Suggestions to make shear bolts better

[65ranchero]

I have a front mount snow blower on my Polaris Ranger 900xp
The blower is a Massimo 60" and has shear pins(bolts) on the 2 augers and and a shear pin on the ejector impeller.

bolts are 8 x1.25 58mm long fully threaded
Massimo wants close to 4$ each
I went to the hardware store and got 8.8 steel bolts and cut notches at the correct intervals with a 3" cut of wheel .
My problem is that the cut off wheel is hard to control and cuts notches too deep and not neat looking.
When it cuts it too deep it make the shear strength alot less and will break a lot sooner that required.

I have seen YouTube about using a drill press and a hack saw but I don't own a press.
tried chucking up the bolt in a high speed air drill and clamping a cutoff disc in the vise and all that did was booger up the disc.
I now have SS bolts threaded all the way and was wondering if just using those bolts as is will work.
From what I read SS (not real good grade they are magnetic) bolts are of less breaking strength that 8.8 steel bolts
Any thoughts?

 

[dutchgray]

Just buy the real shear bolts, its not worth breaking an expensive part of the machine to save a few bucks with homemade shear bolts.

 

[65ranchero]

They are not any thing more than regular bolts with a slight groove cut in them no markings on the head

 

[Kaizen]

Not worth being cheap imo. Gear damage is guaranteed to be more then four bucks.
Kills me too but not worth chancing it.


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[65ranchero]

I am well aware of what happens
1 or 2 per session adds up quick and the bolts are nothing special

 

[65ranchero]

The eject impeller by the way was a fully threaded Allen head bolt the augers were hex head and they all had the same p/n in the schematic

 

[Buckgnarly]

Why are you going through so many? I don't think I've even blown one on my 72" 3 point Meteor in the past 5 years, but not familiar with what you have.

 

[65ranchero]

It's a combination of stone and packed wet snow.
In my opinion the shear strength is too low

 

[Muzzy]

How deep a groove?
I would be tempted to try a tubing cutter on the bolts.
This may destroy the cutting wheel on the tool.

 

[65ranchero]

How deep a groove?
I would be tempted to try a tubing cutter on the bolts.
This may destroy the cutting wheel on the tool.

The groove is less than a mm may be a few thou.
Tubing cutter won't make it

 

[Kaizen]

To answer your question I’d make a jig to use on a bandsaw. Think Steel rod with a fence so it only touches the bandsaw blade as deep as you need. Bolts are tougher to do this way but you can rig something.

From the sound of it the pins are doing their job. Good luck


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[OldNeons]

You have a bigger problem than shear bolts if you are having to change them multiple times every time you use it. Why would you continue using it in that manner if this keeps happening? Have you talked to the manufacturer? Some small rocks shouldn't bother a blower of that size? If they are not small rocks then you have the wrong tool for the job. Try a plow maybe? Or clean the rocks out of the path of your blower. Maybe I'm stating the obvious here, but can't understand how shearing pins several times per use is agreeable other than the cost of the pins?

 

[66cj225]

I have seen YouTube about using a drill press and a hack saw but I don't own a press.
tried chucking up the bolt in a high speed air drill and clamping a cutoff disc in the vise and all that did was booger up the disc.
I now have SS bolts threaded all the way and was wondering if just using those bolts as is will work.
From what I read SS (not real good grade they are magnetic) bolts are of less breaking strength that 8.8 steel bolts
Any thoughts?

My favorite is to chuck the bolt in the cordless drill and use an air muffler tool to cut the groove while both are spinning. Increasing bolt strength is not the answer.

Take a look at your auger pitch and think about what will happens to say a 6 inch ice ball. Good walk behinds would have like 1/3 the auger blade spacing that you're running. (think compressing a spring). The frozen product out there resembles snow only in color.

 

[bigguns69]

Hand held hack saw??

 

[dmaxfireman]

You need to find out what amount of force causes your particular shear bolts to yield. Then you can reverse engineer the grade of bolt and depth to cut the notches.

Unless you know what you are starting with then you are shooting blind.

 

[65ranchero]

Hand held hack saw??

Tried that clamped in the vise and chucked up the bolt in the high speed air drill
Didn't make a dent in the bolt

 

[kelpaso1]

You need to find out what amount of force causes your particular shear bolts to yield. Then you can reverse engineer the grade of bolt and depth to cut the notches.

Unless you know what you are starting with then you are shooting blind.

How is a lay person going to be able to measure what you are saying without specialised measuring equipment?

 

[kelpaso1]

They are not any thing more than regular bolts with a slight groove cut in them no markings on the head

How do you know this?? What grade of bolts? Are you an engineer?

 

[rlitman]

..tried chucking up the bolt in a high speed air drill and clamping a cutoff disc in the vise and all that did was booger up the disc...

For that process to work, you need to clamp the drill in the vise (use soft jaws of course), and use a grinder spinning that disc. Alternatively, you could put that cutoff disc in a bench grinder and turn the bolt while hand held in your drill, but that might be a little slow.

