Snowblower Auger Separation

Dec 11, 2005 1 Replies

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I have a Sears Craftsman model 536.88521200 snow thrower with an annoying problem that seems difficult to fix.

When digging into even a moderate amount of snow, one end of the auger will suddenly pop out of the "cup" into which it fits. This plastic cup is part of the plastic frame assembly. I have to stop the thrower, pop the end of the auger shaft back into the lublricated cup, then hope it doesn't pop out again.

I've replaced the cup/socket, but the problem remains. It is as though the auger shaft doesn't go quite far enough into the cup. So, almost any vibration above a certain point will cause the shaft to quickly separate.

I've owned the Craftsman for about 5 years and this problem developed last year.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks . . . Steve

I took a look at the manual for your machine at www,sears.com.

From the looks of the assembly I'm guessing that the auger housing is a plastic molded part and has warped and gotten "wider" where the auger shaft goes through it.

I can think of two things which could help fix the problem:

1: Remove the bolts and nuts holding bearing (Item No. 510 on the Auger Assembly drawing.) and put some spacers between it and the inside of the auger housing to take up some of the clearance. You may need a couple of longer bolts to do that.

2: (If I was fixin' it...) Drill and tap the center of the end of the shaft, drill a hole through the outer end of that "510" bearing (if needed) and install a bolt and washer plus whatever little "hole sized" spacer may be needed so the washer would keep the end the end of the shaft from pulling through the bearing, with appropriate running clearance.

You prolly wouldn't have to be dead nuts accurate centering the hole in the end of the shaft, it's a low speed thing and who'd care if the washer wobbled a little anyway.

You could likely drill and tap it in place if you took your time about it, and maybe rolled the snowblower on its side so you could comfortably drill straight down with your weight on the drill.

HTH,

Jeff

Snowblower Auger Separation

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