I keep breaking the shear bolt on the PTO of my tractor mounted snowblower. I have an idea what I'm doing wrong, but get only a slack-jawed, "I guess so." from the people behind the parts counter at 2 different ag. equipment dealers when I seek confirmation.
The tractor is a mid-sized 2005 90hp John Deere with 75 PTO horsepower within an RPM range of 2140 to (I don't recall). The blower is a 7ft. single auger. I've used, as recommended 3/8 diameter (might be 5/16?) grade 5 or similar 8.8 metric bolt/nut combos. The PTO shaft sits relatively straight, and I can turn the auger easily by hand at any position from grounded to the top of the 3pt hitch stroke.
My suspicion is that I'm running it at too low an RPM, allowing both snow to gather in front of the auger, as well as in the chute loading up the unit causing the shear to fail.
One of the parts monkey's suggested using a grade 8 bolt, but I'm not eager to tempt disaster with such an experiment. Shear bolts are supposed to shear, and from what I can tell metric grade 8.8 being slightly stronger than grade 5 is the maximum that should be used.
Opinions?