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,

 

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.