In article
,
DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Feb 11, 11:41*am, wrote:
On Saturday, February 9, 2013 4:46:48 PM UTC-5, Bob wrote:
Big Auger wheel in front turns.
But won't throw snow. No clog.
Can't see if the high speed Impeller is turning or not.

Sure you can. Hold down the handle, stretch out a little, and LOOK. Any
normal person has enough reach to be able to lean around and look in the
front. Worst case you can look down the chute and see the impeller.

Or, just get someone to hold it for you, or get them to look. They don't
have to stick their head in there or even get within 10 feet of the thing.
It's not in gear so it can't chase you around. It doesn't even have to be
running full-bore. If they do somehow get caught by the machine, LET GO OF
THE TRIGGER. You don't have to sit there paralyzed in fear while your
assistant is slowly sucked in and ground into hamburger by the
snowblower... Of course if it's running at an idle, it will stall
immediately, and if it's running full-bore, it will shear a pin long before
your assistant gets hurt.

People watch too many horror movies, and can't differentiate between
reality and fantasy. In real life snowblowers have redundant safety
features...

First, don't get close enough to get sucked in.

Second, if by some chance the snowblower jumps into gear and starts chasing
you around, let go of the handle and it will stop.

Third, if the snowblower jumps into gear and the handle gets stuck, push
the throttle lever to OFF.

Fourth, if the snowblower jumps into gear and the handle gets stuck and the
throttle lever won't shut it off, remove the safety key to immediately kill
the engine.

Fifth, if the snowblower jumps into gear and the handle gets stuck and the
throttle lever won't shut it off and the safety key doesn't work, yank the
spark plug wire and the engine will die.

Sixth, if the snowblower jumps into gear and the handle gets stuck and the
throttle lever won't shut it off and the safety key doesn't work and the
snowblower is somwhow possessed by the devil so yanking the spark plug wire
doesn't shut it off, just push it over on its side.

You don't have to sit there paralyzed in fear while the snowblower chews
you into hamburger.

While I love all the suggestions in case things go terribly wrong, I'm
going to postulate that your statement "Any normal person has enough
reach to be able to lean around and look in the front" may not be
accurate. I guess it depends on your definition of "normal".

I'm not home right now, but I really don't think that I could hold
down the auger handle and be able to see into the front of the auger
housing. I'm almost 100% sure that I couldn't reach far enough to be
able to see the impeller through the front. Maybe through the chute,
but not through the front of the machine. I'll try tonoght, but I
doubt I'll be able to see much.

Now, I am below the "average" height of US males, but - even if you
equate "average" with "normal" - I don't think the extra few inches
would help.

I'm 6'5 with a long reach, and I can't stretch far enough to see around
mine. But if I slip a glove over the handle it will hold down the lever
keeping the auger running. (and when I was young and stupid I would
stand in front of it and kick the ice and snow that the plow had left
behind into it.)

Most likely a shear pin. Could have happened if it was started while
there was ice in the impeller. A few times I've had to throw a tarp over
mine with a trouble-light under it to warm it up and thaw it out. (I
better stock up on more bulbs while I still can, doubt if a cfl would
work.)