The New Hotness

The snowthrower (I’ve always called it a snowblower, but that’s just me) ate a ski pole (*), handle-tether-end first, and the right-side shear bolt worked perfectly when the right-hand auger slammed to a stop. A bit of drift punch rapping extracted the sorry lump at the bottom:

The missing nut and bolt head may eventually surface, but I’m not losing any sleep over them.

I popped a replacement shear bolt from the heap (thank you, Aitch!) and thought the nut went on rather stiffly. The nuts have a crimp in the middle to make them vibration-proof, but this one seemed stiffer than usual and, lo and behold, the bolt snapped just before I thought the nut had gotten far enough.

The nut on the second replacement shear bolt required much less torque, didn’t (let me) snap the bolt, and I finished the mission. That’s the third or fourth shear bolt I’ve used since getting the thrower in 2007, so there’s a package of six in transit.

Part Number 710-0809A, 5/16-18 x 1.5 inch.

(*) One of Mary’s gardening cronies works for a sporting goods store, has access to an unlimited supply of slightly bent ski poles, and shares the bounty for use as garden stakes.