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

Was tooling along in clear 11" snow and the augers stopped turning.  Thought at first a belt broke.  Took it apart and saw the frayed belt, and also discovered that the auger is stuck.  The impellers both rotate a bit on the shaft, the clutch (engaging device)  for the auger is working and intact, but the splined shaft connected to it won't rotate a bit.  Didn't see any stones or debris around the impeller.

What to do?

I made a mistake in the above post.  It's the impeller that's stuck, the augers both have a bit of typical play in them.

Since you didn't hit anything, its possible that the impeller bearing has seized up. If thats not it, then something is jammed in the gearcase - either a broken keyway or worse case, the brass worm gear.

Marty

Well, I bravely took the seized auger off, and the assembly worked.  Didn't see a thing wrong with it.  Lubricated some parts and reassembled the thrower assembly, seems OK so far.  Still need to attach it to the tractor when daylight returns, but all looks well.

Could there be something wrong in the gearcase?  Didn't want to dig too deep, but am baffled by the problem.