Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

I got sick of using soft keys or so called hardened shaft keys,..seems everytime I tear down at the end of the season,..I never knew what I was going to get when I pulled the gearbox off the engine. nd it was never pretty,..until this past tear down.  The shaft key looked brand new and so did the crank on the Honda engine. When you start getting 8-10 GPM with a gearbox,..the torque on a shaft key is much greater and will tear them up,..along with the crankshaft.   

Next time you need a shaft key do a search for "TOOL BITS"  in my experience they are much harder than a hardened shaft key.  Look for  M35 or M42 HSS,..easily found on ebay. 

*I understand the principle of a shaftkey being the weak point, and should shear before damage,...that makes sense on a lawn mower or a rototiller where the shaft could be stopped abruptly,..but on a PW,..the chances of that are nil,..and the typical shaft keys are too soft,..even the ones that claim to be hardened.  Once the "stepping" of the key starts,..it just gets worse,..quicker. 

Jeff