But I'm with the other posters suggesting to buy the proper bolts. However, skip the normal retail sources and do some research. For my Ariens, I've found that when I buy 10 or more bolts from China, I pay less for the proper shear bolts than I would pay for the plain bolts at a hardware store.

 

[Kaizen]

I will also throw this out there. I got a new aliens walk behind a few years back. The tolerances in it caused me to go through more shear bolts in one season then I had with my last arien in ten years.
Seriously half inch rocks would jam.
Now a few years later after everything is a little worn and metal flexed I don’t have the issue.
If op has a rock driveway I’d lift the runners and go slower.


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[APEowner]

Replacing shear pins with something stronger is pretty much a guarantee that you're going to brake something more expensive. That's not the best solution to your problem.

To reduce replacement costs I'd look for another source. There's a good chance you can find something generic on eBay or Amazon that will work. See if a 5/16" shear bolt will work. That'll increase your options.

If you want to make your own you should start with the cheapest ungraded bolt you can find. An 8.8 is too strong. Ungraded stainless might be a good option.

With the number of pins you're breaking I'm guessing that you're clearing a gravel lot or driveway. That's tough to do with a snow blower for the very reason you're experiencing. You need to set the shoes so that the cutter bar is higher and try and get at good packed base built up.

Note: while I currently live in New Mexico and rely on the "let it melt" method of snow removal and spent the first 48 years of my life in Upstate NY and I've moved snow with everything from a shovel to an articulate loader and at one point I fixed snow blowers for a living.

 

[65ranchero]

I will also throw this out there. I got a new aliens walk behind a few years back. The tolerances in it caused me to go through more shear bolts in one season then I had with my last arien in ten years.
Seriously half inch rocks would jam.
Now a few years later after everything is a little worn and metal flexed I don’t have the issue.
If op has a rock driveway I’d lift the runners and go slower.


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The runners are as high as they go
it's the 1st thing I did

 

[65ranchero]

You have a bigger problem than shear bolts if you are having to change them multiple times every time you use it. Why would you continue using it in that manner if this keeps happening? Have you talked to the manufacturer? Some small rocks shouldn't bother a blower of that size? If they are not small rocks then you have the wrong tool for the job. Try a plow maybe? Or clean the rocks out of the path of your blower. Maybe I'm stating the obvious here, but can't understand how shearing pins several times per use is agreeable other than the cost of the pins?

I started with the plow and went to the snow blower because limited and places to put the snow and to prevent grass "pies" and gravel parties in the spring.
and after a bad winter can no longer move snow banks and the drive will be reduced to < than a car wide.
It's about a lot of gravel at certain parts of the drive 1500ft of it
It's also my fault for over reaching the intended area and miss judging when to stop.

 

[65ranchero]

Replacing shear pins with something stronger is pretty much a guarantee that you're going to brake something more expensive. That's not the best solution to your problem.

I know about not replacing with something stronger

To reduce replacement costs I'd look for another source. There's a good chance you can find something generic on eBay or Amazon that will work. See if a 5/16" shear bolt will work. That'll increase your options.
I am working on that 8mm bolts that are in the now

If you want to make your own you should start with the cheapest ungraded bolt you can find. An 8.8 is too strong. Ungraded stainless might be a good option.
I am working on SS bolts less shear strength that carbon steel

With the number of pins you're breaking I'm guessing that you're clearing a gravel lot or driveway. That's tough to do with a snow blower for the very reason you're experiencing. You need to set the shoes so that the cutter bar is higher and try and get at good packed base built up.

Skids are at the highest ,cutter is off the ground but with the freeze thatw cycle it a rough start
You are right , we call it sta-mat gravel,dust mix and i am working on getting a packed base

 

[65ranchero]

How do you know this?? What grade of bolts? Are you an engineer?

No I'm not an engineer but I do know the bolts have no markings no them and since its a China Mfg. Co. I would say the bolts came from China.
Do you disagree?

 

[HoosierBuddy]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6THVCX/?tag=atomicindus08-20

There's 20 for $10. May not be the right size...but they probably have the right size.

Phil

 

[APEowner]

With the number of pins you're breaking I'm guessing that you're clearing a gravel lot or driveway. That's tough to do with a snow blower for the very reason you're experiencing. You need to set the shoes so that the cutter bar is higher and try and get at good packed base built up.

Skids are at the highest ,cutter is off the ground but with the freeze thatw cycle it a rough start
You are right , we call it sta-mat gravel,dust mix and i am working on getting a packed base

That's exactly what my driveway in NY was. That's a challenging snow removal situation. You covered the issues with plowing and you're experiencing the issues with using a snow blower.

I settled on plowing and made a "parking" area that I pushed the snow into. You have to be pretty dedicated to getting the piles as far back and as high as you can with every snow fall. You also have to rake the edges of the driveway off the lawn every spring.

I'd stack snow where the truck, trailer and plow are in these pictures. By spring time most years the piles would be a good 10' high and be all the way out to the door of the shop and the trailer would have to be parked in the driveway.

I don't miss that at all.

