Fixing and improving the auger pulley on my SnowJoe snowblower
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- Опубліковано 7 лис 2020
- While trying to use a little plugin SnowJoe on a lot of heavy, wet snow that it was definitely not designed to handle, I stripped the auger pulley so that the auger would no longer spin. While you can buy replacements, they're not exactly cheap (at least for this model) and since they're designed the same way they would almost certainly end up having the same problem.
Instead, I decided to make some repairs/modifications to the damaged pulley and see if I could improve its reliability. How did it go? You'll have to watch to find out. ;-)
This video was very helpful. I just bought a used machine and realized that it's not 100%. I now have hope that I can fix it and not feel ripped off. Thank you !
good video it helped me to repair mine thanks if you have a link to the part replacment please provide thanks
I had the exact same problem (the inner metallic nut was rotating independent from the large plastic pulley; the plastic around the nut was all frayed). I used your technique and I filled the gaps around the metallic nut with some Gorilla brand Epoxy glue I had laying around : I used a coffee stirring stick and some toothpicks to get the glue into the grooves. I let it cure for 3 days. Just had another snowstorm in the Northeast: the auger now rotates as one unit and the snowblower works like it did before! Thanks for your great video! (BTW I wanted to purchase a replacement large pulley directly from SnowJoe but it’s out of stock, so your technique is a life saver!)
Glad to hear it was helpful!
Same. I was wondering if I could use gorilla glue instead. Will definitely use my Dremel or a drill bit to make the indentation ports.
@@Akhenatonio just had another blizzard this past weekend. Used the snow thrower which was repaired with epoxy glue as mentioned. Worked well and held up for over 30 minutes of constant snow throwing.
How's it doing now?
@@Bog8686 It’s still working great. Went through a few blizzards and it’s still holding up. Do you have the same issue?
David. Your video was SO helpful. my Snow Joe (a larger, more powerful version) has been perfect for 3+ year in my Minnesota winter, including that iced up snow at the end of the driveway that the snow plow delivers. It was also that heavy packed end of drive way that caused me to explore and find that auger pulley with your help. I too had materials: the drill to add the "spike" area into the pulley to fill with JD WELD which I happened to pick up 3 weeks ago for some other project).
I have so pleased with my Snow Joe for these 3+ years, I will be a loyal customer when ever it come to buy a new one.
I am the David replying to myself above to update this in Dec. 2022: The above repair worked perfect in winter 2021-2022. First time out this winter the snow was icy-soppy wet heavy: The machine stopped turning the auger; my thought was the JB WELD did not hold...or maybe the belt broke. Thinking "I guess it is time for a new one", I ordered the exact same model of Snow Joe, since I had been pleased for 4 years and having learned to not tackle the ice chunks at the end of the driveway. Opened up the side panel: NOTHING was broken, only the belt had come off the pulley. Put it back on. Seems to be working fine. The new one I had ordered is still in the box.
@@davidhuberty5252 David, many reviews tell that replacement parts are out of stock and Snow Joe doesn't send them for year, if ever. I had to make repairs to the plastic chute and to the scrapper blade. Both broke and were out of stock. The Snow Joe requires delicate usage to avoid breaking the plastic parts. It won't last long in clearing hard-packed snow or ice.
First thank you. Really appreciate the insight into such an awful design and also lack of replacement parts on Snow Joe. I took a different approach and drilled into the sides of the pulley and into the nut itself (not all the way just an indent) then used wood/metal screws to go through the plastic to hold it secure. Used it on four sides so will see if they hold under heavy load. Again thank you for your insight into the issue!
Excellent video. Thank you for sharing it. I have the confidence I need to fix this snow blower on the cheap. Can't wait to get my Toro cordless though.
Great video! I have the same issue and was also think of JB Welding the nut to the pulley. This is very helpful.
did you get a metal pully now ?
Had the same problem only issue you can't get a new part, why this pulley isn't made of cast is beyond me. I went an inch out on a slope flush to the top of the nut with jb weld. Thanks for the solution.
Update:
JB weld worked great the belt will it didn't survive. Not a Canadian winter blower that's for sure
Glad to see this. I just ordered one of these for 60$US...(Yes, 60.00). It has not arrived yet, but I have been watching a few videos about it and it looks to me like this pulley is a bit under-designed. Seems like it is designed to fail.
