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

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???

So, I finally decided to take the plunge and drill out the hole to put in a piece of tubing. Toughest part was trying to drill the hole as true as possible to the original location. I think the outcome will be a trouble free fix.
Here is a shot of the completed repair with the tube tacked in place. The end of the tube is sunk just below the face of the bracket so it doesn't rub on the bracket arm.



I also ground off the weld on the original pin on the bracket, removed & replaced it with a high strengh bolt.



Now, you may be wondering why this part is yellow and the main body is orange? Well, I decided to go with a non stock color scheme, bright yellow for all the moving parts inside the tractor body and orange for the rest. (Kind of a safety reminder for myself) Haven't decided on what color I will use on the inside of the bucket yet, but the augers will probably be yellow (maybe black tips)
The restoration is still ongoing because we aren't getting much snow here and my trusty MTD is still serving me well.

Now that you have the tube in place. Are you going to cut the bolt longer than the previous rod and drill it for the cotter pin on the end to hold it in place?  I'm guessing there is
plenty of room for a longer rod. Yes?

Did you consider brazing the hole and then redrilling it? Or did you think that brass would be too soft for the purpose?

jrtebor - there is plenty of length for a nut on the end but I will shorten it a bit to make sure there is no interference. I'll use a nyloc nut so there will be little chance of it vibrating off.

tkrotchko - I did consider brazing & welding but I think this gives the shaft support along it's full lenght so there will be no re-occurrence of the problem and dis-alignment of the idler arm.

Cheers

A lock nut and washer will work great.  Your right that tube will keep it from ever wearing and keep it pivoting nice and straight as well. Nothing like having a welder.