With the fan (item 3) shear bolt removed, does the fan rotate freely on the shaft? Perhaps the fan is preventing the shaft from sliding out.
Can you remove the bearing plate from the back side (chain sprocket side) to verify bearing is loose on shaft? Cut the bolts if necessary.
FYI... When rebuilding the same blower I added grease fittings to the fan, so grease could be pumped in to keep moisture/corrosion at bay. The fan rides on bronze bearings, but over time my blower had enough corrosion built up where the between the bearing preventing the fan from rotating on the shaft. Basically rendering the shear bolt useless.
Also added additional grease fittings to the augers for a total of three. Grease from center one and then use the end ones depending on how the grease flows.
Any chance you have any pictures of the grease fittings you added? I have a bx2750C blower and there are two holes in the auger where a grease fitting should go, but no zerk fittings. I purchased some 1/4"-28 grease fittings, but the hole is not threaded and they won't go in.
I thought about tapping/threading the holes, but the threads on the zerk fittings I bought are too long and will run into the shaft underneath. How did you do this? I'm assuming the grease is supposed to be in between the shaft and the auger?
Reading another thread, it looks like maybe you don't get screw in ones, rather, pressure/drive in ones that have barbs instead of threads?
Do I need to remove the auger from the shaft to do this, and are there special zerk fittings that are shallow enough to fit?
Any help on the size or where to find barbed zerk fittings that will fit would be helpful.
Thanks!