Sheer Coincidence?

You’re halfway finished snow blowing your driveway and clunk… you hit a rock.

Your snow blower engine is still running at full speed, but the auger is jammed.

Here's the good news: Your machine was designed to handle this situation.

Here's the bad news: You’re going to need a shear bolt or two.

What Is A Shear Bolt?
Typically, two shear bolts (or shear pins) connect the auger to the auger shaft.

They feature specially designed grooves, allowing them to snap if there’s too much torque. This prevents damage to the gear case and auger shaft.

If two-stage snow blowers weren’t built with shear pins, a snow-covered newspaper or a curb could cause hundreds of dollars in damage instead of a few bucks.

Select The Right Size
There are basically three different sizes of shear bolts.

1. The brass ¼” shear bolts are the most common and used on the smaller consumer-grade snow blowers.

2. The black 5/16” shear bolts are used on larger prosumer-grade snow blowers.

2. The silver 5/16” shear bolts are used on professional-grade snow blowers.

It’s a good idea to have a few spare shear bolts on hand. Otherwise, prepare to finish the job with a shovel.