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

my old  1980 Yardman let me down  while clearing  or so inches after work today.    It  started after about   6-10  pulls   it would sputter and black smoke would come out the muffler.   Anyway  it finally started and I i warmed it up and started to clear the drive   I made the first pass and punched through the EOD.  I turned the blower and put it in reverse.... Nothing!  it wouldnt move.  I tried all 5 forward speeds ans both reverse   but the wheels didnt move one bit.    Motor was running fine and augers were moving.  it was too dark to work on it tonight  .I ended up using my 4.5hp single stage to finish the job.   So what do you all think caused this sudden drive failure?  I will work on it this weekend   .What should I be checking. ?

FYI for those who dont know   this is a 5hp 1980 yarman  two stage blower.

Check the spark plug wire for chip and cracks

I got a chance to look at it today.  I tipped it up and opened the bottom cover......   out fell two  rusted sheared off 1/4 bolts !  (they hold the wheel to the axle)     All I had to do is  drive out the broken bits  and replace with two   new hardened bolts   with locking nuts. That seemed to do the trick. it took me longer to go to the hardware store to buy the 63 cents worth of bolts than it did to fix it.

john

snowshoveler wrote:
Hi Chris. Good call. I was just out to the shed before and noticed the wheel just a bit away from the housing again. Yep, pulled it right off. That pin must have sheared like you said it would. Looks like a trip to the local hardware store in the morning. Good thing they are open on Sunday. Right now it looks like a good snow fall coming Monday. 1/4 might be too big though. It was a 3/16 pin I put in, and that was a squeez.              Thanks for the info.      Kevin

Hi John. I guess we were posting at the same time. Glad you got it fixed. Nice to fix it for a few pennies, for what at first seems like a major problem. If you read my new post, the shear pin didn't hold. I'll fix mine tomorrow.
                                                    Have a good weekend,          Kevin

the pin you broke was in the wheel?

sorry i thought you broke the bolt inside ...the one that the gear is fastened to the axle with.

as long as you got it going ,thats the main thing.

looks like weather is on the way.

later chris

jgreen wrote:
Its been my experience that regular bolts don't work. I got a bag of locking pins from a local OPE shop. They have a ring at one end that can be rotated towards the other. You put the pin in through the hub on the wheel and then through the axle, rotate the ring and the whole thing is locked on. They seem to last a lot longer than any bolt I've tried.

snowshoveler wrote:

Hi Chris. It was the pin on the inside. It holds the solid left axle and the hollowed right axle together. You'll notice in the picture, at the top of the axle, where the pin goes in. You have to look close. So I take it I still go with the bolt and the locknut. I'll give it a try anyway. I think I got about 6 hours use before this one broke.
                                                                                              Thanks for your help,     Kevin

First off...........John and Kevin are talking about 2 different things.  Kevin's machine has a diff. and John's does not. 

Kevin: Sorry to hear of your bad luck? Do you have the axle unlocked on your machine?  If you don't, then the differential is not being used and you are having to work that machine much harder when turning around.  The reason that the roll pin broke on you again is that it can't take the torque of turning the machine around, ESPECIALLY, if the you have the clutch engaged when doing so.  If you unlock the axle and release the clutch to turn around, that pin should last you a long time.  Your differential will also be working then and making life much easier.  Believe me you will still get great traction with your machine if you unlock that right wheel.  NONE of my machines EVER have the axle locked, and I don't even think I  could come up with a time when we felt we had to lock one up for traction. 

Back in the day when I started doing driveways commercially, I always had the axle locked (for traction) and had to work so much harder at turning the machine around each time.  Mainly because my first machine didn't have a diff. so I didn' t know any better. I used to break that roll pin regularly, until my dad ( with the small engine business) "slapped me behind the head" and told me that I should have the axle unlocked and that would make life easier.  I didn't even realize what the diff. was supposed to be doing before that!   Found out that a little education goes a long way!  Now,  I still break one every once in a while, BUT, that is after several HUNDRED times of use.   You have to expect that when you use a machine close to 1000 times a season that things are going to wear!

BTW, Kevin, you will not find a bolt to fit in that spot that will last very long.  Small bolts like that will shear very easily.  Only a roll pin or a spring pin will fit.

Ken

OK. Now I'm confused.  LOL 
Anyway, I ended up just putting a new 3/16 x 1 1/2 roll pin back in the two axles.

"BTW, Kevin, you will not find a bolt to fit in that spot that will last very long.  Small bolts like that will shear very easily.  Only a roll pin or a spring pin will fit."

 Well, first of all, I could not find a #8 hard 3/16 x 1 1/2 bolt at the store. I guess they start at 1/4. I would have had to drill the axles out. Not so sure I wanted to do that. Thats why I just put the roll pin in.

Ken, My blower does have a variable-ratio limited-slip differential, but I'm confused there too. My left wheel has the large wing nut on it. Turn clockwise to reduce slip or lock the wheels. Turn the wingnut counterclockwise to unlock the wheels and increase the slipping action of the differential for easy turning. I've tried to unlock the wheels by the directions in the manual, but they still stay locked. I can move the machine around fine, but would like to try it without the wheels locked. Any reason why they won't come unlocked? Any suggestions are appreciated.
                                                                                                                                       Thanks,  Kevin

Kevin,
i know nothing about your machine.

A # 10 bolt is about 3/16. Most socket head cap screws are grade 8 or better. Mcmaster-Carr or any fastener supply house will have them.