The auger control assembly is the single most important safety part on a snow blower, and the one people are most tempted to defeat. This is stock number 303070273A, the bail lever and bracket that stops the auger turning the moment you take your hand off the handlebar. Here is the honest picture on this auger control assembly, written for Canadian conditions rather than for a catalogue.
On this page
- Choosing a auger control assembly for a Canadian driveway
- Specifications
- Why you must never tie the auger control assembly down
- Symptoms of a worn auger control assembly
- The five second auger control assembly test
- Replacing the auger control assembly
- Related parts on the same machine
- Common questions
Choosing a auger control assembly for a Canadian driveway
Squeeze the auger control assembly bail against the handlebar and the auger engages. Let go and it stops. That is the whole function, and it is called a dead man control because it assumes the operator has stopped being able to hold it.
Mechanically the auger control assembly is a lever pivoting in a bracket, pulling a cable that either tensions the auger belt or releases a brake. When the bail is released a spring returns the lever, the cable slackens, the belt goes loose and the auger coasts to a stop. On a well set up machine that takes under five seconds.
Everything about the part is designed to fail safe. The spring pushes toward stopped. The cable pulls toward running. If the cable snaps, the auger stops. That is deliberate, and it is why a worn auger control assembly usually shows up as an auger that will not engage rather than one that will not stop.
Specifications
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Stock number | 303070273A |
| Part type | Auger control lever and bracket assembly |
| Function | Dead man control, operator presence |
| Action | Spring return to the stopped position |
| Related | Auger control cable, auger control bar |
| Machine type | PowerSmart snow blowers |
Why you must never tie the auger control assembly down
The most common modification people make to a snow blower is holding the auger bail down with a bungee, a zip tie or a bit of rope, usually so they can use both hands on the chute crank. Do not do this.
The reason is not liability paperwork. It is that the two things most likely to go wrong while clearing snow are a chute jam and a fall, and both of them end very differently depending on whether the auger stops when you let go. A jammed auger under load stores energy: when the blockage clears, the auger turns. If the bail is tied down, it turns under power. Slipping on ice with a tied down bail means the machine keeps driving with nobody holding it.
If you are struggling to reach the chute control while holding the bail, the answer is a machine with a better chute layout, not a defeated safety control. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety covers operator presence controls on powered equipment, and our snow blower safety guide goes through snow blower specific habits.
Symptoms of a worn auger control assembly
Four things tell you the auger control assembly needs attention, and only one of them is an emergency.
The auger keeps turning after you release the bail. This is the serious one. Stop using the machine. It usually means the cable has stretched or the return spring has weakened, so the belt never fully slackens.
The auger will not engage, or slips under load. The opposite fault and the far more common one. Usually cable stretch, sometimes a worn pivot in the bracket.
The bail feels loose, notchy or sits at an odd angle. The pivot has worn oval, which changes the geometry so the same hand movement pulls less cable.
The bail does not spring back briskly. A lazy return is a weak spring or a seized pivot, and it is the early warning for the first symptom on this list.
The five second auger control assembly test
Do this before the first snowfall, every year, on a cleared driveway.
Start the machine, engage the auger, let it come to full speed, then release the bail and count. The auger should stop within about five seconds. If it keeps turning past that, or does not stop at all, the machine is not safe to use until the auger control assembly and its cable are put right.
Test the drive control the same way if your machine is self propelled. Both belong on the pre season list in our maintenance checklist, and the snow blower repair guide covers cable adjustment, which fixes most of these faults without a new part.
Replacing the auger control assembly
Disconnect the power first: spark plug lead off, or battery out. Photograph the cable routing before you disturb anything, because the cable must run the same path or it will bind when the handlebar folds.
Release the cable at the auger end, free it from the bail, then unbolt the bracket. Fit the new auger control assembly, reconnect the cable, and set the free play before you tighten anything: with the bail released there should be a small amount of slack, and squeezing it should engage the auger well before the bail reaches the handlebar. Too tight and the belt is always partly engaged, which cooks it. Too loose and the auger slips.
Then run the five second test above before you clear anything. A new auger control assembly that has not been adjusted is no safer than the worn one it replaced.
Related parts on the same machine
The auger control does not work alone. Two parts in the same system are worth checking at the same time.
Auger control bar-AM7006A, DB7006B, MB7006B: the bar you actually hold, sold separately from the bracket assembly.
Auger Belt (Gates Truflex 4LXP700): the control tensions this belt, so a slipping auger is often the belt rather than the control.
Common questions
Can I tie the auger control bail down?
No. It is the control that stops the auger when you let go, and the two situations where you most need it, a chute jam and a fall, are exactly the situations where a tied bail causes injury.
My auger keeps spinning after I let go. Is that dangerous?
Yes, and the machine should not be used until it is fixed. It usually means a stretched cable or a weak return spring. The auger should stop within about five seconds.
The auger will not engage at all. Is the control the problem?
Possibly, but check the cable adjustment and the belt first. Both are cheaper and both fail more often than the control assembly itself.
Is stock 303070273A the same as the auger control bar?
No. The bar is the part you grip and it has its own stock number. This is the lever and bracket assembly the bar acts on.
Do I need to adjust the cable after fitting a new control?
Yes, always. Set a small amount of free play with the bail released, and make sure the auger engages before the bail reaches the handlebar.
How often should I test the dead man control?
Every autumn before the first snowfall, and any time the auger behaviour changes. It takes five seconds.
Will a worn control damage anything else?
Yes. A cable adjusted too tight keeps the belt partly engaged, which glazes and destroys it, so a neglected control usually costs you a belt as well.
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