Removing antique wheel

[RedMF40]

I have a junk #7 sickle mower that I’d like to save one wheel from. I have air and fire and an assortment of BFHs. My main concern is breaking it apart if I strike it too hard. The other wheel was already broken when I got the mower but it came with a spare so I have 2 to put around as yard art or just something to look at. Any chance it’ll come off or should I just cut off the axle? Thanks for any suggestions.
Gerrit

 

[scootergmc]

Cut the axle. Save yourself the time, effort and having to monkey around behind the wheel. Once you have the axle cut it'll be a lot easier to remove the axle stub if you still wish, and you can pound on the axle stub instead of the wheel.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I would cut a half inch plate so it would fit over the axle then with 3 holes for 1/2or 3/4 bolts and a second plate put a socket or a piece of shaft close to the size of the axle unde the front plate and tighten the bolts .IT will now come off or can be warmed up slightly and slow ly so it will come off. I would also probably squirt some diesel fuel or waste engine oil in the slot and clamp bolt holes then some heat it will soak in better and faster. No broken wheel and a good axle for parts if needed. As it comes off if needed longer bolts can be added or longer piece under the plate to reach the end of the shaft. No hammers needed. A lot easier top just pull it off. More time consuming but easier in the long run.

 

[rustred]

I have a junk #7 sickle mower that I’d like to save one wheel from. I have air and fire and an assortment of BFHs. My main concern is breaking it apart if I strike it too hard. The other wheel was already broken when I got the mower but it came with a spare so I have 2 to put around as yard art or just something to look at. Any chance it’ll come off or should I just cut off the axle? Thanks for any suggestions.
GerritView attachment 104937View attachment 104938

Lube the axle on it in that split.no sign of lube I can see. Tie the mower to something solid and then use a chain and tractor on the wheel and jerk it off. Try easy off the bat.

 

[560Dennis]

not enough heat in my opinion .
suggust a party , making some- mores !
I would buy a two forty pound bags of charcoal,marshmallows,graham crackers ,Hershey bars.
lay down some charcoal level 2 inches deep. Set the wheel horizontal, fill more charcoal to enough cover wheel with two inches ,light it with lighter in mutlareas it get heat started even . after 45 minutes should ,the wheel is incandescent , it will fall off with a couple of good taps with hammer , use a two x 4 to drive it off so it doesn’t damage the wheel something soft . Couple of hits around it and it will fall off . Then use the bbq heat for hot dogs with your help, kid love it and will ask you when are we going to do this again.
safety first ,have enough room ans clear of the combustion
can set in on fire brick is you have it.
your going to need help , suggest you and help rehearse who is going to
do what before the some-more party’s starts.
Get some help lined up.

 

[Mark-Ia]

Heat it red hot with a torch, then quench it with water. It should pull off very easy.

 

[Ellis Kinney]

Gently drive a wedge between the bolt holes and squirt with diesel and leave for a few hours. Maybe tap again. Ellis

 

[kencombs]

Gently drive a wedge between the bolt holes and squirt with diesel and leave for a few hours. Maybe tap again. Ellis

Wedge and heat, but heat opposite the wedge area. Lots of heat maybe, but I'd bet the wedge will work.
edit to add: rather than one piece wedge, fill most of the opening with a piece of plate or two , then use a slim wedge.

 

[560Dennis]

The key going to be what will hold the wheel on the shaft till you figure a way to get it to loosen up and slide with the wheel off the shaft . recommend heat up with a penetrating oil , might take a couple of days of heat and soak ing good , if you got two torches , you and a helper , the length of that hub will make very difficult to get it hot enough . Concentrate heat at key first ,keep torche moving or it will melt the wheel like at the bolt ole .

 

[DoubleO7]

I have a junk #7 sickle mower that I’d like to save one wheel from. I have air and fire and an assortment of BFHs. My main concern is breaking it apart if I strike it too hard. The other wheel was already broken when I got the mower but it came with a spare so I have 2 to put around as yard art or just something to look at. Any chance it’ll come off or should I just cut off the axle? Thanks for any suggestions.
GerritView attachment 104937View attachment 104938

If you have air, do you have an air chisel or air hammer?

