Keeping Up Appearances - How to keep your snow blower looking new.

Ariens Touch-up Paint

As you use your snow blower, it inevitably gets scratched and dinged, often times stripping small amounts of paint from the metal.

Leaving the scratches and dings unattended to may seem okay, excusing it as average wear and tear, but what if they begin to rust? Without the protection of the paint, the metal is now exposed to harsh environmental factors such as water, ice, and salt.

You change the oil, you add fuel stabilizer, you buy and use maintenance kits, and you keep it sheltered and covered during the off-season, so why leave it rust when you put such effort into keeping everything else on it so nice?

Cub Cadet Touch-up Paint

I spoke with one guy who told me how he keeps his snow blower looking great from year to year and prevents rust and corrosion.

With a stainless steel brush, he brushes off any rust or corrosion that's there, and smooths out the area that's missing paint.

Once it's clean, dry, free of rust and corrosion, and smoothed down, he takes a matching color of snow blower touch-up paint and sprays the spot. As long as you keep using a matching color of paint, which comes in brand specific colors at Snow Blowers Direct, it'll look great.

By doing this after each season, he gets to start the next season with a brand new looking snow blower, keeping his neighbors wondering why his stays so nice!

How Do You Fix a Broken Shear Pin?

Most two-stage snow blowers are equipped with a fail-safe mechanism that will protect your drive shaft and the motor from becoming damaged due to excessive torque.

This occurs when something other than snow, such as a chunk of ice, gets into the blade of the auger. This is where the shear pins come into play.

A snow blower's shear pins are designed to break off to prevent damage to the auger shaft and gear case.

Here are a few helpful tips for replacing a broken shear pin:

1. Pull the wire off of the spark plug to ensure the snow blower cannot start while you're working on dislodging the foreign object from the auger. 
2. Remove any debris that could be jammed in the auger. Never remove the debris by hand - jammed objects can cause the auger to spring forward. Use a pair of pliers if possible to pull the debris loose.
3. If you notice the shear pin is stuck, line up the holes on the axle and the auger, then just lightly tap out the pin.
4. Align the drive shaft holes and slide the manufacture specified shear pin into the hole and tighten the nut onto the threaded end.
5. Reconnect the spark plug and you're ready to go. 

For more information on shear pins including how to select the correct style and where to buy, check out this article titled, "Shear Coincidence."