them up from the various online part sites. You might want to download the equivalent Husky manual to compare parts schematics. My machine is similar to yours but uses the 1450 series B&S.

Thanks borat and snowmachine, Well I literally took the whole thing apart tonight (from the carb to cracking the front end open) and the leak can only be coming from the gearbox assy as everything else is pretty dry... I spoke to someone at sears and they said to just use low temp gear grease as that would act as a gasket. Said it should get me through the winter unless I had already run the gearbox when the oil was drained. I didn't so should be good. Other thing I noticed is that there is some play in the auger shaft at the gearbox assy. I can move it up and down about 1/4 - 1/2"... I was at Sears today and there was no play in the new ones. Could it be that they just "loosen" up when used or is this a symptom of what caused the leak and I should just take the gear assy apart. Seeing as it leaked all of the floor I should likely do some work on it anyway right? (I'll look up the Husky parts too :) ) by belts are 408007 and 407908 I think the equiv Husky ones are TRACTION BELT: Part Number 179092 Cog-V-Belt AUGER BELT: Part Number 183533 I will double check with Husky dealer

That much play in the auger shaft is way beyond normal. It almost sound like the bushings might be missing or completely worn. That's probably why your gear case is leaking. You don't want to operate the machine if it's in that condition. I strongly suggest you fix the gear case immediately. If not, you might be in for some serious damage. How about taking a few pics of the gear box and posting them?

Testing to see if I can post the pics... do you just drag and drop or how do you post pics here? I found that there was some play in the right front auger bearing (looking at it from the front)... I think that's where my play is coming from. Will replace both since the other is likely messed up. Won't touch impeller bearing unless really necessary... Won't use blower until bearing replaced or will likely destroy gearbox even if I do lube the thing up again. why is it so hard to post a picture on this forum? I don't have the insert picture, but I will just cut and paste the link and hope it works. (having same issue as guy on Sept 1st in the how to insert picture thread... http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/25867-A-1.html http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy160/thorntcl/gearbox_zoom.jpg http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy160/thorntcl/auger_zoom.jpg http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy160/thorntcl/auger_all.jpg Gearbox has two plugs (yellow circles on left of gearbox zoom assy) Cheers 4th edit and I think I got it, but geesh... also why can't I format my threads? Everything gets ignored and just runs all together? Stole the code from another thread where there were pics... perhaps this will post pics now

ahhh ok, now I have the extended text editing capabilities... thanks to whomever adjusted that for me.

Update:  I have taken off the bolts to the gearbox assy and no fluid came out which means the fluid on the ground must have been from the gearbox assy.

I then found that the right bearing (looking at it from the front) seems to have some play so that is likely why the fluid came out as play in the bearing caused the gearbox assy to be forced open.  I will replace the front two bearings.  Tried to take the whole auger assy out, but can't get it to come out.  I believe I have to take the impeller pulley off to allow it to take the impeller and auger assy off...  I don't want to drill out the roll pin like others have mentioned as that would be way too hard to get at with normal tools...

Will try that tonight.

Cheers

Ok, so for an update: I finally was able to get all of the parts and the time to tear the whole blower apart. I replaced all bearings (auger and impeller), but there is still play in the gear box assembly moving up and down 1/2" or so) Had to use a bearing puller and some liquid wrench to get the old impeller bearing off. Also had to use jig-a-loo to get the new impeller bearing on. I topped up the assy with low temp gear oil instead of using gear oil. It seems that perhaps the gasket itself must be bad as there is still a very small leak of gear oil when it was fully topped up, but it just squeezed out a bit and then stopped. I will keep an eye on the gear oil to see if it leaks out, but it ran well and threw the snow pretty far...I'll just have to keep a supply of gear assy plugs so I can keep topping things up. At some point I'll have to change the gasket I suppose, but that seems pretty impossible to get the gear box assy apart. What do you do? Do you take the shear bolts off the auger assy on both sides? Installed new plastic sliders and a new impeller belt (old one had a nick in it)... Thanks for the help...

   If you have replaced the back impeller drive shaft support bearing (on the back of the intake housing barrel) and the two auger shaft bearings (each end of the auger support shaft attached to each side of the intake housing) then I don’t see how you could have a half inch of play at the gearbox.

