[ccroyle]

Hi Folks,

I was wondering if anyone could offer some suggestions in removing a stuck bearing on the lawnmower deck spindle shaft.

I have a 48" LH mower deck from my 1980 446.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k529/willysjeep61/Case 446/1980Case446DeckSpindle.jpg

I already removed the shaft from the mower deck. The bearing shield is sandwiched between the old bearing and the 'T' end of the spindle. I already tried heating the bearing with a propane torch hoping it would break it loose. I thought of taking a ball-joint remover fork and wedging it between the bearing shield and the end of the spindle, but did not want to go into 'destruction mode' unless someone has a better idea.

I see a new spindle can cost $90 and do not want to go that route especially since I have two more spindles to work on.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Hydriv]

Clamp the blade mount plate tightly in a bench vice. If you have a couple of old wood chisels around that you don't care about, you can use them to drive in between the dust shield and the blade mount plate on each side.

There's no puller that will work and the main issue is to save the spindle even if you have to sacrifice the dust shields. Even small cold chisels will work if they are thin enough and taper gradually. Old flat-blade screw drivers are another option. I keep some old junky tools like that around for just such occasions.

That bearing is just stuck. i doubt if it's seized or rusted in place. I've taken lots of these apart and always managed to get the bearing to move without too much difficulty.

 

[bhildret]

High speed rotary cut off wheel such as Dremel makes a 2 minute job of knocking that off.

Don't cut quite all the way through the inner race ... get it 90% through in 3 places around the diameter, then whack it with a chisel. Bearing parts will scatter ...

Brian

 

[Nutcase446]

I keep a piece of 3/4 hose 4" long for that. I slip the hose onto the spindle (2" on 2" off), hold the shield with your hand and put a air hammer with a blunt bit into the hose and just touch the trigger a couple of times. It usually pops right off.

 

[ccroyle]

Thank you all for your suggestions. They were very helpful.

I ended up buying a Dremel and a tungsten 9903 carbide cutter to go with it. It cut through the outer bearing ring, but when I got to the inner bearing things came to a grinding halt due to the blade dulling. I then decided to ram a chisel under the dust cover and that wasn't making any movement. I took a ball joint remover and it ripped the dust over off with the bearing still holding onto its dear life in tack. Finally I took my air cut-off tool and shaved two sides down on the inner bearing and made the finishing touches with the Dremel. A whack with the chisel and it gave up by splitting in two.

If I had an air hammer I would have given that a try as well since this was becoming a longer project then expected.

I guess I'll be ordering some new bearing dust covers. I can't wait to work on spindle #2 and #3, but maybe I will have better luck.

Next project is welding up more holes on the mower deck. In the past 5 years I bet my deck gained 40 lbs in steel.

Thanks again,
Chris

 

[mastifflawyer]

Wow-that was an adventure. I would suggest that you invest in an air hammer. One is on sale at Harbor Freight for $12.99 and it includes 9 chisels. Here's the link:

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/ ... 47868.html

 

[Bart]

If I had an air hammer I would have given that a try as well since this was becoming a longer project then expected.

Air hammers are very handy to have around. I've used mine to remove deck spindle pulleys that wouldn't succumb to anything else.