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

So I thought my Ariens 1024 Pro was pretty much ready for service. But I just noticed that, on one end of the auger shaft (the one that goes left-right across the bucket), there is quite a lot of play between the shaft and the round housing with the 3 bolts going into the bucket. Almost like the bronze bushing for the shaft at that end is either missing, or worn down to nothing. I can see the bushing at the other end of the shaft, which just has a little play. But I can't see a bushing at the loose end, for whatever reason.

So I'd like to remove the bolts at either end of the shaft and pull both bushings, and probably replace both of them. Assuming this is the correct method to remove those bushings. But all the bolts on this machine (which must have been stored outside at some point) have been a big pain, and a bunch have just twisted off. So I'm really nervous about trying to take these off.

I sprayed them with PB Blaster, then also doused them with Liquid Wrench. I have some Kroil spray coming as well, which I will also try. I really hope this  will be enough.

But even the question of *how* to loosen them seems tricky. If I just put a wrench on the bolt, all that torque transfers into the woodruff keys holding the gear to the shaft, inside the cast-iron gearbox. I don't want to damage anything. Is it best to have 2 people, one at each end of the shaft, trying to loosen both bolts at the same time? That way you aren't really loading up the gearbox as much. I also wondered about trying to put a board through the augers, and turn the impeller until the board is tight up against the bucket, to try and take up some of the torque through the shear bolts, which can easily be replaced.

I know people here have a lot of experience with these machines, so I figured I'd ask. Thank you!

I would go with the turn both sides at once method to start and see if one comes loose. On a 24" bucket you should be able to do that yourself. I would then try to carefully loosen the other side without putting too much stress on the gearbox. My guess is they are not too tight, but don't go crazy on them. If it is stuck them you might want to look into holding the auger somehow. You should see 2 bushings, my guess is one is gone. I picked up a blower that seemed to only have 1 bushing up front and the other side was very loose.

Thank you, Shryp. I will try them from both ends at the same time. I'm going to let the penetrating oil, including the Kroil, soak for a while first. Hopefully that helps.

Good advice, thank you.

I have an electric impact wrench, but I get nervous trying it on bolts that are difficult to replace. It doesn't really do "finesse", it just pounds away at 240 ft-lbs, and something is going to turn one way or another.

I'll probably start with the "manual impact wrench" approach.

Usually they say an impact is more likely to remove a bolt and less likely to break it off vs manually removing it. Also an impact can be used on flywheel nuts and other things that will normally turn when you try to do it manually.

Yeah, it's beautiful for flywheel nuts. Some people say they have never broken a fastener with an impact gun. Sadly that has not been my experience, it's not magic. So I get a little nervous about using it in cases like this. The pneumatic type might be better, you could probably set them low, and let the repeated softer blows try to loosen it.

OK, I let the Kroil soak for a while, then tried blocking the augers with a board. I stuck the board through, and rotated the augers until they bound up against the bucket, with the augers turning in the direction that I was going to be twisting with the wrench. That is, it's different for each end of the shaft. This helped take the load off the gearbox.

I used a mallet on the end of a box wrench. One side was fairly tight, but the bolt eventually loosened, though the threads were dry. The other side loosened more easily, and the threads were wet, so the oil had been able to work its way down into those.

This is what the worn-out bushing looked like (it should be about twice as long as this, something just wore it away to nothing). Hmm, do you think I should replace it? Wow. The other one was pretty good, but I'm going to replace both. From peering in, the shaft and the support housing for the bushing both look OK.

I will do my best to clean up the parts (tricky with them still installed), then grease and install the new bushings. I might be able to remove the housings for the bushings, but their bolts are all rusted up, and for some reason Ariens used flat-screwdriver heads, rather than hex heads, making it tough to really apply any torque, especially when accessing them from the side.

Thank you all for your help!

Red October! Get yourself a jar of anti seize compound and dress those bolts before you reassemble them. . The stuff works like a charm!! Marc

Heh, believe me, everything is being liberally coated with anti-seize during reassembly :) If only Ariens and Tecumseh had done that when the machine was built initially, they could have saved me a lot of trouble.

The new bushings arrived. I bought them from eBay, from the seller with the quickest shipping (a storm is coming tomorrow). I think it said they were Oregon brand, they were compatible with the Ariens part #.

They turned out to be silvered-colored, not bronze, which struck me sort of odd. I presume it's fine, it's just not what I was expecting. They're still fairly light, similar to the bronze ones I removed, so they're not steel.

Anyways, I cleaned everything up, and greased the OD of the auger shaft, and ID of the bushings, with the snowmobile grease I have been using. The new bushings slipped right on, and significantly reduced the play in the shaft (especially at the end where the bushing was totally worn away). I put plenty of anti-seize on the shaft bolts.

I think we're ready for business again. I also sold my ST824 today, which worked out nicely.