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Re: (ET) Tearing down the snowblower--Done!
I can sense the pride from way out west!
Congratulations.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Feb 21, 2026, at 6:04 PM, Chris Zach via Elec-trak <elec-trak cosmos
> phy tufts edu> wrote:
>
> Well, it's all together. Turns out I had exactly the same number of
> links on the new chain as the old yet it was about 1/2 a link shorter.
> The number is 40, not including the master link.
>
> So I put the new chain on the auger gear and started putting the stuff
> back in. The drive side has a U bracket you have to get the axle into
> and that's a pain in the *REAR*. But it's in, the adjusting collar
> allens are facing the wrong way and I really don't care because I
> tightened them before assembly.
>
> Tightened up the bolts, put the motor connectors back on, closed it up,
> and fired up the blower.
>
> *QUIET* There is a bit of chain whine, but the chain is properly
> perpindicular to the drive motor sprocket, so it's probably just new
> chain noise. The chain felt factory lubed, so I'm not adding grease at
> this time. Maybe I should later?
>
> Oh the chain fits perfectly with no real slack but no pressure on the
> bearings. Apparently the old chain had just stretched over the half
> century.
>
> Now.... Now I'm ready for 3-5 or 12-18 inches of snow or whatnot. I'll
> turn the tractor around and put it on charge. The only thing I do need
> is the ice scraper at the bottom; anyone have one of those along with
> all the little bolts and nuts for it?
>
> Mission accomplished and the blower should be good for another 50 or so
> years. When the next owner reads this they will thank me for using
> anti-seize on all the main bolts. And they are the original ones; modern
> bolts are made out of garbage steel.
>
> Chris
>
>> On 2/21/26 16:12, Chris Zach via Elec-trak wrote:
>> Snowblower day, as it may snow tomorrow night. Least it's warm so I
>> have been able to get a lot done.
>>
>> First, new bearings arrived. Same size, however the collars are a big
>> different and the set screws are 3mm metric, not SAE like the old ones.
>> And the set screw threads are different, probably metric as well. Oh
>> well, each of us has to deal with the fact that the world has passed us
>> by....
>>
>> Putting them back in was not difficult, apparently they are held in
>> place by the pressure of the bearing race plates you bolt on. So you
>> put one bearing on (for me drive side), put the shaft into the auger
>> (after using a magnet to fish the remaining ball bearing out), put the
>> end plate on with the thin washer under it, snug the bolts down
>> somewhat, put the other bearing and plate on the other side, snug those
>> bolts down, then tighten the bearing bolts and you're in business. Not
>> that complicated and I have no clue why the old bearing did not come
>> out. Maybe I should have just whacked it with a hammer instead of
>> cutting it apart....
>>
>> I also found an old small container of POR15 and painted the inside of
>> the chute and the inside of the blower housing. This stuff is
>> interesting, it's "Paint over rust" and I last put some on the chute in
>> 2000 and it was pretty much mostly there. It's close to indestructable
>> when dry; glassy smooth, and binds to rust to both pull water out of it
>> and to prevent any oxygen from getting in. So now the inside of the
>> blower is glass smooth, hard as a rock, and should keep snow from
>> sticking no matter how wet and cruddy it is.
>>
>> I'll be going out in a bit to put the auger back in and start working
>> on reseating the motor. I took off the bolt to allow a new lug for the
>> power wire, cleaned up the interconnect and the original bolts and it's
>> pretty much ready to go. HEAVY beyond belief, no question there. But I
>> should be able to get it in and hooked up to the new (shorter) chain
>> and see how that works. Same number of links as the old one but was
>> impossible to get the master link closed in the snow. Now with the
>> motor off it should be better.....
>>
>> Onward.
>>
>>> On 2/15/26 18:11, Chris Zach via Elec-trak wrote:
>>> Well, after a day of whacking at it the central shaft is out.
>>>
>>> The main snowblower shaft is attached to the auger by two bearings,
>>> and a collar with an allen key lock that goes over the end of each
>>> side. Fair enough. I don't see evidence of a circlip at the outside
>>> end of the bearing but there is an inner collar that seems to be part
>>> of the bearing race.
>>>
>>> Tried using a puller on that; no dice. Tried a torch for 5 mins on the
>>> inner race no dice. Finally resorted to using the dremel and cutting
>>> into the top half of the bearing; enough that I was able to remove
>>> enough balls (several were gone) so the bearing fell apart and I was
>>> able to take the shaft out the other side.
>>>
>>> Shaft is really dirty and the bearings are probably rusted on. Took it
>>> to the shed and just dunked the good (ish) bearing side in a bucket of
>>> carburator dip and will leave it for a week, then try pulling it off
>>> from the back of the bearing (the "right way to do it).
>>>
>>> Then I'll flip it over and repeat
>>>
>>> On 2/14/26 17:08, Chris Zach via Elec-trak wrote:
>>>> Hi all!
>>>>
>>>> Well it was 50 degrees today so I figured I'd start tearing down my
>>>> E20's snowblower. The model I have is the AD42BA model with the motor
>>>> on the left and the big chute. Pretty standard snowblower.
>>>>
>>>> Haven't found any documents on overhauling it, but there is a
>>>> Elec-trak document with the parts schematic that gives a good idea of
>>>> where everything goes. 1-3-74.pdf on the third page. There might be
>>>> some instructions in the larger PDFs, but I'll just get started with
>>>> this. If anyone knows a better tear down plan let me know.
>>>>
>>>> First step is to remove the motor. This is simpler than I thought:
>>>> Winch it all the way up on the tractor, then get underneath and
>>>> remove the 4 bolts holding the motor on, then break the factory wire
>>>> lug on the motor, curse, and pull the whole thing out. It's a HEAVY
>>>> motor, but oddly enough the bolts were in fine shape. In fact ALL the
>>>> bolts are coming out without issue, I guess they used high quality
>>>> American bolts or something when they built this in 1973.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway remove the smaller bolts on the side to get the chain and
>>>> bearing guards off, then remove the six bolts and two big end bolts
>>>> to get the auger out. The left side is held in by a sideways H
>>>> bracket, right side just with the normal bolt in the center.
>>>>
>>>> With the auger out you remove the six bolts for the drive gear, then
>>>> use a puller to remove the two collars marked 24. These have a single
>>>> allen set screw in them, one did take a bit of penetrating oil to
>>>> remove. Then I suppose you just tap out the axle, but I haven't
>>>> gotten that far yet.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, it's a start. I'm guessing the bearings are part 23 and need
>>>> to be pulled from the inside on the auger then new bearings put in.
>>>>
>>>> So any clue on good replacement bearings and if anyone has an ice
>>>> scraper? For the rest I am going to clean up the motor, put in the
>>>> new chain, and spend some time reseating the skids so the blower
>>>> doesn't drag on the pavement. Then I'll POR15 the inside of the
>>>> blower housing and the chute and it should be ready for another 50
>>>> years....
>>>>
>>>> C
>>>>
>>>>
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