Looking at it from a reliability standpoint, I would call this a weak point or the "Achilles heal" if you will. On the other hand, maybe it was designed that way to help protect the motor in case of an auger lock situation. Similar to a sheer key or pin.
30.00 for a replacement part seems a bit much, but I suppose it is less expensive than replacing the motor. That is IF this is the intended purpose for this design.
Anyways, thanks for showing this. It is something I will definitely be looking out for.
That's a good point. I had considered the sheer pin aspect of the failure, but there are a few things that make me less concerned about it. First, it allowed me to abuse the motor considerably before it failed, so it wasn't a very good sheer pin to begin with. I moved basically an entire driveway worth of slushy snow before it died (on top of previously using it to move 2 foot drifts). Second, I'm hopeful the belt would slip before damage occurs. Maybe a little optimistic, but at least there is another potential point of slippage in case of a jam. Finally, if my usage ends up killing the motor after I fixed this weak point then it's pretty clear I needed something beefier anyway, so if it happens it happens. In fact, I believe these are also somewhat prone to burning up brushes in the motors (which I think can be fixed too though), so it would probably happen at some point regardless.
All that said, I ended up finding an old Toro 2 stage that needed a little work so this winter I'll have something more appropriately sized for the large snowfalls. Assuming it works, of course. We still haven't gotten any real snowfalls here this winter. ;-)
took mine apart the shaft is m14x1.5 pitch left hand, so far havnt found a replacement pulley
I wonder if you could also remove the metal insert and add glue to the bearing between the plastic pulley and the hex-nut insert. It would make the metal-pulley a solid unit.
This was a huge design flaw. I just redesigned a better version of this pully in CAD and 3D printed one for a friend of mine. Not gonna break anymore lol
I don't have the tech-savvy to do that. But how much would it cost? Some of us might like to purchase your service.
Double that. Would pay for a printed one as well
Are you willing to share or sell the stl?
@@norightchoice when I get back from vacation I’ll look for the file 👍
I was about to start my own design to post on Thingiverse. Have you already done so and where? My searches have turned up nothing for the past week. (P.S. Printables has a subsection for replacement parts. That's where I also put other designs like impellers.)
Great video, did all of the above and worked for 2 snowstorms, then broke again. Snow Joe hasn't had the part in for months, making this a worthless machine. Not only would I not buy this model again, I would not buy a Snow Joe ever again based on this shoddy workmanship. Very disappointed as I had the old Toro Snowcurve's years back and they took years of abuse before giving up.
Hi Ben, just curious how long your JB Weld held up before it died? I'm looking at the exact same issue. Before I saw your video I was thinking of getting a couple of big washers (maybe 2 or 3") and cutting a hex out of one side (using a small carborundum wheel on a dremel) to fit snugly over the nut, and then making a sandwich (washer-pulley-washer), and screw the washers together to lock onto the pulley. Or maybe just one big washer with the hex cutout in the middle and JB weld that to the pulley-- the big surface area might make a pretty strong bond. Great video, thanks for posting it. I really hate when parts are made this badly!
I also ordered an M14 x 1.5 LH tap from ebay for $15... might be able to fabricate a pulley out of aluminum on the lathe
make a few extra we will all buy one :p
I have not used mine much since this fix. I think I pulled it out a couple of times the first winter and didn't use it at all this winter. We've had unusually little snow in my area the last two years so there hasn't been much need for it. When we do get the occasional bigger snow I now have an old gas snowblower that I fixed up.
@@richardmoore9319 Did you ever give that a try? I've been doing some research and I think it would work to buy an AK56-1/2 pulley, tap the 1/2" center hole M14-1.5 LH, and use a lathe to machine off the protruding hub of the pulley. (There isn't enough clearance inside the sidepanel to fit the protruding hub, unfortunately.)
FYI: the design is proper for what they wanted - the nut is supposed to strip out if the auger gets jammed (like with someone’s foot); the issue is that “safety feature” destroys the pulley and SnowJoe doesn’t seem to stock replacements. Mine also stripped out this past weekend and I will also try this approach but for those creating “stronger” pulleys don’t forget that the auger will no longer be protected from jamming.
Since Snow Joe replacement parts are out of stock, we are forced to do our own repairs. Can a metal pulley, of similar diameter, replace the plastic pulley? That may require rethreading the female nut and also using another-sized belt.
