OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Four Stroke Lawn Mower Frames Bearing Stuck On Axle And Other Bearing Questions.

I attempted to remove this stuck bearing with a two pronged puller as it wasn't spinning. It has resulted in a very loose partially damaged unit still stuck.
Any suggestions how it should be removed? I have soaked it in WD40 to leave overnight. I should have just sprayed some sort of lubricant in hindsight as it's spinning again after the spray, but now has too much play.
What is the best thing to use to lube these? A spray of lithium grease, silicone spray/lube, or just plain oil?

If it’s really stuck I cut things like that off using a die grinder with a cutting wheel. I go very carefully to avoid scarring and leave a thin foil of material at the edge of the shaft which will break free.

Wheel bearings usually take grease. Some of the sealed type are not serviceable and are meant to be replaced. I have sprayed motorcycle chain lube on to try and get lubricant into the semi-sealed type but it’s probably more sensible to go to a bearing supplier and buy serviceable wheel bearings. They’re inexpensive and it’s simple to clean and degrease them when you do a major service.

A bit of heat might do it.
But that would burn seal, so put a new bearing on.
speedy

I'd hit the bearing back on Mf then clean the axle with sand paper then lever the bearing off with a couple of big screw drivers .If the axle has damage that is stopping the bearing from being removed I would use a file on the axle.

Sometimes you can use some lubricant on the axle and lever the bearing a little bit then hit back on and after doing this a few times it will clean the rust off the bearing so it slides off completely .

Cheers
Max.

What you need to use is a bearing/puller similar these from HFT.

Hi AVB, maxwestern, speedy and Ironbark,

after leaving a squirt of WD on the stub overnight, success after giving it a few hits with a hammer and tube on the inner sleeve and then giving my gear puller a second go, this time rotating it 90° a couple of times before it started moving. You could feel the resistance fade as it slid away from the rusted part.

It now spins like a prize spinner wheel after I replaced the worn bearing with a good one I took out of a busted wheel I had lying around.

I can see how effective that puller set would be AVB!

The only problem is some my pulls have been pretty tough; therefore, Stripped out the forcing screw which I had the bar resized and a new larger forcing screw installed. Also the tie screws have been replaced once in the last five years as I bent then on one pull. Now I do apply heat at times to help with the removal.

The materials used in HFT set just seems to be low quality steel and needs to be tougher steel in my opinion but the puller works getting bearings off.

Lately I been trying a home-brew penetrating fluid that seems to working better than expected. This got to get another season of trials before I say it works well. A few tries are not enough to say it works.

AVB your are aware of the 50 50 ATF acetone mix mentioned here that apparently works wonders?

I imagine a lot of brute force is required when a puller is worked to it's limit, therefore additional measures like penetrant or heat is a worthwhile thing.

That what I am actually trying out here.

My suggestion is a Dremel with a cutting disc or a burr. Doesn't matter if the axle gets a light touch if you go a bit too far through the inner race.

I'm about to do same job but on the outer bearing therefore will likely have to trash the wheel, will try not to though.

Sometimes you have bite the bullet and destroy an otherwise good item to get the bearings off. I hate having to it but it necessary at times.

And referring to the ATF/Acetone mix the only draw back so far is that I got to remember shake it up well before use as it tends separate sitting awaiting the next use. But it has been working better than the over the counter penetrating fluids I tried in the pass like PB blaster and WD-40.

Hi AVB
Old motorbike restorers have used the ATF/Acetone mix for years to free up rusted stuff, in particular stuck pistons in bores.

I have a bottle of old used ATF I saved. Am I better off using fresh fluid or will a little murk be ok?

Hi All
Is it correct that when making this up you should not use synthetic ATF or does it not matter?

thanks mich

Hi MF and mich,
I don't think dirty or synthetic should make much difference, because in all cases when you resort to trying to free things up you don't have much to loose, and it certainly can't hurt

Hmmm, I would stick with regular ATF as it's proven. You don't want to waste your time Try the synth as an experiment later on, unless someone has tried it here.