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

Have a 10 year old Ariens 824, model 924082. During Sunday’s snowstorm halfway through cleanup the auger stopped turning. I did not hit anything or was there a jam. The impeller works fine and the shear bolts are good. The augers turns turn freely, both locked on the shaft. If you turn the impeller the shaft turns going inside the gear case but the augers don’t turn.  I know the augers should not turn by trying to spin them, only way to move them is to turn impeller, but mine spin freely indicating a problem within the gear case. I am hoping it’s only the pin that holds the gear onto the shaft.

Now my dilemma, I cannot pull the gears case assembly out because the collar( hub) that the auger pulley is bolted to is frozen solid. It must be removed to enable the whole gearcase assembly to be pulled out from the front of the bucket. I did remove the pulley from the hub to have more room to work.

I have spent 8 ½ hours today trying to get the hub off the keyed shaft. I soaked for hours with penetrating oil, used a torch with Mapp gas and still won’t budge a fraction. Our good friend Majorxlr8n (Marty) emailed and told me to do the following:

“If the auger shaft bearings are on the OUTSIDE of the auger casing, then all you

have to do is remove them from both sides. The next step is so simple - to pull

the augers & gearcase out, spin the impeller shaft either clockwise or

counterclockwise. The whole auger assembly will “walk” off the impeller shaft,

and VOILA - its all out!”

I will attempt this method on Thursday. I still would like to get the hub off just in case I will need to replace 
the shaft with worm gear and the main gear that meshes with it. Sadly enough my Ariens parts manual shows
the shaft and gear must be bought as an assembly (73.00), even though I may only need the gear. 
If the shaft must be replaced and I can’t get the hub off my last resort will be to use a sawzall and cut the shaft 
close to the hub, once I get the hub off, I may be able to pound the cut shaft off the hub using a vise. 

Does anybody have a suggestion of what else I can try to remove the frozen hub, perhaps there is a special tool that can get it off.

Just thought I'd let you guys know that the job is complete and reassembled. Received the parts yesterday after waiting 1 week for the local Ariens dealer to receive the parts from Ariens. Total cost of the rebuild was about 160.00.

I went a bit overboard and painted the inside of the bucket with 2 coats of orange, then two coats of clearcoat. Did the same for the auger (black), also put in 4 brand new grease fittings on the auger. Assembling the gearcase was quite easy, I let the sealant dry for 24 hours before adding the grearcase oil. I tested this afternoon by rotating the gearcase 360 in all directions concentrating on all the seals. Happy to say not a drop of oil leaked. I added the 2 1/2 ounces as Paul instructed and was surprised so little went a long way, I guestimate the level  to be halfway up the bronze main auger gear. This serves as a windmill, picking up the oil in the teeth then distributing it to the worm gear, neither is fully submerged.

Ariens owners manual has a rather absurd way of checking oil level in the split aluminum casing. It states to make a mark 16 1/2 inches parallel to a level floor. Remove the oil filler plug and wipe it dry and replace finger tight.. Then slowly lift the handlebars up (with all the weight) until the mark is seen at the top of the auger/impeller housing. Count to 100 while holding that position to insure the lubricant has the time to seek a stable level. Return the snoblower to its level position and remove the plug to determine if the plug has been wetted by the lubricant.

Well they lost me when it said to lift and count to 100. At my age I'm lucky to lift a beer can and hold it steady, never mind a 230 pound snowblower. To avoid this unscientific way of checking the level, I drilled and tapped a 6/32 hole in a very specific location as not to interfere with the gear or shaft, I then made a dipstick out of 1/8 inch brass round rod and tapped it into a T handle with a collar on the rod to stop at a determined position. After assembling the unit and filling with the 2 1/2 oz of oil, I put the blower on a level area and inserted the dipstick. Got my level which just happened to be midway up the dipstick, then I cut a graduation mark on the rod exactly at that oil level. This will be my reference point for all future oil checks, very easy and fast. Just remove the allen screw and insert the dipstick, I can even add oil using a syringe into the 6/32 tapped hole without ever having to remove the main plug.

I lubed all shafts and hubs with anti seize compound, all parts move better then new. I only wish the snowblower companies would use this lubricant on all critical locations that someday may need to be disassembled, a little oil will not get the job done, it will rust and freeze and become quite a chore to remove. The job would be very easy if it were not for frozen drive pulley hub, impeller, and augers. Fortunately for me, my augers were well lubed and came off easily, others may not be that lucky.

My special thanks to Paul Koltz (snowmann) of Ariens with the valuable information he provided, and to my buddy Marty (majorxlr8n) whose emails were very helpful in my successful endeavor.

itzbinnice wrote:

Hi Will,

A bit overboard, I don't think so.  That's the best way to maintain your snowblower  I'm glad to see there are still individuals that would take the time to stop rust and corrosion in their tracks, giving their machine a few years back.  As for that absurd way of checking the auger gear level, what ever happened to the good 'ole days when you fill it just before the point of overflow?  For that much money, I'd hate to know what a dealer would have charged.  Great job

GREAT JOB WILL!!!! I'm glad to hear you got this all buttoned up! Post some pics of your handiwork as I'm sure many would love to see it.

Trust me guys, Will does some FINE work & is a sticker for DETAIL...

Marty