Great video. Somehow i managed to strip the nut that holds the pulley. How do i remove thr entire white pulley. Can u please show a video?
I never removed the nut from the pulley, but I think you'd have to cut it out. Even after the pulley was stripped the nut was still captured.
My suggestion would be to grind new flats in the nut so you can get a wrench or vise grip on it. You might also be able to use a rounded nut extractor, although the exposed surface area is so small that might not work well. In this case your pulley is probably not reusable anyway, so you could also just grind away more of the plastic around the nut to get to the undamaged part of it.
I recently rounded a nut on a pulley on my car so I feel your pain. Good luck!
Oops, replied from the wrong account. I guess now everyone will know I also have a channel where I post nerdy tech videos about the stuff I work on in my day job. ;-)
im going to use a better center bolt w hex head ,instead if that philips pan head,and blue thread lock
When they plowed my road at the end of my driveway, they left me with a pile of 'iceberg chunks', and I'll have to take the cover off to find out whether the pulley or the belt gave out. In the mean time I ordered another Snow Joe.
wonder if i can find a metal unit,and weld the reverse thread nut,guess ill measure its diameter
i found some pulleys on ebay but a tad bigger 6.0 in ,instead of 5.5,the shaft is 14mm coarse lefty thread,theres not alot of room for a larger diameter,and the belt size may change,if i get lucky with the shaft thread size,otherwise id keep looking for a 5.5 in pulley, and pop the threaded insert out of the plastic pulley,and weld it to a steel pully,...time will tell ,its made to be the weak link,sadly,what model is yours mines the sj627e, w led headlights,thanks,if the new metal pully is steel and the shaft is a different thread i could permanently weld the pulley to the shaft as long as its concentric,and balanced well 😃
any update on that mod mark, I was also thinking the same but haven't look into it
@@dsa420meh7 ive kept the parts saved but ,just used my sj627e yesterday 5 inches ,did fairly well,just not on icy areas,or slush, it does big down if pushed hard,so i just go slow,the driveway and sidewalks, the blade scraper hits anything sticking up,i still keep a eye out for the pulley, but it may never be available,mine also didnt have the deck mounted switch,for lights,some do, so the pulley is 5.5 shaft 14mmx1.5 left thread,i was gunna buy a left hand nut, and weld it, to a steel pulley,...if course alignment is important, and v size as the belt is 630mmx10mm, so it may take a bit trying to get the right sized belt ,the tensioner helps, if its off a little,you could weld it directly to the shaft,but threaded is better, i found some 6 inch pulleys, but might be too big in diameter,well i hope this helps you,im keeping it on back burner ,if needed,think i paid 180,for a returned used model, so far its better than shoveling
@@sonofthunder. What about an AK56-1/2 pulley, and tap the center 1/2" hole with M14-1.5 left hand? The issue is the pulley hub protrudes, would need to machine that off for the whole thing to fit inside.
@@agentmango yeah the belt is 10mm or 3/8 v,ive seen a few pulleys on ebay that are flat ,i still run the plastic until it melts, ill either find a steel unit and weld,or tap,didnt use it this winter...
Has anyone been able to find this replacement part? It's snow joe big pulley SJ600S-BBPLY and out of stock everywhere. Gonna try JB weld my old one, hoping it holds out
Bog, see Winston Zeb's reply. He 3D printed a pulley.
@@mike7gerald thanks replied to his comment as well
How's this repair holding up, got some snow and it's a few years later now?
I haven't used it a ton since I did this because I got a bigger 2 stage and we've been a little light on snow the past couple of years, but I did just pull it out to clear a few inches off my driveway and it's still working fine. That said, I don't use it at all on big snows like the one that broke it in the first place anymore so I can't say how it would hold up to that.
Hello. I know that this video is old but I need to repair my machine and the parts are no longer available through snowjow site. Do you happen to know the belt specs? I am going to try epoxy for my pulley as well. Mine hasn't stripped out yet but is opened enough to rotate nearly half way through a turn, so if I fill the gap, I am hoping it works. Please let me know if you have the belt specs. It should be printed on the belt if yours is not burned too much (Like mine is). Thanks in advance.
Mine is dead and it has the exact same issue. Snow joe is a piece of jnuk!
Jb weld isn't very strong. Jb weld will fail