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

Hello folks,

I was just looking over my Toro 828 LXE and noticed that the wheels are not real tight onto the axel. You can move the wheels say about 1/8" before it turns the axel.  Are those  bolts that hold the wheel to the axel supposed to be tight enough to compress the wheel hub tight against the axel?  I would really have to torque on them nuts for that to happen. I did tighten the bolts quite a bit, but they still won't grab the axel without having that 1/8" play in there.

Al in NH---If it is a free wheeling wheel,  I don,t believe that axle is supposed to turn.   Maybe I am thinking wrong so maybe someone else can give us some input.--Will

Hi Al,

Sharp observation you made, but nothing to be concerned about.  That 1/8" free-play you noticed is simply the way Toro designed it to keep rust at bay.  If they designed the wheel to fit nice and tight on the axle, at some point, perhaps years down the line if you needed to remove the wheel,  I'd bet you wouldn't be able to.  That 1/8" of play is what stops rust from forming and allows easy service.  Every time you move the snowblower under power, either forward or reverse, that free-play actually will keep that part of the axle polished and won't let rust form. 

I noticed that same thing back in September when I did the prepping on my new machine.  In fact, I removed the wheels at that time and spread a very thin coating of grease on the axle ends on both sides just to make sure rust never has a chance to take hold.  If you're still unsure, remove the wheels and you'll see there is NO peening at all.  I also would not over tighten the nuts, it's unnecessary and I doubt you'd be able to tighten it enough to make much difference since they are not designed for that and those wheels are far too heavy duty to be squeezed.  You also don't have to worry about the nuts coming loose on their own because they are lock-nuts. 

I thought maybe they were designed to not tighten.  I bet the bolt would break by the time that hub got compressed enough.  Pretty slick of them to do that I guess.  I did shoot some lube in there for good measure.  Thanks for the replies.