Hello all. In the process of rebuilding this blower and apart from replacing a couple of bearings, I found that the idler arm for the tractor section is really warn and causes quite a bit of arm deflection. It would probably run ok but I am concerned about premature belt failure.
In the photo below, (sorry for the bad focus) you can clearly see that there is a 1/8" grove worn in the shaft and the hole it goes into is also worn oval by at least 1/8 ". So, I'm open to repair suggestions.
I could weld up the shaft and regrind, but you need to be careful of the cotter pin hole.
I could also weld up the bracket & re-drill but it's tough to get to the back side.
I also thought about grinding off the welds on the shaft head & replacing it with another bolt of the same diameter, but I'm not sure of the clearance for a nut to hold it in on the back side of the bracket.
Then there is the deluxe fix by welding in a piece of steel tubing between the two tabs of the bracket. Then the shaft would be supported along the entire length & be much less likely to wear and the arm remain well aligned.
What say you???
This message was modified Nov 4, 2010 by GtWtNorth
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