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Old Craftsman Drift Breaker 3 Stage Blower (DB2)

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#102 ·
The parts are looking good, Dave. After it's finished, you may have to think twice before using it. ;) :D
 
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#105 ·
tracktortag said:
Just looking at the first pic in my recent post, I can see the white chute assy., but why the white auger and impellor? Oh well, that was the color they were painted...
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It is to sneak up on the snow. :LOL: Actually I think it’s just to accent the blower housing. It looks good anyways.
 
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#106 ·
Looking good, who made these for Craftsman originally?

I can remember buying Sears DieHard leather wool lined boots, once the internet came about, I found out Chippawa made them for Sears. I bought several pairs of them, cut a lot of firewood in those boots.

CCMoe
 
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Discussion starter · #107 ·
Thanks, CCMoe. I believe that it was Murray who made them for Sears (Craftsman). It sounds like you got a lot of good use out of your DieHards. I remember my father, who was a lineman, and others who worked for our power company buying boots called "Snow Pacs" or "Packs". They all swore by them at the time (early 1960's).
 
Discussion starter · #113 ·
I started working on the handlebars today, sanding the surface rust and red overspray with an angle grinder and sanding disc. It's almost like I could get away with finishing them with a finer grit and polishing instead of painting them. It would be better too, I think. I'm going to do some more and see how they turn out. Before and after pic so far.

Image
 
Discussion starter · #114 ·
With Christmas over and my daughter gone to celebrate New Years with her BF and his family I decided that today would be a good day to start some reassembling of the DB.

I got off to a good start, mounting the impeller to the shaft, bolting the drum to the bucket, sliding the auger/impeller assy. into place, bolting the side panels up..., and noticing that the auger axle extended waay beyond the side panel on one side and just barely on the other. I removed the side panels, pulled the auger/impeller assy., removed the augers and measured the auger axle. It measured 14 in. from the gearbox on one side, and 15 in. on the other side. I installed the auger axle backwards when I assembled the gearbox! I split the box and reversed the axle so that it is now correct. I tested it to be sure that the augers will turn in the right direction when its back together.

Tomorrow I'll clean the mating surfaces of the case halves and bolt them back together. Then I'll continue bolting the blower half back together.., hopefully.
 
#115 ·
Good catch on the auger axle, Dave. That's an easy mistake to make.
 
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Discussion starter · #116 ·
Thanks, Al. It was the kind of catch that couldn't be missed. The first thing I did was to reverse the augers on the axle as a test. Sure enough, the axle ends equaled out. The extra 1 inch on the one side accommodates the chain sprocket on the outer left auger end that drives the beater bar.
 
Discussion starter · #118 ·
I made a little progress today. The front end is mostly back together. I still need to pick up a rear drum drive shaft bearing (old one back on temporarily for auger/impeller fitment) , and adjust and tighten the impeller mod paddles before installing the chute. I drilled the mounting holes and loosely installed the paddle assys. while the impeller was out so installation was a breeze. The beater bar frame, beater bar, and chain and lights also have to be installed.

I wound up painting the handlebars using Dupli color chrome paint that had been left over from when I painted the Gravely 430's lift arm some years ago. That has held up well, so I figured self etching primer, primer sealer and 3 coats of "chrome" should do the trick.

Speaking of paint, I had a little surprise while putting the bucket and drum back together. They are different shades of "Sunrise Red". The bucket is a more vibrant and has more orange that I was looking for, and everything else is a darker, and more red. You can see the difference in the pic between the bucket and drum. Different batches of paint. I still have the 3 rattle cans of paint that I had matched to original color, so I may do something with that.

I also had a nice surprise when I discovered that floating flange bearings can be reversed within their flanges. The bearings were sticking out the wrong way for use with the auger shafts. At first, I thought that they were pressed in, and I would have to exchange them. But then I saw some movement. I tapped one side of the bearing until it was perpendicular to the flange, then one more tap sent it in the other direction.




Image
 
#119 ·
Those bearing inserts may have set screws. You might want to tighten them to the shaft, so it's the bearing that turns, rather than the shaft in the bearing. They are (at least usually) the same bearings as used in standard pillow blocks, and are a lot cheaper to buy from bearing shops vs oem bearings...
 
Discussion starter · #120 ·
Yes, each bearing has 2 set screws next to one another. I haven't tightened then up yet but will be doing so. I picked these bearing sets up from a shop, but they still cost more than I thought they would. Most of the oem parts for this blower were already listed as NLA on an old IPL that I found online.
 
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