# Wheel is VERY seized onto axle. Removal tips?



## snowballah (Sep 8, 2020)

Hey snow bros. Back at it again with my 1979 era Toro 824.

I'm trying to remove the wheels so I can swap out for replacement winter tires. Problem is the wheels are COMPLETELY seized onto the axle.

Front view
Back view

I've soaked it overnight with PB Blaster.
I've hit it with heat (MAPP torch) and quenched with upside down can of air duster. Several times.
Carefully hammered it from one side (all I can hit is rubber due to the snowblower's chassis design). Hasn't budged one iota.

Wheel is totally, undoubtedly, crazily seized onto the axle. I don't think it has ever been taken off in its 40 years of service (I am probably the 8th owner or something crazy).

What other strategies can I employ to remove the wheel from the axle? Is there a wheel puller like this one (which I think is this same one from HF) which will work with the wheels I've got? I saw this wheel puller which looks perfect but the company selling it is no longer active.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

use search box for some other ideas.

in my experience patience is needed. some members have had luck with an air hammer.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

First off .... to place a photo in your post go to the bottom, click on insert image, and just drag and drop it in the box.

Now for the rims ... it looks like you also tried to grasp it from the inside and turn it? did you use a pipe wrench, and did you put a pipe over the wrench?..... all the while, be careful not to compromise the axle or rim.

Heating it, penetrating oil, then taking a socket the size of the rim, but able to go over the axle and whack it lightly, repeat, repeat , also tap the rim lightly with a ball peen hammer. maybe even an air hammer , but be careful..... let it sit soaking with weasel **** (penetrating oil) overnight. Go back at it next day .... It will come off eventually ... once one side is off, probably easier to put it in the service position and remove the retaining roll pins and gears and slide it out the other side to dismantle it.

Rust welded axles are almost as bad as rust welded augers ... I have done both successfully., just takes persistence, patience and time ... enjoy.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

with how rusty that is i doubt that tool will do the job by itself. you could try using a oxy-propane setup with a tool like that but almost might need a oxy-acetylene setup to heat things up enough to burn the rust out and free up the rim from the axle.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I made that second one, made the frame using angle iron, used a Snap-on puller, and my impact gun.

On some it came off easy, others not so, and I have an acetylene B tank, which is my first go to, if not I use my oxy-acetylene welding torch head, not my cutting head.

And on some, I've has a tremendous amount of pressure on the rim. I use to put a little more pressure and heat several times a day, then it either starts to move or POPs.


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

Not much to add, agreeing with the above suggestions. The thing is to not get frustrated with it... you're dealing with Mother Nature and she dances to her own beat. PBlaster, heat, pressure... lather/rinse/repeat.

One thing I'll say is make sure the valve stem core is out, if there's air in the tire. Heating the rim can cause rapid expansion of the air, and can lead to a tire explosion.


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## snow blows (Jan 9, 2016)

I think a wire wheel on a 4"or 5" grinder would help. It would at least get some of the rust off the front part of the axel and it may help you get more oil inside.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

snowballah said:


> a wheel puller like this one





Yanmar Ronin said:


> PBlaster, heat, pressure... lather/rinse/repeat.


I suggest combining the two approaches; put a puller on it that will keep intense pressure on the wheel/axle interface and then do the PBBlaster, heat, repeat thing. It took 4 days of that to get a rusted rear wheel bearing off my wife's Subaru. But eventually, you'll succeed!


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## Shovel (Mar 26, 2019)

Gonna have to get it to a moderate glow with the torch...both sides...let it cool slightly (until glow is gone) before beating and twisting on it..dont concentrate too much in the center the heat will make it there anyway.
The rust is an insulator to the axel ..heat the wheel fast...axel will only get warm rather than hot...quarter to half turns while pulling and twisting...if it moves at all you are winning. 

Sent from my SM-A115U1 using Tapatalk


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## Richo27 (Aug 19, 2021)

I had that problem with a flat tire and could not get it off. I loaded it up, took it to the tire shop, and they dismounted and mounted a new tire on the wheel with it still on the axle.


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

If you can get in there, drill a few small holes in the axle Flange into the axle on the back side of the wheel. You can get the penetrating oil in where it needs to go. I had a similar problem with a cub cadet trigger turn system, and used this method along with the Torch.


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## snowballah (Sep 8, 2020)

OP here. Just tried to use a gear puller. After soaking all parts in penetrant oil for 5 days. Wheel rim is now bent.

dang it

lesson learned


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## Richo27 (Aug 19, 2021)

Slice it off with a cutting torch and get a new rim.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

Well, if rim is garbage now, might as well just use a cutting wheel and take it off and just replace it.


