IH #9 mower - need to get the wheels off

[tonyjeepman]

backstory - my wife's grandfather recently passed away and she wanted something to put in our yard to remember him by. We picked up his old IH #9 mower.

I would like to have it powder coated and would like to get the steel wheels off. There are so many layers of paint that I have no idea where to begin. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!
 

[Leroy]

If that mower is in the condition it looks to be it is a $500 to $800 mower. If I remember correctly, Could hunt up parts book to be sure, There is a tapered key that holds them on and to get the key loose you have to be able to drive the hub in enough to get the key loose to pull it. Not sure if there is also a pin through hub or not but if there is you would have to get that out first. Have a friend that it is his main business to rebuild those mowers for use. I have a No. 7 to deliever to him as soon as I recover from the wreck I was in that totalled my truck. That mower put in field condition without paint is a $1,500 mower, paint would be higher. The No. 7 and No. 9 McCormick and the Deere Big 4 are the 3 highest price mowers out there.
 

[tonyjeepman]

I definitely want to go the powder coat route since I have a great guy I deal with for my Jeep CJ restorations. I do see what looks like a pin through the hub.

Any help would be appreciated if you have the chance to look at the parts book.
 

[Kelly in tx]

Leroy is correct--there is value in the mower. To horse guys like me or to the Amish it is a great machine. And to remove the wheels, drive out the round pin. Next rent a powerful three jaw puller and pull it off. It has a key, but that will come out when removing the wheel. Be patient. My first one took about three or four hours to remove. Tighten, tap, wait, tighten, tap, wait. It'll come. Good luck! Kelly p.s. you can buy reproduction (or sometimes original) Instruction Manuals and Parts List booklets on e-bay.
 

[Kelly in tx]

Also, there is a book: "The Horsedrawn Mower Book" by Lynn R. Miller (available from Rural Heritage) which shows paint colors. It seems to me the wheels are yellow. I think I'd make them the IHC "cream" color, but that is personal choice. The "body" is red. The cutter bar seems to be black. the seat support seems to be black. the divider board at the end of the cutter bar is yellow (or "cream"?), and the tongue (14'6" long) is yellow or cream or natural with oil finish. Double and single trees are steel and are red. Hope this helps. kelly
 

[tonyjeepman]

No plans to ever sell it

I did see those pins and worked on them some with no luck. I'll keep working on driving them out.
 

[Leroy]

I haven't had time to think about diging out the books. I did look at several of the mowers today and they do have a drive headless pin through the hubs. If once you get the pins out if you can drive the hub in even if just a bit it will loosem the key and make it that much easier to pull. Perhaps on end of key weld something to hook a slide puller onto. If as I am thinking that is a tapered key just tryimg to pull the hub off it will make it get tighter if you do not get that key out first. If a straight key then direct pull will work. Did not have time today to ask my friend, the mower dealer, about how to get wheel off.
 

[Leroy]

Actually cream is the color. I used an off white Rust-o-leum when I painted the one I did a couple of years ago and I saw it out in field today running in alfalfa.