Let me start with saying that this isn't to lay blame to the previous owner, but as a lesson as to what happens when a few set screws are not tightened enough or parts are assembled incorrectly. Even the assembled incorrectly might be a result of a factory assembler not doing his job correctly. Below are the pictures of what I found, and not all of what I found is documented with pictures.
As some of you might remember I purchased a used snow blower that was advertised on these forums by another member. The one thing that I did immediately notice is that aside from the rust at the bottom of the snow blower housing, is that it was well maintained by the previous owner. Rust is something that all of us in New England have to endure, because they use way too much salt on the roads, and the newer type of snow melting products are even more corrosive than the salt that was used 20 years ago.
The previous owner told me that the snow blower ingested a chunk of ice, and that caused the fan to move forward into the bottom of the housing, and self destruct. Upon examination once I had the snow blower home, I did find that was true. I also found that the set screws on the sprocket had come loose, causing the fan shaft to move forward causing the damage. I also found that the shear pin on the fan had failed, as it should. I myself hit a rock that was buried in the snow, and it also bent my fan in a similar way as this fan was bent. This type of damage is beyond operator control, because you can't see through the snow to what might be below. When you hit such an object, the fan stops suddenly, and since the lower drive sprocket is still turning, the chain is the next item that will suffer a catastrophic failure. One good reason to always keep a spare chain in your spare parts collection.
As some of you might remember I purchased a used snow blower that was advertised on these forums by another member. The one thing that I did immediately notice is that aside from the rust at the bottom of the snow blower housing, is that it was well maintained by the previous owner. Rust is something that all of us in New England have to endure, because they use way too much salt on the roads, and the newer type of snow melting products are even more corrosive than the salt that was used 20 years ago.
The previous owner told me that the snow blower ingested a chunk of ice, and that caused the fan to move forward into the bottom of the housing, and self destruct. Upon examination once I had the snow blower home, I did find that was true. I also found that the set screws on the sprocket had come loose, causing the fan shaft to move forward causing the damage. I also found that the shear pin on the fan had failed, as it should. I myself hit a rock that was buried in the snow, and it also bent my fan in a similar way as this fan was bent. This type of damage is beyond operator control, because you can't see through the snow to what might be below. When you hit such an object, the fan stops suddenly, and since the lower drive sprocket is still turning, the chain is the next item that will suffer a catastrophic failure. One good reason to always keep a spare chain in your spare parts collection.
