GWguy
*
When I was at my dad's house earlier this week, I drug out his snow thrower to make sure it was ready, just in case. I fired it up and engaged the auger. Made a horrible noise, so I shut it down right away. I was really surprised at what I found. Apparently the last person he loaned it to was very abusive, and tried to use the snow thrower to clear frozen snow and ice mounds. The hard pack actually pushed the sidewalls of the auger inlet apart to the point where the auger fell out of the bearings. The auger was just slamming around with nothing to hold it. It was also apparent that the snow thrower had been used while in that state. The bearings themselves were made of plastic and one was broken. No one could understand why the shear pins kept shearing, so they replaced them with hard bolts. 
Took me a while to patch it back up. Used a mallet to straighten the side walls back to the point where the auger was correctly aligned and stays in the bearings. Have to order new parts, bearings, etc... It took no effort at all to bend the sidewalls. Very thin metal. The really disappointing thing was this was a better model Craftsman. The places they got cheap were not places you would normally inspect when looking for a snow thrower. That prompted me to look at my Ariens when I got home. The sidewall metal is much thicker and would be hard pressed to bend under load, the bearings are metal, the mechanics all work more smoothly.
So, the upshot of this is an FYI for anyone looking to get a snow thrower. Pay attention to the details. Look less at the creature comforts like a built-in headlight and more at the construction. After what I saw, I was not impressed with Craftsman.
Took me a while to patch it back up. Used a mallet to straighten the side walls back to the point where the auger was correctly aligned and stays in the bearings. Have to order new parts, bearings, etc... It took no effort at all to bend the sidewalls. Very thin metal. The really disappointing thing was this was a better model Craftsman. The places they got cheap were not places you would normally inspect when looking for a snow thrower. That prompted me to look at my Ariens when I got home. The sidewall metal is much thicker and would be hard pressed to bend under load, the bearings are metal, the mechanics all work more smoothly.
So, the upshot of this is an FYI for anyone looking to get a snow thrower. Pay attention to the details. Look less at the creature comforts like a built-in headlight and more at the construction. After what I saw, I was not impressed with Craftsman.
