Hello,
I have a Craftsman 536.886540 which was given us years of trouble-free service. But my son caught an outdoor extension cord in the auger, pulling it out of the bearing/holder on one side. I removed the side panels, not knowing what to do. Oops...

I began reattaching the side panels one bolt at a time, while keeping the auger ends located in the holders.

But now the auger is rubbing hard against the inside of the scoop - is that the right word? - and any turning of the impeller by hand move the auger just little, before it gets stuck again.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Scratching my head here.
Thank you!

Did the auger get bent when the cord got wound up in it? Maybe post a picture of the auger housing, so we can help.

The impeller is going to be turning about 10 times to 1 with the auger. It's likely the auger housing or bucket is bent. If you get a chance please post a couple photos of how it looks.

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^This. I've also donated 12/3 wire to the experience gods LOL. After some head scratching myself after re-seating everything was one side of the cowl (the side that ate most of the cord) was bent outwards at the front by about 1/4" at the bottom. Using a big pipe clamp across its face to apply a little "english" to the metal got it back into position and vibration free again.

to SBF madmedix

Whatever it takes. Just need to be smarter than the machine.

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Some of this depends on whether the machine has a full width auger shaft or not. If it doesn't, the ends of the augers are held in place by a sleeve that goes inside the auger rage and slips into the bearing. I've seen those ****-eyed before. Take the auger belt off and pull the sparkplug wire and rotate the auger pulley and watch the augers, I suspect the one end is either bent or pulled out of alignment.