R84 snowcaster

[MattA]

Dave it looks like the belt drive Berco that Timj posted may have a shear pin on the large input pulley. The Berco manual does have a warning about some sort of misalignment causing repeated shear upon failures. I'd have to look in the manual for more info.

[DavidBarkey]

Dave it looks like the belt drive Berco that Timj posted may have a shear pin on the large input pulley. The Berco manual does have a warning about some sort of misalignment causing repeated shear upon failures. I'd have to look in the manual for more info.

Yes they have a 1/4" grade 2 bolt on both drive pulleys. The chain drive style has a 3/16" pin that I have to up grade to a 1/4" grade 2 bolt for my customer . It still shears in a jam up , but is now strong enough to take heavy snow load of Muskoka winters . This guy brings me this unit every fall to get ready for winter . He travels almost an hour and a half one way each time . Has done so since I sold him this big Craftsman gt/ blower set up 5 years ago .

[Harry]

Wow, you all gave me a lot of info to digest. Chain drive, belt drive, auger vs sprocket replacement. The sprocket is definitely wore some but I can still get some more use from it. Welding another sprocket on would be easy enough removing the old one is more a delicate matter. Time is of essence now with snow in the forecast so it will go back together today. I appreciate everyone’s professional advice. Harry

[Harry]

Bob got me thinking about changing the sprocket on the auger. It’s a 7.5” diameter sprocket. TSC has sprockets that are one inch less in diameter. I know that would make the rpm of the auger faster, but not sure how much. I know there is a formula to figure this out. Harry

[Jancoe]

Harry, the auger sprocket is 47 tooth. I once tried to figure the formula out as I thought about changing the size while mine was torn down. I don't think I found the size I wanted so I didn't change mine. Mine wasn't in bad shape so I opted not to. One thing I noticed was the replacement sprocket has 3 holes in it. You could always plasma the old sprocket down enough to get the old teeth out of the way and drill and bolt the new one on to the old remaining sprocket. You may want to weld it though. That's what I'd want to do anyway. Regardless, I'd say repairing the current caster will get you back in business faster than replacing with something different.

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[Harry]

Jancoe, thanks for your reply. At TSC I had seen they had collars that can be fitted to a shaft and sprockets that bolt to the collar. Then you could change ratios with different sprockets. A person would have to remove the auger everytime. Harry

[JSinMO]

@Harry not sure if this will be helpful but I found a gear ratio calculator. https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/gear-ratio

You can enter the number of teeth on the input and output sprockets and you engine RPM and it will calculate the auger speed. Might be handy if you want to try a different size.

[MattA]

Bob could probably get you the correct sprocket in 2 days... anyways Berco for $100. Looks similar to mine. Mine is model 700211-1.
https://nh.craigslist.org/for/d/dublin- ... 43447.html

Edit... I just looked up Lockport NY... didn't realize you were on the complete opposite side of NY from me. That would be quite the road trip to get that Berco.

[Harry]

Thanks everyone for your input. I put it back together and trying to get it ready for snow. I like the idea of a Berco, but that’s a battle for another day. Harry