I have a 3 yr old Troybilt Snowblower 8526, and the gear box has me flustered.

I did find one bearing that was frozen, but even after pulling that out of the machine, the gears do not move freely when the smallest spur gear in the box is in place. I put penetrating oil on the gears and I was able to move them by turning the hex rod with a crescent wrench, but not freely. It took way too much effort. Something else is amuk and I can't figure it out. Do I have to replace the axle (gear shaft)? Could the Hex Flange Bearing on the same side also be frozen? The machine was near a large quantity of Chlorene for a month, and that could explain why only 1 side is frozen.

I had one that was Rusty.. Shifter would barely move... So I took Off The rear inspection cover, UNHOOKED The LINKAGE... and SPRAYED WD-40 In There, and TIED The CLUTCH LEVER Down With ROPE, Then Adfter Spraying in there, carefully (Avoiding The Rubber Drive Wheel) I Took an Adustable Wrench, and Carefully Tried To Move The "Square Part".. back and forth "A LITTLE At A TIME".

I Noticed The (SLIDE-Horizontal) Shaft Was Also DRY, and Sprayed That, Then It Started to Move, Then Wiped It Down and Greased Where things Move, and Hooked The Linkage and Oiled That, and It Works GRERAT. Hope this helps..

Could you have installed one of the gears, inside out so to speak? If so, the "meshing" of the gears will be incorrect and cause binding, damage, and failure.