[ricks]

well now that the festivities are over, i was able to get back to work on the snowblower. the auger blades were a bit mangled and the bearings pretty much shot. once i replaced the bearings i thought everything was going to go smoothly. trying to determine the true pitch and angle by eye is as good as i can get it, and in doing so i found that the end of the auger with the sprocket was bent. so i thought.
the new set of bearings i bought came with a collar. similar to the one found on the front pto. it seems that when the collar is locked down and tightened to the shaft, it causes the bearing to ride imbalanced on the auger shaft, causing a real bad vibration. i've tried switching bearings from the other end and get the same results. if the collar is left off it's locked position though, the shaft spins true with the bearing and no vibration. why doesn't this happen on the engine shaft and pto? same principal applies to both, which is to lock down the bearing to the shaft so the auger does not slide, keeping the sprocket/chain in line. am i correct? i would like to hear what the rest of you think about this, even if you're not sure. any ideas count.
here are a few pics of the auger during repair. i will finish the one end that's broken off, once i figure out this bearing issue.