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

Finally got some tries at horsing the new snow thrower around with the few NH storms which have hit.  The largest storm dumped about 10 inches of wet snow on us. I couldn't wait to tackle the EOD to finally challenge the Simplicity P1628E.  I was extremely impressed. It was cutting through the 2 1/2 feet of hardened, caked-up EOD snow when the auger started to clang, clang, clang... Mind you, it still was throwing snow, but now making noise.  I stopped the auger and the sound stopped, so I brought it up the driveway into the garage where I could have a look.  When I got some light on the subject, there was the cause of the metal clanging sound. A three foot long piece of 1/2 inch rebar was wrapped (about 4 times) around the auger. I tiried to take the end and un-bend it, and I couldn't even budge it. So, out came the cordless reciprocating saw and in 3 cuts, it was free. Now to inspect the damage. Other than a few paint scrapes, there were no dents or damage. I started it back up and no ill-effects, and finished the EOD task...

My guess is either the snow-plow lost this piece, or a jealous neighbor has a twisted idea of a practical joke. Either way, it told me a little bit about the machine's ruggedness. What really surprises me is that it didn't snap a shear pin. Tells me the snow doesn't have a chance!

oakville wrote:

I had the same thing this year when I went to grease the auger shafts. Last season I hit a frozen news paper on the driveway,spit shreaded paper all over the place  and never broke the pins. I sure found out  what it had done to the shear pins.

Thanks... All good advice. I inspected the shear pins and they were straight and still shiny. I have a feeling because the rebar went straight in and resembled a coil spring, the auger never stopped.

The fact that clanging noise started, was just the end of the rebar banging... I may have invented a conduit bending tool! I agree. I was lucky...