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!

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 :)