QA36 snow thrower
 

I pulled out a qa36 this morning that I had acquired years ago and never done any thing with and I put on one of my 125s that was just sitting around. I have never used any sort of a snow thrower before and know nothing about them. After I greased it I tried it in some heavy wet snow and it tried to throw it but I know I was asking alot of it. My question is do these things work well? Do you guys like them? One other question is what size key stock holds the drive shaft on to the right angle gear box? In my excitement to try my new toy I forgot to tighten the set screw on the yolk and the shaft flew off the gear box while I was playing.

If they are set up right, they work pretty well. They won't throw as far as a 2 stage, though. They work best when you keep them pretty loaded down and the engine working a little bit. No blower works as well in really thick heavy stuff as it does in lighter stuff, but the single stages do ok in either as long as you keep them full.

I like them, but if I had to choose between one and a 2 stage, I'd take a 2 stage 9 times out of 10. If I had to choose between a QA-36/42 and a shovel, I'd take the QA 100 times out of 100.

Parts book says KEY, 3/16 X 11/16 SQ PARALLEL for both ends of the driveshaft.

Key is 3/16" square.

The single stage throwers don't do well with wet snow. I consider it a success if I can get it off the driveway.

Here's my 125 using a QA-42 on my driveway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfWy8jbj_GY

Thank you for the replies. I got some key stock today and put it back together. Guess I'll just have to wait till the next snow and give her a try.