It’s frustrating when a part breaks, but the next time that happens with the shear pins in your snow blower, keep in mind they’re doing exactly what they’re designed to do. Because by breaking, Troy-Bilt snow blower shear pins protect the gears in your auger gear case from more significant damage, saving you a more costly repair.
Troy-Bilt two-stage and three-stage snow blowers are designed with four to six shear pins that connect the auger to the auger shaft to ensure the auger gear case rotates the auger shaft and augers so they can do their job — collect snow and push it into the impeller.
People often wonder what a shear pin is used for in a snow blower. The shear pins also have an important safety function – protecting the gears and gear case from damage. If a foreign object gets caught between the housing and the augers, then the gears will bind and wear inside the case. When this happens, the auger shaft and gears can’t keep spinning freely and, if unchecked, the jammed object will eventually cause significant damage to the gear case.
Instead, the shear pins break to alleviate the tension so the auger shaft and gears can keep spinning freely without any additional friction from the jammed object.
The best way to avoid breaking the shear pins is to survey the area for large foreign objects and clear them from your path before operating your snow blower. Stock up on spare shear pins before the season so you’ll always have a replacement on hand in the event they break, keeping your snow blower’s downtime to a minimum.
If you don’t have any spare shear pins on hand, then never use a standard bolt as an alternative because this may cause injury and damage the snow blower. Always use original equipment replacement parts when replacing broken shear pins, even if it means you have to wait for the new ones to arrive.
Troy-Bilt snow blower shear pins are a lot easier to replace than an entire gear box, so don’t sweat it when they break – they’re making life easier on you by avoiding a more costly repair. Looking for where to buy snow blower shear pins? Snow blower shear pin four-pack kits and single-pin replacements can be found at www.TroyBilt.com. Why shop at troybilt.com? We only carry OEM shear pins, designed specifically for your snow blower.
