520 xi 2 stage snow thrower with bent auger

[RedMaine 1]

I blew threw some very heavy snow this past weekend, and the machine clogged..  On inspection, I noticed that the impeller blades were almost bent in half..  no rocks, just heavy snow..  how do I get the auger out to bend the blades back, and can someone send me a pic of a straight auger blade?  I can't tell if they are all bent or not..  Many thanks!!

 

Mark

[RedMaine 1]

Ok, I pulled the four bolts at either end of the auger shaft..   I pulled the 2 end cap bolts out?  Not sure if needed to get the auger shaft out..  I loosened the 2 set bolts that clamp the impeller to the shaft..  Now I am wondering if the shaft just pulls out from behind the impeller?  Or do I need to take the gear box apart?

[Rick_in_CT 156]

Mark,  I have a 5xi blower, attached are a couple of pictures that may help.  First look closely at the picture that shows the impeller, the impeller does have some funky bends in the blades near their ends, so be real sure yours is bent before you go through the hassle to remove it, because it is a bit of a chore to remove.  I have moved lots of snow with mine, and don't think that the blades have bent at all.  I can take some more if you need them. 

 

If you are trying to remove the impeller, you can remove it as one big assembly with the auger shafts still installed in the gearbox, and the augers installed, I have done it.  It sounds like you removed the two bolts that go into the ends of the auger shafts, and have removed the four bolts from each of the bearing assemblies at each end of the auger shafts.  I placed a number of boards in front of the blower so I could roll the auger/fan assembly out of the blower housing.  You now need to remove the cover from the chain drive at the back of the blower, remove the master link from the chain (you can loosen the chain tension by loosening the hex nut on the small sprocket in the lower right).  Next you need to remove the large sprocket from the impeller shaft.  There is either one or two set screws or square head bolts holding the sprocket to the shaft.  With the sprocket removed, you should see the collar of the bearing assembly, you will need to loosen the set screw in the collar.  I think this is the last of the hardware holding the shaft in place, the rest is probably some rust holding it in there. 

 

If everything was perfect, you could now pull on the augers and the impeller shaft would disengage the bearing and the entire assembly would roll out of the blower housing.  More than likely the shaft may have rusted to the bearing collar, and you may have to use a little persuasion to remove the shaft.  You don't want to deform the the end of the shaft by hitting it with a hammer, elsewise it will grow in size and will not go through the bearing collar.  You also don't want to strike it very hard because it has a gear on the other end in the gearbox, and you don't want to transmit a shock to the gear box.  Some heat may be needed on the bearing collar.  Once you get the assembly out of the blower, you can remove the impeller from the shaft.  You may want to take a measurement of how far the fan was onto the shaft and record it so you re-install the fan in exactly the same position on the shaft.

 

I just downloaded the parts catalog for the blower in the manuals section of the forum.  Go to manuals/implement manuals/snow blowers/522xi Snow Blower Parts Manual

 

Let me know if you need any more info, and I'm sure others may have ideas as well.

[Rick_in_CT 156]

Mark,  Just found this picture of a representative impeller off the web.  This is what it basically looks like, these bends are normal.

 

Rick

[RedMaine 1]

Mark,  I have a 5xi blower, attached are a couple of pictures that may help.  First look closely at the picture that shows the impeller, the impeller does have some funky bends in the blades near their ends, so be real sure yours is bent before you go through the hassle to remove it, because it is a bit of a chore to remove.  I have moved lots of snow with mine, and don't think that the blades have bent at all.  I can take some more if you need them. 

 

If you are trying to remove the impeller, you can remove it as one big assembly with the auger shafts still installed in the gearbox, and the augers installed, I have done it.  It sounds like you removed the two bolts that go into the ends of the auger shafts, and have removed the four bolts from each of the bearing assemblies at each end of the auger shafts.  I placed a number of boards in front of the blower so I could roll the auger/fan assembly out of the blower housing.  You now need to remove the cover from the chain drive at the back of the blower, remove the master link from the chain (you can loosen the chain tension by loosening the hex nut on the small sprocket in the lower right).  Next you need to remove the large sprocket from the impeller shaft.  There is either one or two set screws or square head bolts holding the sprocket to the shaft.  With the sprocket removed, you should see the collar of the bearing assembly, you will need to loosen the set screw in the collar.  I think this is the last of the hardware holding the shaft in place, the rest is probably some rust holding it in there. 

 

If everything was perfect, you could now pull on the augers and the impeller shaft would disengage the bearing and the entire assembly would roll out of the blower housing.  More than likely the shaft may have rusted to the bearing collar, and you may have to use a little persuasion to remove the shaft.  You don't want to deform the the end of the shaft by hitting it with a hammer, elsewise it will grow in size and will not go through the bearing collar.  You also don't want to strike it very hard because it has a gear on the other end in the gearbox, and you don't want to transmit a shock to the gear box.  Some heat may be needed on the bearing collar.  Once you get the assembly out of the blower, you can remove the impeller from the shaft.  You may want to take a measurement of how far the fan was onto the shaft and record it so you re-install the fan in exactly the same position on the shaft.

 

I just downloaded the parts catalog for the blower in the manuals section of the forum.  Go to manuals/implement manuals/snow blowers/522xi Snow Blower Parts Manual

 

Let me know if you need any more info, and I'm sure others may have ideas as well.

Excellent instructions..  I my blades were bent in half!  The gusseted angle was folded over..  But, I did manage to straighten them out.  Yes, I did deform th eshaft end and had to file it down to get things moving and in the end, needed a bearing puller.  The Bearing was damaged anyway and did split the inner race coming off.  I fortunately was advided by the dealer that the bearing and their collars are eccentric and that filled in a lot of questions.  How they lock together is cool!  THanks so much for the response, I had to get the bearing and the collar (comes together), and needed a new nipple on the keeper flange for the grease fitting..  Saw that I was missing a few actually..  All together and ready for snow!!   Not sure what hit the impeller to fold it over..  I am the only one that uses it, and the only thing I could think of is the stone dust that is my drive..  The dealer said, no way.. must have been a rock!    Maybe I am blind, but good to hear that yours is perfect with lots of heavy work.. 

[Rick_in_CT 156]

Good to hear that you got it fixed.  Maybe when the snow melts you will find something on the lawn that will give you a clue as to what went through the blower.  Be interesting to know what could have caused the damage.  I have seen post where others have sucked in frozen news papers, but I don't know if they could do that kind of damage.