 

Is the gray gearbox moving up and down ½ inch?   Is the auger shaft moving ½ inch?  What exactly is moving ½ inch?  For the whole assembly, gearbox and rakes to move that much the bearings must have that much slop but you just replaced them. 

 

If the pivot point of the movement is on the left facing side at the left bearing then moving the whole assembly enough to get ½ inch at the gearbox would be over an inch on the right side end.   That does not seem possible. 

 

If the flanes in the gearbox were that worn then whole auger axle would flop around so you could not throw snow. 

 

It is hard to see how you could have ½ in inch movement in the gray auger gearbox after replacing the side bearings.

 

For this part:

At some point I'll have to change the gasket I suppose, but that seems pretty impossible to get the gear box assy apart. What do you do? Do you take the shear bolts off the auger assy on both sides?

 

The time to have gotten the auger gearbox gasket was when you took the assembly out to get the back support bearing and the side bearings.  With that assembly loose you pull it out, take out the rake shear pins and slip off the rakes.  You can then unloosen the several screws in the gearbox and pull each half off the rake shaft.  It would have been good to get a look in there and replacing the parts not so expensive. 

 

I could not find an exploded view of the model number 944.527394 so not positive about the gearbox internals.  You can replace most parts with the rakes off and the gearbox opened up.  If the back augerbox seal is worn then you have to slip it on from the back i.e put on over the impeller drive shaft.  That requires taking off the impeller to get the seal in.  That’s assuming you have a single piece auger impeller shaft with a worm on the end.

 

With ½ inch movement in the auger gearbox I would not use the machine until that’s resolved.

Who the heck filed down those augers?

The plastic bushings on these units leave a lot to be desired. It may be the nature of the beast. I had a lot of slop too but it seems to have been mitigated by installing the Husky auger bearings on it. I know... I asked here and it was recommended against but I liked to tweak and tinker so went ahead with the mod. If it had some kind of auger support bracket that would probably help as well. I'll take a video of unit next time I use it so everyone has a base of reference for some slop in these units. Bushing http://picasaweb.google.com/audreyappliance/2008Craftsman145TorqueRatingSnowThrower#5274156118299089682 Bearing http://picasaweb.google.com/audreyappliance/2008Craftsman145TorqueRatingSnowThrower#5418162337376099938

I seriously have 1/2 inch play at the grey gearbox assy... If snowmachine had the same play then I'm ok with that. It is really sloppy for sure after all bearings were replaced and I can't see it being that great for it to not affect the worm gears or something in the gearbox assy...I might pick up those husky bearings. thanks for the info...it also has a 1/4 inch play side to side with the gear box assy. So I can move it up and down 1/2" and from side to side 1/4" along the auger shaft/hub... I put in low temp grease and so no leaks that I can see and I've run it about three times on a standard 25' long double car driveway... As I mentioned before I went into Sears to take a look at a brand new machine and they did not even budge. Yeah no idea why my machine model does not show up, but Sears Canada can find it without any problems :) Ok I can take the thing apart again. Pretty easy once you've done it. So it was the shear pins that I needed to take off...sigh... well that's not so bad... The manual is what snowmachine had from an earlier link...and like he said it is relevant even though not a Craftsman manual, they are the same machines except mine is a 13.5 305cc. Re: Craftsman 14.5 Torque Rating Snow Thrower, Model 917.881063 Reply #56 Dec 31, 2008 11:29 am Quote Service manual can be downloaded from here: http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Husqvarna_Service_Repair_Manuals/W0302001.pdf It says Electrolux but it is still relevant. Electrolux used to be the parent company of Husqvarna IIRC. Service manual stuff starts at about page 23 No idea what you meant about my augers being filed down :)

Here are parts I used for bearing conversion

Bearing- http://www.m-and-d.com/AY-411833.html

Retainer - http://www.m-and-d.com/AY-188170.html

I don't think side to side will be totally eliminated unless the latest Husky bearing model were used in third link below.

Here is stock bushing setup:

Here is bearing setup that Husky used last year. 

