QA42A Refresh

[Berwil]

Well, I officially joined the "I hope it's not too Late before winter to go over my snowthrower" bandwagon. I started about a week and a half ago and have been trying to do something everyday to keep it moving.

Here is my thrower.
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I think the po had a gravel driveway due to the wear. I always thought this was a bad patch, but turns out it was deformed and worn that way.
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I wondered why the performance was so bad. Turns out the housing was buldged out almost 3/8" where the paddles are. Add to that the bent and wore down paddles and there were gaps of almost 1/2".
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I cut a 2" strip out of the housing and replaced it with a piece of 1/8" steel. I also built up the ends of the paddles and ground them smooth.
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I gapped each paddle to 1/8"-3/16" at its closest point to the housing, I hope that performance it greatly improved!
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Last weekend I stripped most of the parts with a wire wheel. Today I was able to get some primer on most parts.
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I found Almond appliance epoxy spray paint at Ace. I've used appliance paint in the past and it is very hard so I am going to use it inside the thrower housing, on the rotor, and for the chute. I sprayed the chute today to test the color. Here it is with the inside of the runner that still had original paint on it. It's close enough for this guy.
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More updates as I progress

Bill

[Jeff in Pa]

Looking good

Gear box in good shape? I have both shafts plus the transfer shaft on the thrower if needed

[Berwil]

Thanks Jeff! Gearbox feels good, no slop in the shafts and I don't recall it making any funny noises. I'm going to pull it apart and clean it up and put in new oil/grease, I'll find out then if it needs anything.

The transfer shaft is worn a little on the driveshaft side bearing. The bigger problem there is the aluminum shaft holder is worn. It looks like the driveshaft slip joint was not properly lubricated at some point and put excessive side force on the shaft when raising/lower causing the sprocket to eat into the aluminum. I have over an 1/8" of side to side slop. I was thinking of getting some delrin washers to take up the slack and center the sprocket. Thoughts? If I can find the bearings cheaper than $25 each, I'll probably take you up on a new transfer shaft. Otherwise it will wait till next yr.

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Bill

[Jeff in Pa]

Bill

I get my bearings from Bearings and Drive Unlimited in Souderton. http://www.bduinc.com/ They are on the Old Rt 309 next to Fastenal ( in between the ford dealer and Rt 113 )

I can make an aluminum washer to take up the space too.

Jeff

[Berwil]

Thanks Jeff,

I have been there years ago; I'll have to see if I can get there next week to price things out (list is growing). Mark Hellrung also let me know he has them at a much better price than I saw on McMaster if anyone else needs them.

I'd be worried an aluminum washer would gall up the sprocket or bracket when they came in contact at speed. Plus the chain has worn into both sides so I would need 2 to center it. I could be off, but my thinking was the delrin would be slippery on spinning parts yet keep it centered.

Bill

[zippy1]

Nice rebuild Bill, should work as new when your finished

[j knight]

I have had good results with this place
Joe
http://www.thebigbearingstore.com/index.html

[Berwil]

Thanks Todd, I hope so!

Joe, my original plan was to only replace the auger bearings. I actually bought greasable auger bearings from them already. I looked but they didn't have the needle bearings, least I couldn't find them.

I pulled the gearbox apart yesterday and found the input shaft retaining clip had come off at some point and the input shaft slid into the box. This explains why I had to slide the drive pulley out to the end of the shaft to line up with the pto when I bought it. Luckily no damage was caused by using it. The shafts look to be in great shape. The large gear was sloppy on the shaft from a worn key that will be replaced with a longer one to snug everything up. The outer input shaft bearing is toast, the rest all seem to be in good shape. They are labeled japan so I guess someone has been in here before to replace the bearings? I'm on a budget with this so the less I have to spend the better.

Bill

[darkminion_17]

Looking good on your progress.

[Alvy]

Good work Bill. Looks like the closer clearances you're making will help a lot