Loosening a Rusty Snowblower Shaft

Get the unit good and cold, then use a torch to heat the joint. Thermal expansion is your friend.

I find the heating up the part, then putting wax that melts on the hot part seems to work best for me.

I don't know if the melted wax gets wicked into the rusted areas or not, but its freed many a thing for me that heat or penetrant alone have not.

In 35 years of hands on tinkering Kroil has never once failed me. It's expensive but worth every dime. I hobby on old tractors. Trust that I know rust. Remember that shock is always better than steady pressure on a rusted fastener. Shock is less likely to leave you with a broken fastener.

I agree. KROIL is an excellent product. With patience, it will work.

Try "PB Blaster" penetration oil.....best stuff on the market IMHO! You can buy it almost anywhere these days...try Walmart, Lowe's, The Home Depot or Tractor Supply. If you buy it at the local auto parts store you will be paying through the nose.

All you need to do is apply a few liberal applications of PB Blaster to the offending rusty part or fastener, and walla, it busts loose like nothing you've ever seen before. It has never let me down in the past 35 years of shade tree mechanics when I'm working on my vehicles. I swear by this stuff....it makes WD40 look like child's play!!! **LOL***

If all else fails, apply a steady stream of blow torch to the offending part....that has never failed me either, especially when it comes to loosening heavily rusted and torqued down exhaust manifold bolts on engines. It seems to me that a bottle of MAP gas works the fastest.......if you use propane you'll be there forever!

Good luck with the snowbower....know how that goes after being there several times with old clunker snowblowers!!! ***BILL THE CAT ACCCKKKK ACCCKKK!!!!***

Let us know how you make out, okay?

May you and your family enjoy a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I've often had to apply heat to the "frozen" parts. Most of the time, a cylinder of mapp gas will do fine provided you have a small fine tipped flame and can apply the heat without damaging other parts. On large assemblies with substantial mass, I'll use an Oxy-acetylene torch lean on oxygen (orange flame).

When the part if hot enough, I spray a penetrating oil, like WD 40.

You have to be very careful when spraying thin lubricants like WD-40 on a hot part. The fumes can ignite, so do the job outdoors, spray from a distance and have a heavy wet towel and fire extinguisher near by- just in case.

L. J.

I agree, heat followed by WD-40 has worked for me many times before, and you don't necessarily have to get them cherry red hot before spraying. Be advised that heavy, thick smoke will be generated when spraying a hot part with WD-40. Be generous with the WD-40, spray it on until it wets the part.

I tend to soak the joint with WD40 or Liquid Wrench before heating the parts. I'll let that sit over night if I have time. Then I try to keep the flame on the part that will expand off the joint. It's good to try to move the shaft before things cool off so a pair of channel locks to grab the part with quickly will help. Lots of ventilation are necessary as the fumes will get obnoxious quickly, as has been pointed out.

Follow up the heating and wiggling with a heavier oil - 3 in 1 or engine oil - to lube the part for final disassembly. And if you are tempted to give the shaft a whack with something a piece of 2x4 or something similar is a good way to go. Or put a small piece of 2x4 between the shaft and the hammer.

Good luck.

Use a bigger hammer

The ideas for penetrating oil and heat are good ones but since it's a 1978 unit with parts seized up with rust I would make sure that the drive is your only problem. This could rapidly become more expensive than a new unit. Get some prices before you get dirty.

i concur. however, regular application of standard human sweat and muscle can be very effective motivational therapy. and its cheaper than buying new machinery, rather than dealing with the 'fix'. hot tempered parts may lose some strength capacity and become short lived if too much heat is applied callously. not knowing the specific location of this bind, i would apply gentle heat, enough to wick any number of those magic release agents into the rust matrix. (even good old pepsi cola or even rust removing solutions for paint preparation systems). let it sit until it cools, then give it (the strongest part) a whack so as to provide stress along the shortest rust matrix path. also, be cautous of the possibility of fabric or other organic components hidden within some cheaper bearing assemblies.

This product is made by Schaeffer Manufacturing. www.schaefferoil.com

If you can find a can of PB Blaster it is the best penitrating substance I have ever used. It even runs uphill into joints. Apply a little spray and wait about 3 minutes and reapply and wait a couple of minutes Tap (Not beat) shaft and reapply the shaft retaining pins, nuts, bolt or what ever is holding it on should come off like magic.

I have used PB Blaster on rusted 2" Galvanized pipes and locks rusted shut as well as many things in between and Nothing I have ever tried has come close to releasing rusted or corroded parts.

If you use it on threaded parts you will reuse apply brake cleaner after seperating the parts to remove remnants of PB Blaster so the parts will not vibrate loose after reinstalling the parts.

Greetings.

Per Tom in part room Boeing tested 6 different lubricants LPS1 to LPS6.

LPS3 being the best.

It has a super penetrating part and a super lubricating part that lasts up to 2 years.

I used it to free up rusted solid boiler inducer motors and they have kept running over 2 years.

Kano Aero Kroil is good also.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

You may find oil of spearmint the active ingredient of many if not well credited penetrants. Oil of spearmint is available at most drug stores over the counter. If left on a well cleaned part over night often it will free even saltwater corroded parts. If not then a blue wrench with tapping of ball-peen hammer or pneumatic chisel tool for impact is effective.

BTW oil of spearmint has a wonderful aroma

Please be careful with the oil of spearmint. Check out a chemical compatibility chart on that stuff. You will not believe how corrosive that seemingly innocent oil is. It will take on almost any elastomer.

Rubber beware

Get the part really hot, then while it is hot, chuck it in a large container of cold water.

A 1978 snowblower may take two men and a boy to chuck

or If you are really intent on removing that nut... Google: Nut Spliter