A variation of Joe's method works for removing really tight or rusted-on inner rings of broken ballraces, too. Use the angle grinder carefully to groove the ring transversely as deeply as possible, then support the shaft, put a cold-chisel in the groove, and smack it once sharply with a heavy hammer. The ring is very hard, so it cracks through. Then you can pull it off easily with an ordinary gear puller. I have only had that fail on inner rings that had spun on the shaft so much they had blued up and friction-welded themselves to the shaft. In those cases I had to grind a second groove on the opposite side of the ring to the first one, and crack it through with a chisel there as well. Then I laboriously chiselled the welded-on pieces of ring off the shaft, and polished up the shaft as well as I could. Pretty desperate stuff, but necessary if the shaft is expensive or irreplaceable.
Micka, your method does work of course, but its a bit rough on the main bearing ballraces. I'd start by cleaning the shaft below the flange, then try to pull it downward with a gear puller.
