QA42A on a 1450 – Worth Fixing?
 

I’ve got a QA42A mounted on a 1450. My best friend’s father bought it new in 1978, and I acquired everything in the late 1980s after he passed away and his widow moved to a condo. Believe me when I say I know the machine’s history and can say that while it has been used hard, it hasn’t been abused too badly. Every year I lubed everything, checked the set screws, adjusted the chain tension, adjusted the skids, rotated or replaced the cutting edge as needed, and made sure that the drive belt pulley was still lined up with the PTO. The only things that ever let me down were the sprocket-side auger bearing that shredded itself maybe 20 years ago, and early last winter the drive pulley key somehow disappeared while I was dealing with about 14” of heavy wet snow. For too many years I cleaned 6 driveways every time it snowed. Stuff happened, I met this cute young lady, got moved in with her and her folks, and for the past 8 years I’ve been cleaning about 1000 feet of driveway every time it snows. Snow here in SE PA tends to be wet and heavy. During the last snow of last season I sheared the Spirol pin in the transfer shaft. That was the first time in all the years that I’ve run this machine that that happened. A few weeks ago I started digging into what needs to be serviced and got a bit of a shock.

• The auger needs to be straightened where it looks like I hit some ice (Spirol pin issue?).

• The sprocket teeth are pulled and bent.

• The drive chain has been stretched.

• The keyway in the transfer shaft is chipped and causing rotational slop on the driveshaft.

• The keyway in the gearbox output shaft is wallowed out causing more driveshaft rotational slop.

• The gearbox output shaft bearings have excessive lateral movement.

The good news is that the driveshaft keyways and u-joints are nice and tight, the gearbox was still full of serviceable grease, and the gears in the gearbox look pristine.

I usually refer to myself as a “cheap engineer” and don’t like to pay anyone to do something that I can do for myself. I do manage to keep lots of old stuff running, but for this I’ll have to farm the auger sprocket replacement out to someone since it’s the welded version, not the one with the replaceable sprocket/shaft assembly. The snow blower is old and worn, it has earned its keep, and I don’t really have any sentimental attachment to it. I know that no matter how much I put into it in terms of parts and money and effort that it’s never going to run like something new. So, my question is…. is it worth the time and money to fix a 40 year old QA42A with the problems this one has? I’m just not feeling it. Would anyone else commit to fixing this if they had another snow removal option?

I'd fix it. All that stuff is standard wear stuff. Nothing hard at all to fix.

Member Jeff in PA makes some of the parts you will need. His link "Part by Jeff" is up top with the sponsors.

Welding a new sprocket on the auger would be the hardest thing.... and that's not that big a deal. I would do it on a lathe.... but still, no biggie.

Thanks for the feedback, but I don't understand your comment about welding on a lathe.

I would fix it. For a small/medium driveway nothing beats a snowthrower on the front of a garden tractor. I do a whole two blocks of sidewalk and then some, I've been out and done short sections of our walking path in town too.

It sounds like the shafts in the gearbox need to be replaced and those can be found easily. If the output shaft is worn, the coupler on the u-joint will never get completely tight on it no matter how hard you tighten the set screw. From what you say sounds like the input pulley and shaft have been worn too, same situation, keyway shot needs a new shaft and maybe a pulley too? while you there replace the bearings to take care of the lateral movement.
Replace the chain is easy enough if its stretched just count the links and find a store for chain.
On the transfer shaft, I've broke a couple of the spiral pins, and keep a few on the shelf, those generally break from excessive overloading, or hitting something hard. but the belt will slip too, if its overloaded.
Sprocket on the auger would be something I am not familiar with, I would hope that could be replaced,somehow.

I can make the parts you need. You need a lathe to remove the old sprocket. Once you tack the new one in place, it is checked on the lathe for runout. After welding, it is checked again.

Some folks weld on their lathe but Monarch high precision bearings are way too expensive for me to gamble like that.

Jeff

Thanks all. If it turns out that my "other snow removal option" falls through I guess I'm going to be looking for a shop that can deal with the auger sprocket.

New but related question:

• The replacement auger bearings I bought from a CC dealer back in the 1990s were equivalent to SA205-16

• I've seen recommendations to go with SB205-16 bearings instead

• I read at least one post (somewhere) where the poster reported to have used SBTRD205-16G bearings for his rebuild (SATRD-16G is also available)

Any thoughts on why I wouldn't want to go with either of the SxTRD205-16G versions that have a grease fitting if they fit in the auger housing?

Sooooo you have a piece of equipment you used for 40 years that needs maintenance and some repairs. You know it's history and performance when functioning properly. You also have comments that gave you leads for replacement parts.

Go out and look at replacement equipment. Look very closely at the materials used and the way it was made. After you looked at what they are selling today ask yourself if you think it will be serviceable in 40 years.

I would do a thorough breakdown, cleaning and reassembly with new parts if I were you. If you do it right you'll use it for another 40 years then hand that equipment down to your heirs.

All good info here on the repair. I just wanted to add...1000 ft...wow!! That is a serious clearing job for a cub. Im in the same area of pa and those wet ones are brutal. If it were me...i would be on the lookout for a backup thrower/blower and maybe even a parts one too. You could repair your sentimental one and keep that as a spare. Use your new found one as your worker thats not a big deal if it gets trashed. They pop up on CL sometimes...or you can go out to Rays and get a blower or parts you need. Just some thoughts.

I can do the sprocket replacement. Here's some of the tools I have at home. https://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/...ad.php?t=16524

I've been welding, machining and fabricating for over 40 years

Jeff

Thanks for all the feedback, advise, and things to think about. Bob is kind of shaming me into it - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, nothing that's being made today for a lawn/garden tractor is going to last 10 years, let alone 40. Dag made a great point that I'll admit I just didn't think about - "back up". Maybe I didn't think about it because having 2 tractor-mounted snow blowers would just be too decadent? Now don't everyone start calling me names and disparaging my brand loyalty, sanity, and/or parentage, but if/when I rebuild this it will be the back-up for the 2 stage 47" blower I'm going to put on my wife's JD 455.