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

I'm in the process of doing an overhaul/preventative maintenance on an early 1970's vintage Ariens snowblower; in particular, trying to free a "frozen" auger. One half of the auger spins freely on the rake shaft when the shear pins are removed, but the other half of the auger appears to be frozen to the rake shaft from corrosion. I am considering trying to remove the auger and rake shaft assembly from the blower housing, and then dealing with the frozen auger. Any suggestions or advice is welcome.

This topic comes up once in a while.  Don't recall the specific thread as I belong to a few different forums.

Perhaps this video could help some:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukLJWUZlyCc

Most people end up having to take a torch and heat the auger rake tube and expand it.  It is possible than since only one side of yours is stuck that someone greased them up for most of the years and it isn't too bad.  I have heard of people wedging 2x4s into both augers and twisting them or using pipe wrenches with an extension tube on them.  If you have access to a shop press that would be really helpful as some people have to use a press and a torch to heat them up.  In very severe cases you might have to take a dremel or small die grinder and slice a slit down the length of the auger tube to spread it out and release the pressure.  I was able to free mine by pulling the gear box out of the front bucket, removing the one auger that wasn't stuck, setting the auger shaft vertical on a set of jack stands with the heavy V shaped crossbar from the inside of the stuck auger resting on the tops of the jack stands, putting the bolt and washer back in the end of the shaft and driving it down with a sledge hammer.  If you decide to use the sledge hammer trick make sure to put the bolt back in so you don't ruin the end of the shaft.

Spray it down with plenty of penetrating oil on both sides and in the sheer pin and grease fitting holes and good luck.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions. I had already seen the youtube video you provided and was wondering about the kind of additional options you suggested. I'm the original owner and have been greasing the rake shaft periodically over the years (close to 40 years now!). I have injected new marine grease into all the grease fittings until it was oozing out of the shear pin hole and both journal ends of the rake shaft. I succeeded in loosening all the screws and fittings that hold the rake shaft/auger assembly in the blower housing this afternoon (apart from the drive connection). My next step is to remove the auger assembly from the blower housing and try your methods of loosening or removing the frozen auger from the rake shaft. I will need a second pair of hands for that job; hope to try that tomorrow.

Good luck.  If you need more help you know where to find us. :)

When you were greasing them over the years did you remove the bolts and spin the augers?  That is suppose to help distribute the grease around better.

Spinning the augers after removing the shear pins was a critical maintenance step I missed over the years; I discovered that yesterday after downloading and reviewing several maintenance manuals for my snowblower. It's why I did that check and discovered I had one frozen auger. It's also what inspired my summer overhaul project; better in June-July than in the middle of a Canadian winter!!

I've also replaced shear pins from time to time, and that requires aligning the auger with the rake shaft and typically requires rotating the auger on the rake shaft. However, purposely spinning the auger would do a much better job of distributing the grease around the rake shaft. The other factor is that I was not using a marine grease that is fresh and salt-water resistant. That's another bit of hindsight I discovered during my internet research. Now, if the Internet were here forty years ago....

The blower got a new engine in 2004; Tecumseh HMSK110. See image at URL below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/norvarg/5884841593/

That is for sure.

Making progress. Tractor subassembly is now separated from blower sub-assembly. Friction disk and drive belt have been replaced in tractor sub-assembly; both were severely cracked and worn. Next steps will concentrate on blower sub-assembly. See photo below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/norvarg/5891311055/in/set-72157627079486504

The youtube video at the URL below provides an excellent description of how to change the friction disk on an Ariens snowblower. It's by the same author as the video recommended Shryp above. I was able to follow the instructions almost to the letter and it was a breeze!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16wyIncM8Ls

Good luck freeing that frozen shaft, I hope you've been successful by now.
Yes, donyboy73 has uploaded a lot of very good how to videos for snow blowers. Helped me a lot when I was reinstalling a rebuilt card on my machine.

Cheers