Mini skid idler bearing removal

[Serf Life]

You need to keep heating and beating it out with a large sledge. It takes a bunch of heat and I spray with penetrating oil. It’s a bitch of a job. Took 2 hours to get the last one to move on my ditchwitch

That's been our experience

Also, not sure with your specific model, but check for snap rings. They sometimes rot off or are recessed really well. May not apply here but easy to check for.

no snap rings and no moving parts on what's left. Just a tight fit with surface rust, pretty wild how strong that holds.

The heating/cooling methods won't work very well unless you get the bearing apart. If you can get the shaft/inside race out of the bearing, leaving only the outside race in the frame, welding the inside of the race will cause it to shrink and practically fall out.

If I understand the comment, the bearing and race are all external, what's inside the rail housing is a non-moving straight shaft/rod that accepts a bolt on the inside of the rail through a beefy split washer.

Thank's folks, I appreciate all the speedy input.

 

[davidwyby]

This type of thing is my bread and butter. Haven’t worked on that specific machine but experience tells me that split washer inside might be tapered annd or have a flange and you may need to drive it in from the outside. Try a chisel in the split to open it and around the outside to compress it in.

The fastest easiest was to do this stuff is a jackhammer with a blunt chisel. If you can get the guts out and have a welder, the weld and cool will indeed make the race fall out.

Lacking that, you need to massage the outside of the housing with the sledge.

Then you need as much temp differential as possible as fast as possible. Air blower with water mist inside or dry ice, CRC, etc. and burnt the paint off oxy on the outside.

 

[Jehinten]

The heating/cooling methods won't work very well unless you get the bearing apart. If you can get the shaft/inside race out of the bearing, leaving only the outside race in the frame, welding the inside of the race will cause it to shrink and practically fall out.





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I have this tool as well from harbor freight. I've only used it once to remove a hub on my old vermeer s600. From my personal experience, I bought the bigger model of puller for the extra umph but the hub was too thin for the jaws to grab before it stroked out. I had an extension made between the rod and the removable tip and it grabbed great.

Last tip with it from my singular experience. I loaded the puller up all of the way and the hub wouldn't budge. I tapped the side of the hub one time with a hammer and the hub and puller shot across the shop floor. You might start tapping at about 50% pressure as you continue to pump it. And dont stand in line with it before tapping.

 

[winetree]

It needs shock from a big hammer to get it moving Soon as it moves a 1/8 inch it pops right out. The first move is the hardest

 

[flushcut]

I have this tool as well from harbor freight. I've only used it once to remove a hub on my old vermeer s600. From my personal experience, I bought the bigger model of puller for the extra umph but the hub was too thin for the jaws to grab before it stroked out. I had an extension made between the rod and the removable tip and it grabbed great.

Last tip with it from my singular experience. I loaded the puller up all of the way and the hub wouldn't budge. I tapped the side of the hub one time with a hammer and the hub and puller shot across the shop floor. You might start tapping at about 50% pressure as you continue to pump it. And dont stand in line with it before tapping.

Another tip is to leave the castle nut lightly threaded on so it won’t go shooting across the shop floor.

 

[SBTC]

Air hammer, then sledge has worked for me.