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

Hey, I have had my 826oxe for almost three years and for the first time the two shear pins that bolt the impeller onto the shaft that leads into the auger gearcase broke. I never had any on hand because I was told/it is advertised there is no need for shear pins in these machines. And I couldn't get new ones when this happened because everything was shut down due to the storm. So I had to shovel! When the shop did open the next day they said it was common for this to happen, especially due to the high stress on the machine because the type of snow it was clearing(wet/heavy/hard packed and about 3 feet high). The guy said also that the shear pins in the auger do break on occasion. So I picked up a bunch of extra shear pins for the impeller and auger. I wish they had told me this when I bought the machine so I would have had them on hand for when they were eventually needed. Any other toro owners have this happen? If you haven't, and you don't have any extras in your toolbox I advise you to go buy some!

A fully threaded bolt is slightly thinner.

giocam wrote:

For the new machines they are now saying to use the 321-11 but if you look up your model by model & serial number I think that you will find it says 321-44 either bolt will work sorry if I offended you. And yes the 321-44 is weaker.

ajallen wrote:
Well maybe they were too weak which resulted in the change. Either way, I have the current bolts and that works for me..

After 4 years and about 200 hours of heavy operation, the impeller bolts broke on my Toro 826OE. I never found any obstruction -- was just throwing heavy, crusty EOD when I heard a metallic crack and the impeller stopped throwing.

The stock bolt (321-44) is a grade 5, 1/4 - 20 x 1 7/8". It is a tap bolt, meaning full threaded. This bolt is not too easy to find in hardware stores (mine only had it in grade 2) but I did find a 1/4 - 20 x 2" tap bolt at the local machine shop. The bolt had gold zinc coating and came in grade 8. I got 1/4 - 20 nylon locknuts in stainless steel and was back in business. Though the grade 8 is slightly harder, I'm not too worried about that. I put some grade 5s on order.

Also picked up some extra grade 5 auger bolts in 5/16 - 18 x 2 1/4". These have 1 1/4" smooth shank and 1" threads. They require 5/16 x 1/2" spacers and 5/16 - 18 nylon locknuts.

Toro doesn't really say that the bolts will never shear. They just say that shear-pins are not needed. It was less trouble to find fairly common bolts than model specific shear pins.

samdog wrote:

Hah, this is too funny.  My 4 year old Toro 826 OXE quit throwing snow today for no apparent reason.  (We have had about Two Feet of heavy stuff here in NY this month, but today i was cleaning up 1-2" of fluffy powder!)  No apparent "clank" or anything, although I think I did pick up a small ice chunk right when it stopped, luckily I was almost done.

So, I came here to the masters to see if this thing has a shear bolt just for the impeller before I even started my research or had a chance to look at it and this was right up at the top, Abby's OPE never disappoints.

Question, how can I be sure that this is the issue?  The impeller spins freely on the shaft right now without anything else turning, I assume this is the sure sign?  And I need to pick up 2 (and some backups) of these and it is no big deal to just thread them into the shaft?

Thank You,

Dan

daniel wrote:
yes u need new sheer bolts for the impeller... the Only thing that attaches the impeller to the auger input shaft is those sheer bolts..

niper99 wrote:

OK, new shear bolts from the local Toro dealer installed and she is throwing like a champ again...  I had some trouble finding the holes to line up, it is a bit tight back there by the impeller.  Finally used my electrical tester thing and knocked out a piece of the old one, can confirm it looks like it was bronze-colored and fully threaded.  I didn't torque it very much at all, as I was scared of deforming anything, is it ok if it is just past hand tight on there?

Now to explain to the wife how I spent $58 on two bolts..  (heh, of course had to get backups and for the auger, and some other things)

Thanks a lot everyone,

Dan

daniel wrote:
lol... snug is just fine on the sheer bolts

I don't know if this applies to all shear bolts but my owners manual calls for 11ft. lbs. as a torque rating for the shear bolts on my machine. Marc

mml4 wrote:

Thanks for the info!  I think 11 ft. lbs might be the margin of error on my $10 harbor freight wrench, but I have been meaning to try it out.  It worked great on the driveway today though even if it was only a couple of inches.

My owners manual just has 100 pages telling you not to wear a long scarf or stick your face in the augers in 50 different languages :)