Steve Wood said: Hi there. We just received a GA-30 as a donation and I am not familiar with this even though I have seen them.
I have heard these quite often break shear pins and on our greens that will happen. After looking at this machine I can not find where they are. Does anybody know where they are on this machine and where I can get some. We have no manual and no model number. Any help or pictures of these would be a great help.
Thanks, Steve
If you look from the rear of the machine with the top off you will notice the large gears with the chains on them. there the shafts bolt to the sides of the gears there are single bolts that hold them onto the plate. these are the shear pins. they must only be replaced with shear pins as there is a reason they are made to break. you will need the manual to reinstall the pins though as there are different holes that align the unit up for different types of aerification and must be set according to the right alignment for both sides.
This was actually a really good machine but there are a few certain things that must be kept up for it to punch holes properly. one of them is the rubber bumpers on the back of the machine where the bottom of the main shafts rebound when punching the holes. if these are missing split or only part there replace them.
Its been over ten years since we had ours but when it was running properly it did a fantastic job. I would love another one but only for greens as everything else just beats them up and tears them apart.