You might be able to vibrate it loose by hitting the end of axle with the above.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

Did you wedge the gap & try tapping it off??

Mike

 

[Earl Grey]

Gently drive a wedge between the bolt holes and squirt with diesel and leave for a few hours. Maybe tap again. Ellis

I agree with Ellis, use wedges to spread it gently, and use penetrating oil. Cast iron is flexible, but be gentle!

 

[scootergmc]

Well, it's the next day and I still stand by my comment. Cut it off and work from there. 5 minutes later and anything you decide to do will be so much easier.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Lube the axle on it in that split.no sign of lube I can see. Tie the mower to something solid and then use a chain and tractor on the wheel and jerk it off. Try easy off the bat.

That sounds like a good way to get at least part of it off

 

[RedMF40]

Thanks for the replies. In the interest of full disclosure I have not tried anything yet. Thought I’d check here first for ideas. For all I know, a light tap with a hammer and it’ll come flying off but I doubt it. I’ll have time later today to deal with it and I’ll check back. Thanks again.
Gerrit

 

[Fritz Maurer]

I have a junk #7 sickle mower that I’d like to save one wheel from. I have air and fire and an assortment of BFHs. My main concern is breaking it apart if I strike it too hard. The other wheel was already broken when I got the mower but it came with a spare so I have 2 to put around as yard art or just something to look at. Any chance it’ll come off or should I just cut off the axle? Thanks for any suggestions.
GerritView attachment 104937View attachment 104938

The other wheel is cut or was broken off, why not do the same with this side?

 

[RedMF40]

The other wheel is cut or was broken off, why not do the same with this side?

The other wheel is still attached but broken apart. So it’s about a half-wheel. That’s how it was when I bought it. The seller threw in an extra wheel.

 

[moresmoke]

Well, it's the next day and I still stand by my comment. Cut it off and work from there. 5 minutes later and anything you decide to do will be so much easier.

Im in the cut the axle camp if the rest is going for scrap. Will be much easier to deal with then or not necessary.

 

[johnnmr]

You need to decide what's saved for parts and what's scrap. If saving I'd heat til red then try some sort of bearing splitter/puller arrangement. Be patient, getting in a hurry is probably what gets us all in the trouble the most.

I've had good luck with a pro level air hammer but they need an equally stout air compressor to keep up.

If the rest of the machine is scrap cut the axle.

 

[will-max dairy]

Wait a minute... you don't care about the rest of the machine?

Can you cut the axle?

If you do, then, in my experience... whatever method you use... heat, lubrication, etc, ect... you will have a much, much easier time pounding the end of the axle out of the wheel than any method of "pulling" the wheel off of the axle...

I've had to remove the splined flywheels from new holland baler throwers three times now. The first two times, I tried heating and pulling them... both were fiascos that were hours long. The last time, I bit the bullet and pulled the whole shaft... which takes about 30 minutes of disassembly... but once that's done... I setup a couple of stumps and some heavy pieces of angle iron between them... dangled the shaft between the pieces of angle iron, hanging by the flywheel... put some penetrating oil on the splines where the flywheel mounts on the shaft... went and ate breakfast... came back and pounded the shaft a couple times with a 3lb engineer's hammer.... done... the shaft fell out... no heat... no gear pullers.

If you are worried about the brittleness of the wheel, you can put some planks on whatever steel you use to make the "horse" that holds the wheel... because you are pounding on the axle itself and concentrating your impulse there... it will still setup a lot of differential impulse between the axle and the wheel... even if the wheel has a little give to what's holding it.

This trick came from an old timer at the New Holland dealership. He told me that, any time you want to get something off of an axle or shaft... if you can hold it from behind... you're almost always better off pounding on the shaft itself, than trying to pull.

It's worked on a few things for me now.

(if you have a welder... you could weld something like a half inch nut to the face of the axle, to give you a nice little "button" that sticks out proud of the wheel to hit with a sledgehammer... the heat and cooling from the welding itself will probably help too...)