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

The copper grounding rod for my home elec system sticks up about 3inches above ground next to my side-yard walk. I caught my augur on it severely bending the augur on only one side of the differential 4 or 5 inches outside its normal dimension just as i finished clearing our most recent 8" snow cover. Its connectionn to the differential on one side and to the augur box bushing seem unaffected by this bending event. It seems to rotates ok w/o banging anything but probably will be less efficient clearing snow next storm. If I remove it from the augur box can I perhaps get it back somewhat close to its original shape by putting a propane torch to it and hitting it with a 5lb hammer? Or is there another way? Is it difficult to remove just one side of the augur blade?

you shouldn't need a torch and i would not reccomend a hammer.  you can either get a pry bar in there and try to bend it back or try a large adjustable wrench or pipe wrench to straighten in out.  

Agreed .. pry bar/adjustable wrench/or pipe wrench should work!!

use the side that's not bent to measure and compare the side your working on. you should be able to measure along the auger flite and measure and mark increments and dimensions for reference.

What ever you do is, if in fact you remove both right and left augers make sure you put them back the same way. If you reverse the augers you be pushing the snow away from the impeller instead of bring it into it.

Wear welding gloves or something heavy and long in case you slip.  And take out the spark plug to relieve compression.

I once did some bucket straightening with a 24" pipe wrench.  Was simple.