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

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 I came across this interesting review while searching for info on shear bolts. "Level of Expertise Intermediate", He wrote the following:  I could not find any reference to SNOW BLOWER SHEER PINS in your SNOW BLOWER ACCESSORIES lists. WHY NOT ? ? ? I did do an additional search and your web site did then bring up the Sheer Pins. Sheer pins are a consumable item. I've found, when using my snow blower, that i use approximately two sheer pins per day, sometimes more. These items are essential to proper operation of snow blowers. Lowes should list these sheer pins with Lowes Snow Blower accessories. Thanks for hearing me out.

Maybe hes got a rock driveway. I used to go through a few pins a year on gravel until a few years ago. Then rust locked the augers to the shafts until the gear box sheared. Now I'm putting in grease zerks.

The person referred to in the OP bought a machine from Lowes (Troy Bilt, Deere, Husqvarna) but buys shear bolts "made for an Ariens"....? The X-reference indicates these are also for many other brands (they are abolutely not compatible, unless the fact that they fit in the hole is considered compatible). Also "Made to the manufacturer's specifications" like the OEM snowblower manufacturers hand out part blueprints on the streetcorner. I would not recommend anyone buy these for any machine. No wonder this person uses 2 per day.

Ariens OEM shear bolts are not only manufactured with specific geometry with materials, but every manufactured lot is sampled and shear tested in volume to guarantee they will shear at the intended load. Aftermarket parts are a crap shoot and are purely guessing at materials and process. They could shear like butter or blow the gear case. The OEM bolts are worth every penny. If you use the correct OEM bolts and pop them too often there is usually another problem causing it (runners and scraper set too high or badly worn, bent augers or housing, improper usage).

Snowmann wrote:

SNOWMAN, would you consider a stens part as good as oem or not ??

I'm having a bit of difficulty accepting the the notion that a shear pin is designed to such specific tolerances that only one machine can accept and use them.  After all, we're talking snow blowers here.  A machine designed to perform work in an environment that will occasionally cause the auger to break a pin.  

The idea of using "only" the manufacturers pins sounds more like a cash grab for dealers than anything else.  I've heard of some ridiculous prices for shear pins.  Some as much as $1.25 a piece.  Not a chance that I'll pay that.  Not when I can get a suitable bolt from the hardware store for  fifteen cents.

 I've used low grade bolts on old Craftsman machine augers that worked just fine.  Never broke a lot of them and when necessary, they did break.  My Simplicity uses a non-threaded pin with a clip in the end so there's no chance of over-tightening it.  Discussing shear pins is of no use if the auger is rust welded to the drive shaft.  Make the effort to grease the auger shafts at the end of every season.  Take out the shear pins and spin them after greasing. 

Couldn't agree more with the remarks about greasing the shafts and spinning them. Not sure if this is important but the manual on my machine lists a torque specification for the shear bolts at 11 ft/lb. With regard to the Toro-Their design allows for the slippage of the belt before the pin lets go. I have a neighbor who jammed a newspaper and the belt slipped to the extent it started to smoke. I think I would rather pay for a pin than a belt. It's also a lot easier to change a pin than a belt. Marc