How to Fix a Snowblower Jam

We've all been there, we rev up the old snow blower (or the new one!) in the garage, get outside, energized and ready to tackle the elements and clear the driveway, and then bingo, you're stuck trying to fix a snow blower jam. The good news is that the majority of snowblower jams are easy to solve without too much hassle or time. Let's take a look at the main snowblower repair you're going to have to learn to deal with if you haven't by now, how to fix a snowblower jam.

Why do snowblower jams occur?

A snowblower can jam for several reasons, but it's basically either a jam in the auger or a jam in the discharge chute. A jam can sneak up on you if the snow is particularly wet or icy, if you were moving very quickly through an area or if your auger isn't properly breaking all of the chunks down into smaller pieces. Additionally it's possible that other objects can get lodged in the machinery, such as rocks, frozen mud or grass and so on.

So how do I fix the snow blower jam?

First you want to make sure to turn the snowblower off. Please note, that just because the snowblower is turned off, it's not safe to just stick your hand in there and start moving things around! Even NHL player Joe Sakic can attest to that, as he injured himself recently doing just that and has to miss 3 months of the season!

What happens is that when your snowblower has a jam, the blades or paddles on the auger can get twisted up and basically stuck in the position. It's the elements causing the jam that are keeping the auger stuck in that fashion, so if you remove those ice or snow chunks, then guess what, the blades will return to their normal position at full speed! Clearly that's a situation you need to steer clear of.

So instead of just reaching your hand in there and hoping nothing goes wrong during your snowblower repairs, you should use either the shaft of a shovel or other garden tool, or a long and skinny stick that's lying around. Begin prodding and breaking down any large ice chunks or any clumps of wet snow or foreign materials. If you didn't notice anything jammed there, or the jam wasn't completely cleared, then simply do the same thing to the chute to see if you can free anything up.

There you go, you just fixed a snow blower jam, you didn't lose a finger and your back and ready for action! But what if that didn't fix your problem and your snowblower still is struggling?

You may need replacement parts for a snowblower

Sometimes your snowblower won't be jammed but it will break down. Additionally, a worn down or broken part can lead to frequent jams, and overtaxing a snowblower when jammed can lead to breaking parts.

But most snowblower replacement parts are cheap enough to purchase and easy enough to install. Be sure to browse our listing of our parts snowblowers that can match almost any make, model or brand of snowblower.