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

Good Morning,

 I replaced both belts yesterday on my Toro what a job it was taking the traction belt off it sure is not as easy as the manual says or I more stupid than I think I am!. Because of the rod for the font tentioner I had to take all the bolt off one side & handel bar of the snow thrower just to get enough room to get the belt off the pulley. Not to mention the spring for the front tentioner which after finaly getting that back on with a tool I had to make there is some sort of break that Toro puts on the bottom of that pulley & of course the push nut went flying off then to make things perfect the Toro dealer a half hour drive did not have the belts but Napa did she even listed the parts numbers I had. Anyway there on but I have not tried her yet as I had to at leat get a few hours of sleep before going into work it looks like the old ones at least the traction belt was streched. I also turned the traction tentioner wheel around to center it on the belt as I guess being the new engine I put on her the wheel was out farther. So maybe when she ate the chain she streched the belt or something but will see today if I have more power but the way my luck is going I'm not to optimistic.

 Anyway I looked in side the drums & yes the shear pins were broke at least one I see the head but no bolt & am thinking the other is broke also but do see head & bolt Thank God the rust is holding them in because I don't think the Toro place will have them & were getting dumped on at least today the John Deere place is open & have better luck there. If not or just to be safe I'm going to order some on line it's by far the only way I can get half the parts I need.

 Thank you!

  Will,

 

So your going to use that grade 5 bolt as a shear pin? Or it approximates the dimensions of a shear pin?
Mine had grooves in it..
Tony

Thats whats used to shear the gear box

I copied exactly what came out of the machine ...provided by Toro...without their outrageous cost.

Good Morning,

 Thank you for the picture I doubt if my Toro place will have them but I do have a doctors apointment today & there is a farm & tractor store out there so I'm going to stop there with the part numbers at least I have them for the bolts! & they have helped me in the past . The primer bulb I have no part number for & can't even find it on the Briggs & Stratton web site but did find the model # yesterday for the engine & do have the old one.

 I did order 4 from Super X Power on the net but am worried now that I know about them that they will fall out!. I really have no clue what these are supose to look like hell I did not even know what they were or did.  But you are right they do cost once you figure in the spacers & all the other stuff.

 I guess in a way I'm lucky they are rusted in & then again in away I'm not but I do know I'm stocking up on them I only wish on the older Toros they did not have that big drum as they look so easy to replace on the new machines.

 Well we shall see today what happens I guess it really doesn't matter as she is sitting dead in the water cause of that stupid primer bulb I did glue mine not sure if that was right but it came back up & last night before leaving for work just hooked it up & it seemed to prime her. Anyway hopefully if I can find these bolts or pins I'll try to replace them today.

 Thank you all I guess you learn something new everyday to bad it cost!

  Will, 

You can get the bolts and nylock nuts about anywhere  Make sure they measure exactly the sam as the picture and make sure the head marking is exactly the same.  Dont buy a stronger gradeof steel.  The steel spacers are also important and you wont find them anywhere but at Toro or have some made at a machine shop.

70chevelless wrote:

With the primer bulb not working why can't you just pinch off the rubber hose that goes to it ( bent it in half and tie it so it doesnt let air in ). It will behave as if you have a primer bulb just not using it. Maybe !!!

As the name implies they are designed to shear ( break).

They act like a fuze for a mechanical linkage, if the load gets too high then the shear pin/bolt is supposed to break so that expensive damage doesn't happen to the rest of the mechanism. In this case it is the auger rakes, axle and gear box that are being protected. Better a $1-$5 pin/bolt than $100s for the rest of the auger drive train.

That's why you have to be careful about the markings on the bolt head, they are a code that says how hard the bolt is. If you use a bolt that is too hard then your auger drive train will protect the bolt by breaking instead of the other way around.

Sears sell shear pins in packages of ten for a few bucks. Much cheaper than Toro. I use the Sears shear pins on my Simplicity. No problem. They break when the need arises.

The drum augers on Toro machines don't use shear pins as one normally thinks of shear pins. They use regular bolts. If they are marked as shown in th eearlier post then they are grade 5 bolts. Don't use regular shear pins that fit an Ariens craftsman etc, they are not the same thing. Go to a hardware store  or O.P.E. and buy the correct size grade 5 bolt and nylock nut.

Toro's stance on using the bolts: with the drum auger you can't get anything of suffcient size to jam the auger. I know this because  Iwas surprised when I bought mine. That was the explanation given by the dealer.

A  cast iron water meter cover laying on the sidewalk sure jambed my machine and broke the bolt.  Luckily I found the steel spacer with a magnet.  Since then I had a half dozen made by a machinist friend.