Hi,
I have a Craftsman snowblower Model 88180 that doesn't want to move. As I was using it yesterday while in gear it suddenly stopped, wouldn't propel by the drive in either rev or forward. The wheels do move freely. As I turned this over and lifted the bottom plate I notice that there was a bolt holding the shaft and the wheels together had broken off. I thought well, this should be easy, so I put another bolt in and it started to work again until it sheared that off within the first 2 min. I did notice that there is a lot of play between the two wheels. I also can pull on the belt and do not know if this is an factor or not. It seems as though the play in the wheels causes extreme slack/force for this to shear the bolts. Can you tell me what this could be? I've had this since the beginning of 2005 and probably have used this thing approximately 8 times.

Hi,
It could be the hardness of the bolt. They are grade-marked. I will try to find info, but Craftsman uses 9 digit model numbers to find info.
Peace,
Clarke