Here is bearing setup that Husky is using this year:

I would have had to drill holes for the extra shear pins if I had gone current year. I also don't think the flat side of bearing shaft would have extended that far into the auger with my model.

steverons reference of being filed refered to the outer edges of the rake teeth being shorter than a new rake.  They seemed to be filed down.

If skids are set too high or worn out the rakes can hit the ground and grind down the rake ends.  If a driveway has many hills or moguls then the rakes will touch when the skids are in a trough.  That puts a lot of wear on the auger support bearings and gearbox parts. 

Run your fingers on the sides of the blade by the forward edge.  If scraping the edge will push out metal at 90 degrees making a very sharp edge lip you can slice your finger on.   May be the prior owner ran the skids down or had the skids too high.  Check the bottom edge of the bucket.  If the skids are too high that will cause wear there also.  I've seen buckets worn 1/2 inch off the bottom.

you would think that the wear on the augers would also involve wear on the scraper but the scraper looks new. Unless it is new. Someone had mentioned in a previous post that it might be wise to put a support bracket from the gear case to the upper intake housing, similar to what Simplicity has. That might help reduce the flex in the auger/gear case assembly.

Thorn:

If you installed the bearing below then it should mate closely with the auger shaft and have very little play or slop.  It’s got two mounting screws so could have some play but should be minimal.  Between the two the amount of slop might be a 64^th or 32^nd but no half inch i.e. enough to let whole shaft and gearbox move ½ inch with two new bearings installed. 

Something is up.  Either you ordered the wrong bearing, they sent the wrong bearing, the drawing calls out the wrong bearing.

 

OR: since snowmachine had a similar problem it may be a design problem.  It’s also possible that things got mixed up in manufacturing and the build guys or documentation guys got something mixed up.  Whatever happened no one designs a rake shaft with that much slop.  That’s the ½ in slop.

 

It’s the same for the ¼ inch slop in the side to side direction.  I assume the shaft moves as a unit i.e. the searbox is not moving with the shaft not  moving.  That the gearbox and the shaft move together ¼ inch side to side.  If that’s right then there’s too much play there.  Again the bearing is not right.  It could be the shaft is too short and thin allowing the slop but that’s too hard to believe.

 

The resolve would be to get the right parts by going over this with the factory.  Sears won’t help much.  If you end up with you have all the “right” parts, that is parts that they say are correct and still have the slop then I’d go for snowmachine’s mods.  He's got a ballbearing and obviously a better match.  Using the machine as is will only lead to premature failure. 

 

There should be no mystery here.  The slop should be visible and it’s probably because the support bearing is oversized.  It should be tight.  If it was tight and mounts securely then you can’t have slop.  They have to be the wrong bearings for whatever reason.

trouts2 wrote:

I think the rake shafts are too short on this unit. I noticed when I swapped mine it seemed like rake shaft maybe resided 2/3 of the way into each bushing on each side. I would think it should be very close to the end of the bushing wall? The bearings I installed support it much better.

HTTPs://ouppes.com

...

after you repair it I would make a brace mabye an L bracket.  Honda had a big problem back several years back becuase they had no brace and they had a lot of broken auger shafts.  They came out with a fix , replacing the auger gearbox and added a brace.  now the last several years all Honda's come with it..

Knee_Biter wrote:

That's what I need to do... I'll probably go that route after the warranty expires.

I see, well the guy did have a super steep driveway so that might explain it. (house where the driveway slopes down to go to a garage below ground level...) That could explain that he caught things on the rake, but I didn't notice it. I replaced the skids with poly ones (after the pics were taken) just to be safe (save my interlock walkway) and the scraper is pretty much brand new. I will see if I can get the Husky parts and go from there. That L bracket looks like the answer to what I am looking for. Very good to see that. looks like it would fit nicely on mine. Just have to drill some holes to support the thing...any part number for that? Let me work on the husky parts first... The bearings listed above by snowmachine are not mine. Mine has the larger hole diameter, that looks like 3/4" or so, but mine is the same size as the auger shaft (1 1/4"). My part number in my manual and the parts I took off are 174658 for the auger bearing and 188909 for the flange bearing assy. I will take the old bearings to Husky to see if I can get some other parts... Cheers

checked the rake and it seems all good... the old auger bearings themselves are fine too after taking readings with a micrometer...same dimensions with new as with old ones... I may have to go with the L bracket after all... I found that the part for the Honda might be 76714-V03-000, but will have to check the dimensions... plus it's $50 so might be easier to make one on my own :) Off to Husky parts to see if that works first before the bracket... seems this used sb is not a great deal after all, but having fun learning from it :)

   The bearings snowmachine listed are replacement mod bearings so won't be your exact bearings.

