Not your normal 'wedgie'......

.....but equally as annoying! :-)

Soliciting help and opinions on the tail end of the first good snow dumping of the year.  Won't go into the details on the wire rat's nest that wound up in my tractor's 3-pt snowblower auger, but the end result was the derailing of the chain drive and getting it wedged between the sprocket and the auger housing (photos below).   I supposed I might be able wedge a crowbar between the housing and the sprocket and create enough 'give' to the bind so that it might release the chain...?...  Alternatively, I see that the set-screw on the shaft collar (lower photo) on the outside of the housing may just need to be released so that I can just slide the shaft a bit and allow the sprocket to move away from the frame.  Anyone have to deal with this before?  Thanks!

Those sounds like good approaches. I'm also eyeing those three or four bolts on the exterior by the set screw (if loosening the set screw doesn't help), and perhaps loosening those will allow enough give for a little prying with some lever action.

Careful crowbar then those four bolts if it won't shift would be my best guess.
The chain will have a split link somewhere too and if you split it it'll give you an end to pull on.
Also at the gearbox loosen the bolt putting tension on the chain otherwise you'll never get it over and onto the sprocket again.
Never seen that particular piece of machinery before but similar things I've used require you to loosen the gearbox bolts then slide it forward or back to generate tension.
There is usually a long bolt to provide the tension/stopper.  

> loosen chain tension

+1

Also, beware fingers when loosening fasteners. There may (or may not) be forces bound up in the present configuration which might release abruptly when the certain bolt is loosened. They could come from the frame or mount being flexed slightly under the chain tension, or even the blower being lifted slightly under chain tension.

Best luck,
Rufus

Thanks for early responses.  

The blower is 50 inches wide and the brand is an Allied Buhler (may be wedded to Farm King?) ....sold to me by the same Deere dealership that sold me the Deere tractor.  I'll have a look at it tomorrow regarding the chain tensioning mechanism at the gearbox....just got too cold by the end of the day and needed to use the walk-behinds to get some essential paths cleared.

I'm concerned that since the wedged chain is forcing the sprocket against the mounting plate with the 4-bolts that loosening those bolts may do no good.  Since the shaft goes through bearing sets on both sides of the housing and the ends of the shaft have collars with set screws, I was hoping that perhaps loosening/removing the collar shown in the photo would allow the shaft (to which the auger/plate/sprocket are fixed) to move slightly to the left.  This maybe would give enough play to remove the wedged chain..?  Then, as you noted, I would need to loosen the chain tensioner in order to re-seat the chain.  I hope to have an update tomorrow.  Still would like to do minimal 'surgery' so if others see another option, please chime in.  Thanks!

All I can say is welcome to my world!

So to answer your question, yes, I have had this happen...A LOT! For me it is a bit different because I mow the sides of the road, so for me it is winding wire up inside the drum of my boom flail mower. I am not sure how many times this has happened, but it numbers in the dozens. Barb wire is bad, but honestly sheep fence is the worst. Wrap a few hundred feet of that up inside your drum, and you know you will be cutting wire out for a few hours. Add in ticks with Lyme Disease, and poison ivy, and it is a lot of fun!

My preferred method is to use a pair of fence pliers. The curved hook can allow you to get a piece of the looped wire, and then stretch it enough to cut it. Sometimes from there you can unwind the reel and back-wind the wire out. Other times you just have to pluck and cut again and again until the wire is gone. I have an assortment of wire cutters for this, some called "dykes" which are diagonal wire cutters, fencing pliers, lock on pliers, chisel and hammer, etc..

As for the worst wire I ever wound up in a drum, that was 250 feet of phone cord. The phone company had a winter fix, so they never buried the phone line, and just wound up some extra wire on the ground. My mower picked it up and sucked it right out of a woman's house. I was cutting it free of my mower when she came out of her house, hand on the phone, and said she was talking when the phone went out. She and I was pretty sure I was the reason for it.

Some luck visited the dilemma.  I was able to get the set-screw on the outside collar loosened and this allowed me to tap a bit on the shaft as it sticks through the housing.  That was just enough for me to wiggle the chain free from the wedged situation.  I was able to roll it back on to the sprocket and the deflection of the chain still adhere's to the guidlines from the manual.  It's full of snow now (photo below) since I tried it out....but to no avail! >>  As surmised, the force generated by the wedgie was too great and the auger shear bolt had given way during the incident (bolt and nut assembly #'s 56 and 57 below).  So I purchased those today and will install during the nicer weather before the end of the weekend.  Fingers crossed!.....

> luck

Damn Fine! To Luck <toast>...


Cheers,
Rufus

John Weiland wrote:Some luck visited the dilemma. -----snip---    Fingers crossed!.....

Glad to hear you had some luck. Hope it lasts and people have a safe winter.