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## Shovel (Mar 26, 2019)

snowballah said:


> OP here. Just tried to use a gear puller. After soaking all parts in penetrant oil for 5 days. Wheel rim is now bent.
> 
> dang it
> 
> lesson learned


After you find another rim..use anti seize or grease on that axel...Ideally you are supposed to remove the wheels one a year..but if you know you will be slacking...anti seize 

Sent from my SM-A115U1 using Tapatalk


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

Everybody should have a small can of Never Seize, they come with a brush can top, along with a good spray can of penetrating oil.

Augers and rims should be spun on there axles and shafts once a year minimum.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Oneacer said:


> Everybody should have a small can of Never Seize, they come with a brush can top, along with a good spray can of penetrating oil.
> 
> Augers and rims should be spun on there axles and shafts once a year minimum.


same with augers but no one does either one.......except us snowblower MANIACS


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I put a piece of angle iron behind the rim and used my gear puller to pull against that. I set it up making a square and using 3/8" threaded rod to act as the side pieces to pull the angle iron.


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## rwh963 (Nov 21, 2019)

life is too short, treat yourself to a new blower!


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## WIHD (Dec 15, 2019)

Feeling pain here as we've all been.

Machine is 40 years old & wheels apparently have never been removed/serviced, at what point do you cut things off the machine and just by a new/used axle and/or wheels. At some point the cost of time spent far exceeds buying a new part.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I am persistent..... so for me, it comes off .... period!!


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

Oneacer said:


> I am persistent..... so for me, it comes off .... period!!


Ayuh... Do or do not, there is no try. There's always a lower gear...


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## snowballah (Sep 8, 2020)

rwh963 said:


> life is too short, treat yourself to a new blower!





WIHD said:


> Feeling pain here as we've all been.
> 
> Machine is 40 years old & wheels apparently have never been removed/serviced, at what point do you cut things off the machine and just by a new/used axle and/or wheels. At some point the cost of time spent far exceeds buying a new part.


This is exactly what ended up happening. I couldn't remove the wheels from the axle no matter how much I tried. I even tried cutting off parts of the wheel chunk by chunk- it was seized solid. And even though I had a donor axle + wheels, the replacement wheels were so old that they started bending when the local tire shop attempted to mount my new rubbers. They tried their best but 40 year old wheels are 40 year old wheels! Any new wheels that I MIGHT be able to find will be just as old and weakened. So I am definitely better off just buying a new snowblower. Shame because after the engine rebuilding and parts replacement the engine and auger were running BEAUTIFULLY. Started up on a single pull. But no wheels means no go.

I wish I came to this conclusion sooner but I'll chalk it up as a learning lesson. I still had fun taking this one apart and re-building it. I learned how 4-stroke flathead engines work.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

I have changed many a tire on 50 - 60 year old rims with no problems at all.


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## rwh963 (Nov 21, 2019)

snowballah said:


> This is exactly what ended up happening. I couldn't remove the wheels from the axle no matter how much I tried. I even tried cutting off parts of the wheel chunk by chunk- it was seized solid. And even though I had a donor axle + wheels, the replacement wheels were so old that they started bending when the local tire shop attempted to mount my new rubbers. They tried their best but 40 year old wheels are 40 year old wheels! Any new wheels that I MIGHT be able to find will be just as old and weakened. So I am definitely better off just buying a new snowblower. Shame because after the engine rebuilding and parts replacement the engine and auger were running BEAUTIFULLY. Started up on a single pull. But no wheels means no go.
> 
> I wish I came to this conclusion sooner but I'll chalk it up as a learning lesson. I still had fun taking this one apart and re-building it. I learned how 4-stroke flathead engines work.



to quote the film : Lawrence of Arabia"

Mr. Dryden:
Lawrence, only two kinds of creature get fun in the desert: Bedouins and gods, and you're neither. Take it from me, for ordinary men, it's a burning, fiery furnace.

T.E. Lawrence:
No, Dryden, it's going to be fun.

Mr. Dryden:
It is recognized that you have a funny sense of fun.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

Do you ever pass by the orangeville or Brampton area? I have some axle and rims/tires that are likely 15-30 years old but still in decent shape. Some might needs tubes but they were the newer style snow tires and not turf tires. Pretty sure the axles are 3/4"


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## nitehawk55 (Sep 9, 2021)

If you are near London I have a pair of nice rims and tires you can have , not sure of the axle size but I can check if interested.


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## nitehawk55 (Sep 9, 2021)

Axle size is 3/4" if you need them . Tires , paint (yellow) all in great shape.


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