   From your last two posts it looks like you have measured the new bearing to the old and they match. 

Thorn: Mine has the larger hole diameter, that looks like 3/4" or so, but mine is the same size as the auger shaft (1 1/4").

   How could the bearing hole be 3/4 and the shaft 1 1/4?

   If the bearing is a tight fit to the shaft so no play and the bearing screws in tightly and no play.  Where is the 1/2 in play comming from?  You have yet to locate or at least post where the play is comming from.  If you have both ends of the rake shaft secured to the bearings and those to the housing then the shaft can't move 1/2 inch up and down.  Where is the slop comming from?   If  the ends can still flop around putting a brace over the gearbox won't have a big effect.  How can a gearbox mated to a 1 1/4 inch shaft move?  It can't bend so it must be loose ends.  ??

trouts2 wrote:

The auger shaft and the bearing are the same (1 1/4")... the 3/4 inch was what snowmachine's bearings looked like to me and were the wrong part... hmmm sorry I thought I described it before. The play is right at the gearbox assy. It moves up and down 1/2" and it moves side to side about 1/4". The bearings themselves on either end no longer move... I picked up some steel to fashion a bracket. It'll mean drilling a hole in the auger housing, but better that then let the gearbox slop around...

I'll also take the bearing parts to Husky so I can match up the bearings properly and get the retrofit...

thorn wrote:

No sure if things are different but bearing I purchased for my 08/09 model year is the same model used in entire Husky lineup for 2008.

2008/2009 Husqvarna lineup

http://www.heavydutyturf.com/husqy/2008SnowBrochure_Consumer.pdf

Parts manual for top of the line model for that year - 1330SB-XLS

http://weborder.husqvarna.com:80/order_static/doc/HIUS/HIUS2009/HIUS2009_532423518.pdf

Thorn, I don’t mean to be pushy or beg the question and if you don’t want to respond ok.  I’m just puzzled how you can have a ½ inch of slop at the gearbox.

 

 If the bearings hold the single piece auger shaft in place that bar won’t go up or down.  Any bending would be thousandths of an inch. 

 

If the gearbox can go up and down on the fixed in-place auger shaft there has to be slop in the gearbox itself.  The drawing show a flange bearing whose thickness if worn top and bottom would not make enough room for ½ inch movement.  The bearing and the case itself would have to be worn to get a half inch of movement.  They wear in a oval so for a ½ inch of movement there would have to be a big oval on each side of the gearbox.   

Also, just say you had those big ovals.  The auger drive shaft would not allow the gear on the auger shaft to push up the spiral on the auger drive shaft as the drive shaft has it’s own bearings which would have to be worn and even wear into the case to allow the ½ inch movement from the push of the gear on the auger shaft.  How is it possible for the gearbox to move on the shaft?  Or put another way where is the play that allows the gearbox to move?

Think of the gearbox internals: The shaft has a keyed gear on it so in contact with the axle.  The gear touches the spiral worm which is on the auger drive shaft.  The auger drive shaft is held in flange bearings in the case.  I just don't see any room for movement unless parts are worn by 1/2 inch to allow it.  Very confused.

Have to agree with Trouts. To have that much play, indicates that something is seriously out of whack. Installing a bracket might help reduce the amount of movement of the gear box but, I'd be concerned about the gear box internals. With that much slop, something isn't right and sooner or later, you will likely have serious gear box failure. I'd be tearing the entire assembly apart to find the problem now. Otherwise, the whole thing could let go at the least opportunistic time.

