Blow it out your...
So the guy who plows the cemetery did come by, which is good. But he didn't do one section I think because the hill you have to go up was too slippery. Looks like he tried. Anyway, so I debated what to do, and decided after sanding the hill, to go get the snow blower and clear the road. It's nice sunny weather, and the faster the sun can get to the pavement, the faster the snow will clear the roads. The snow blower (20 years old if it's a day) started like a champ, without the electric start even. I made three passes around to get a car's width and on my way back down I noticed that snow was falling off to the side of the blower, while it was still coming out of the chute. I stopped to see if something was jammed, poked the snow with my stick, and realized that one side of the split auger was not turning. Figures, right?
So I go back to the shop with it, clean it off and leave it to warm up. Meanwhile there is a message from the Supt. that we may have an impending funeral, his neighbor who has lots just died. PERFECT! I have to clear snow for a funeral and the blower is only half working. I call him and tell him my tale of woe, and he tells me what I basically already surmised, that the sheer pin has broken and I need to just tap out the old one and put in a new one. Easy peasy.
Except I cant find where the old sheer pin is. I finally determine that the auger has shifted over an inch, and so I pry it back to where it should be, and sure enough I find the sheer pin. Why the auger moved I don't know. It may be what caused the pin to sheer, or it may be that it just moved in the time it took me to notice it wasn't working. I'm hoping for the latter.
Well, now the only problem is I cant find any spare sheer pins. I KNOW there should be spares, I am actually sure that somewhere there ARE spares, but I cant find them. I go to Lowes, and they have two kinds, one kind too small, one kind too big. The joy of Simplicity is that only Simplicity parts fit. I go to the Supt. house because he said he had some that would fit, and again, wrong. Different machine. So I call the parts place and they say they have them, so I will have to make a trip over there tomorrow morning to get them. Then I hopefully will be back in business.
Of course while looking at the repair manual, I noticed all the belts and things in the machine that 'could go wrong' and probably will eventually, and I'm just waiting for the next thing to break, because at this rate... well you know.
I'm going to get oil too, because I cant remember when the last time the oil was changed in the machine. It doesn't get that much use these last few years. But I'm sure it's been over the 25 hours.
I'll make another entry for the other stuff. This one seems sufficiently full.
So I go back to the shop with it, clean it off and leave it to warm up. Meanwhile there is a message from the Supt. that we may have an impending funeral, his neighbor who has lots just died. PERFECT! I have to clear snow for a funeral and the blower is only half working. I call him and tell him my tale of woe, and he tells me what I basically already surmised, that the sheer pin has broken and I need to just tap out the old one and put in a new one. Easy peasy.
Except I cant find where the old sheer pin is. I finally determine that the auger has shifted over an inch, and so I pry it back to where it should be, and sure enough I find the sheer pin. Why the auger moved I don't know. It may be what caused the pin to sheer, or it may be that it just moved in the time it took me to notice it wasn't working. I'm hoping for the latter.
Well, now the only problem is I cant find any spare sheer pins. I KNOW there should be spares, I am actually sure that somewhere there ARE spares, but I cant find them. I go to Lowes, and they have two kinds, one kind too small, one kind too big. The joy of Simplicity is that only Simplicity parts fit. I go to the Supt. house because he said he had some that would fit, and again, wrong. Different machine. So I call the parts place and they say they have them, so I will have to make a trip over there tomorrow morning to get them. Then I hopefully will be back in business.
Of course while looking at the repair manual, I noticed all the belts and things in the machine that 'could go wrong' and probably will eventually, and I'm just waiting for the next thing to break, because at this rate... well you know.
I'm going to get oil too, because I cant remember when the last time the oil was changed in the machine. It doesn't get that much use these last few years. But I'm sure it's been over the 25 hours.
I'll make another entry for the other stuff. This one seems sufficiently full.