G'day folks,
Sounds like it had become 'rust-bound' to me. Rust occupies a lot more space [like ~7x, is the engineers' rule-of-thumb] than solid steel.
In heavy industrial situations, the usual solution is the 'gas axe', aka cutting torch, on the bearing.
Saw that done once by a really good operator [boilermaker], on a jaw type rock crusher main shaft roller bearing [~ 400mm bearing OD]; popped it off without making a mark on the shaft!
The 'wedging' technique, as Paul has used here, is also a good one, in this sort of situation. But it can be misapplied...