My guess is with a half inch play it should be fairly easy to zero in on the problem.

I need to check mine next time at cabin since there is still some slop but significantly less with the bearings. Do you think the auger shaft might be slightly undersized for the auger/rake assembly and as it spins it mildly shifts on the shear pin? As shear pins are offset on each side it causes a mild sloppy rocking? Just a thought

ok well I am not sure how I still have the 1/2" play, but I do... it does seem I am going to have to take the assy apart itself as you are right. Putting the bracket on will only delay the inevitable failure with the gear box assy later. Must have been some damage inside the gear box for that slop to still go on. That being said I do think that the husky bearing retrofit will help in keeping the auger shaft more horizontal. Also all other brands (saw some John Deere's at Lowe's this weekend and they have a rod bracket) seem to be using a bracket on their snow machines so there must be an inherent flaw in the design. Thanks for the links snowmachine... I'll bring that with me to the parts guys. Cheers

snowmachine wrote:

thanks sm, I'll check the shearpins. Perhaps they're super loose or something. The impeller shear pins were fine when I took it apart, but I did not check the auger shear pins. Maybe this has been like this since I bought it, but did not notice until the gear oil leaked out to start all of this... Cheers

thorn wrote:

Thorn I seem to disagree with your statement. The blowers that have a bracket are usually the more powerful / larger machines with a wide bucket and therefore need to support the gear case a bit. Its not that they have up and down play but rather to keep auger shafts inline under stressful conditions and to avoid damaging the internals of the gear case.

thorn wrote:

The impeller shear pins were fine when I took it apart. ???????????? Have not seen those. Am I missing something ????

hirschallan wrote:

This is a JD 28" wide blower with a support. Same size engine (13.5 B&S) as mine with only an inch wider casing. http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/HO/product/productlargerview/HO_LP1695441_LargerView.html http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/HO/servlet/com.deere.u90785.cce.productcatalog.view.servlets.ProdCatProduct?pNbr=LP1695441&tM=HO&link=enav# I do understand what you're saying and what it seems like that my problem is actually the internals of the gear box assy were damaged because of not having a bracket in place. I removed the shearpin bolts off right at the very beginning to see if I could pull of the auger shaft, but then realized that I needed to pull the impeller bearing assy off to get the whole thing out.

The impeller hub shear bolts are called Capscrews as well They go right into the impeller hub 1/4-20 x 1 5/8 - 2 of them. part number in my manual is 74780426

hirschallan wrote:
#10 in this picture

Ok, went into the Husky repair guy and both of us had a look at their existing used ones they had. Many of them had the same amount of play I did on mine. He said it was actually normal for them to have some play after they were used for a while. So that means to me that the only thing that could be wrong that started all of this is that my gearbox assy gasket went... So thanks for everyone's help. Knee-biter has an extra bracket that I am going to buy from him since it will cause some more peace of mind and I ordered a gasket from the Husky guy for $4... The Husky guy said he didn't want to sell me the $50CDN bearing kit as it might not solve my problem and really not necessary. After looking at similar snowblowers I can see that it would likely be a waste... Thanks again for everyone's help with this... guess I was just way too worried about the assy. I will keep an eye on things, but for now I will go back to just using the thing :) CHeers

Were these used Husky's both bushing & bearing models? thorn wrote:

good question, no they weren't which may mean the newer ones don't have the same slop because the bearings are fixing them :)

I think a majority of the 2008/2009 Husky lineup had bearings...aside from the lower end homeowner models. 2008/2009 lineup here

http://www.heavydutyturf.com/husqy/2008SnowBrochure_Consumer.pdf

There was some transition in 2007 since I saw a thread here about someone going to HD to buy a Husky and those models having bushings versus bearings. They contacted Husky and were told the product line was in transition. This was early 2007 IIRC. I will "safely" take a video next weekend when I goto my cabin of my auger in motion. You can then compare if it is better or worse than what you currently have. thorn wrote:

Message #9 in this old thread talks about it---> http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/20732-0-1.html

Even low end 924SB has them for 2009/2010 even though representative picture shows bushing models.

http://www.husqvarna.com/us/homeowner/products/snow-throwers/compare-snow-throwers/

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

The camera is bouncing around while you are making the parts move so fuzzy. It might be better to put the camera on a box a feet away the shake the parts.