 

[65ranchero]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6THVCX/?tag=atomicindus08-20

There's 20 for $10. May not be the right size...but they probably have the right size.

Phil

Thanks but they are not long enough I have been looking on Amazon and found China made SS bolts that are the exact length with right diameter and pitch that are threaded all the way to the head and will try them.

 

[dmaxfireman]

How is a lay person going to be able to measure what you are saying without specialised measuring equipment?

Thank you for making my point. Unless he wants to make the investment in all of that, then this will all be fruitless. Better off buying a bunch of $4 shear pins or the grade 8 bolt and new gear box. Not trying to reverse engineer a shear pin with no data.

 

[steel 35]

Stainless with a stainless lock nut so they won’t rust!

 

[rlitman]

...found China made SS bolts that are the exact length with right diameter and pitch that are threaded all the way to the head and will try them.

I would strongly suggest not doing this. When that bolt shears in the wrong spot, the threads will tear up the holes in your auger (or heaven forbid - shaft), making it more difficult for the next set of bolts to shear. Eventually, the hole may have so many burrs that you'll need a hammer to put replacement bolts in.

That's why it is never a good idea to use fully threaded bolts in place of proper shear bolts.

 

[Gutman]

I feel for you.

I had a 350 ft sloping gravel driveway in N Va and I heisted my brothers walk-behind blower when he moved from Buffalo to FL. We'd go several seasons where the pre-season startup and run was all she saw, but when it snowed good, it was a lifesaver. I'd do mine and a neighbor's and the road approaches to keep the road plow debris down.

I found the installed skids were inadequate and I made a taller set that allowed a little greater blade clearance, and it reduced the amount of gravel picked up from the drive, but dependent upon the snow consistency, I still picked up some gravel and flung it into the lawn.

Anyway, I'd go through several shear bolts in a season, but I was fortunate to find 5 pack or 10 pack cheapies at big box stores at end of season on clearance, for a few bucks.

 

[65ranchero]

I would strongly suggest not doing this. When that bolt shears in the wrong spot, the threads will tear up the holes in your auger (or heaven forbid - shaft), making it more difficult for the next set of bolts to shear. Eventually, the hole may have so many burrs that you'll need a hammer to put replacement bolts in.

That's why it is never a good idea to use fully threaded bolts in place of proper shear bolts.

I matched these up
The bolts are exactly what was in there originally as was the spare bolts provided!
Fully threaded up to the head

 

[BD1]

The runners are as high as they go

it's the 1st thing I did

Have you considered adding to the existing runners ? Or make new set.
I didn't know they had snowblowers for Rangers. I use a 6' plow on my 700.
That blower must be pretty massive.
Post a picture if possible


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[65ranchero]

Adding a set of runners to lift it higher has been thought about but not being followed through
It is a universal Snow blower where you mount a plate to your frame and use 2 pins to attach the snow blower with frame to the plate
I started out with a 72' Polaris hyd lift and turn for the ranger but with a couple of massive winters moving and keeping drive clear and moving huge plow banks after Hiway dept. came through made better sense for me to go to a snow blower
I was going to put a plow on my 2011 F150 when I retired in 2013 but I found out that with EPS it was frowned upon and nobody at the time made one for the truck
So I got the Ranger


https://www.massimomotor.com/UTV-Snow-Blower

 

[BD1]

Thanks for posting the picture, I appreciate that. That's a heck of a unit.
Besides my Ranger with plow, I have a John Deere loader tractor for relocating the banks or pushing them back.
The Ranger is amazing for plowing especially with heated cab. I try to keep banks pretty far back to avoid using my open station loader.
With a loader, it doesn't matter how frozen the banks are.


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[65ranchero]

Controls in the heated cab
Did a rewire to quick disconnect for the summer
It was one long harness from the blower to the cab
cut the harness near mid point and added a 7 pin round trailer connector to detach from the Ranger after season


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https://apis.mail.yahoo.com/ws/v3/m...lNorrin&downloadWhenThumbnailFails=true&pid=2

 

[Kaizen]

Yea that’s way to close to ground. Pull out the welder. When I had gravel I kept it up half inch at back. Better to have half inch of snow then these problems.


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[65ranchero]

Yea that’s way to close to ground. Pull out the welder. When I had gravel I kept it up half inch at back. Better to have half inch of snow then these problems.


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I don't have a welder, I agree with you to have a base of snow but it has to snow more.
If I remember I could lift it a little with the winch but I for get and or lift it too much which gave me a broken winch cable. Luck it was broken near the blower , I just cut off the bad section and weaved in a new loop like this youtube vid.

 

[Kaizen]

I don't have a welder, I agree with you to have a base of snow but it has to snow more.
If I remember I could lift it a little with the winch but I for get and or lift it too much which gave me a broken winch cable. Luck it was broken near the blower , I just cut off the bad section and weaved in a new loop like this youtube vid.

Might be worth taking them to a welder. Basically need piece of steel welded under like a ski. Think I’d like to have support under it at those points not a winch. I’m sure that thing will scrape good if you hit a mound.
I know those are expensive. Hope you get it to work well for you.


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