I was out yesterday snowblowing with the trusty 1962 Ariens 10ML60, and the sucker broke right in two
The mounting tabs on the upper half of the auger assembly broke loose due to metal fatigue. I have never seen anything like that ever happen in the hundreds of snowblowers I have repaired over the years.
Luckily, I had a spare auger housing sitting in a snowbank....I had to rebuild it and make one good one out of two when the 1" thick steel bar that holds the front auger snapped in half, same reason.....and I didn't have chance to dispose of the other housing. Good thing, too.
When I rebuilt it back in December, I caught a 40 degree day and it took me about 3 hours to tear two augers down to nuts and bolts and rebuild it. Since it's in the single digits and -10 to -20 wind chills, screw that, I'm doing it in the house!
The "new" housing is showing drip drying in the first shot, and the second shot is the functioning yet unmountable auger from the machine, sitting on a piece of plywood with towels on it, thawing out.
Yep, that's what's "on the bench" this weekend!!!