When the video first starts you push the left rake to the right. The right rakes moves at the same time so the axle is sliding through the gearbox. The gear could be sliding on it’s key which is probably parallel to the axle but is that doubtful. The gear is probably moving the same amount with the axle inside the gearbox. With that much movement inside it would seem there are no or not enough thrust washers to full up the case. It probably has a flange bearing, thrust washer, gear, thrust bearing and flange bearing with lots of spare room. Maybe the gearbox could use an added set of trust washers.

Last week I put together a Snapper drive shaft which was a little unusual than most. The auger pulley is pinned to the drive shaft at a fixed spot. The drive pulley rides on two roller bearings (not pinned) mounted on the drive pulley. To make the distance of the drive pulley come out right so that the friction disk can be brought against it when the clutch is engaged a series of washers are required to bring the drive pulley to the right position. I rebuilt it with to the factory drawing with new parts ordered from Snapper. When put together the clutch at full adjustment could not bring the yoke with the friction disk close enough to meet the drive pulley (on these machines the drive pulley face is the drive plate). After taking it apart, checking the parts and drawings then putting it back to together again the distance was the same and the drive would not work as before. The drawings or parts callout had to be off. I added thrust washers to fill up the void and got drive. That of course bothered me so I brought the whole assembly to the dealer and asked for his view. He said the drawing was off and the parts callout of 4 spacers wrong. In the drawing at least one of the spacers had to be wrong as the spacer called out is for a half inch spacer fitted onto a ¾ section of the shaft (the shaft is stepped ¾ to 1/2). I looked at two other close model drawings that use the same shaft and pulleys and they had different spacer and thrust bearing callouts. I know the thickness of those parts and think those drawings are off also. It’s not impossible for drawings to be off in important areas.

That might account for the slop left and right on your machine. Possibly the gearbox got built to a drawing with an error. You might need two thrust washers on each side of the gear or a thicker washer. The gear could be wrong, not thick enough or made without a sholder. Who knows, it could be many things. When you moved the drive shaft left and right the back end by the impeller is somewhat fixed but the parts inside holding the spiral have to have enough play to allow the gearbox to move, i.e. the drive shaft at the spiral end inside the case. The drive shaft flange and the front flange are not tight enough to prevent that movement. It’s either a poor fit or they are now worn allowing that movement. It could be a too small diameter spriral.

As mentioned above the axle movement seems to be allowed because it’s too short or not pinned to better tightness. Some slop is expected. The rakes move on the pins but that’s usual also. It seems like the intake area has a few factory build or design problems. Since they handed you a lemon I’d hand them back some broken parts just before the 5th season started and your warrantee was up.

Thanks for info. We'll see where things stand at year 4.... so I plan to just run it until then. Here is parts breakout of that gear case.

http://tinyurl.com/ykvyl8s

Sorry about camera shakiness... I was using my iPhone.

   The gearbox has the usual parts nothing weird in there and basic. 

    The auger support bearing is a flange bearing not a roller bearing which is unusual these days.  It's held on with two bolts which might be better with three or four which is industry standard.   

   There should be no impeller wiggle if you grab the drive shaft at the impeller and try to move the shaft.  If it moves then two flange support bolts may be loose. 

trouts2 wrote:

She might be a lemon but it sounds like the whole family is dysfunctional... even the estranged Husqvarna and Poulan cousins. :-) I still have a lot of fun with her though. I'll probably pull the auger pulley off in the spring to check on those flange support bolts.

Almost a year later.  How did we make out with this problem??

Slop or original thread leak issue?

both

I haven't done anything on mine in regards to slop. Mine doesn't have any leaks. After looking at all the other clone models in other Youtube videos it appears they all do that. It's turning out to be a hard winter here so we'll see if this winter affects reliability at all. I have to dig out of 3-4" of snow next weekend. Look at about 1:45 in this Youtube video. Here is a new Husqvarna doing the same thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ7HWDBuWf0

Correction on snow to dig out---> 3-4'