Wheel Removal

I'm in the process of trying to remove the rear tires and rims on a WD45.  I have no idea when the last time the eccentric bolts were loosened, maybe in 1955 when the tractor was new, and it has been painted at least once with a brush since then.  I have used a 1" impact gun that removes some very tight lug nuts on semi trucks, and it doesn't even make any of the eccentric bolt even try to move.  The tabs on these bolts are turned clockwise as far as the tabs will permit them to go, so I presume that the only way to loosen them is to go counter clockwise.  I have even fashioned a heat shield to go between the eccentric bolt and the rim and tire so that I could use a rosebud on the torch to heat it up, but no joy.

Take the wheel center rim and tire off the tractor, lay it on the floor, face up, then take the 8 bolts out of the center that hold the eccentrics onto that center. Take a block of wood lay it on the center and smack it very hard with a sledgehammer. May take several hard direct hits. The center should fall out of the rim and the eccentrics and hardware will fall off. At this point you can start the long process of freeing those eccentric bolts up in the eccentrics. That's another post. After you get them off you'll see why they wouldn't move for you on the tractor. Years of rust.
Leon B Mo

Edited by Leon B MO - 29 Mar 2024 at 4:08pm

 At this point you can start the long process of freeing those eccentric bolts up in the eccentrics

steve(ill) wrote: <span style="color: rgb0, 0, 36; : rgb254, 252, 212;"> At this point you can start the long process of freeing those eccentric bolts up in the eccentrics</span> <span style="color: rgb0, 0, 36; : rgb254, 252, 212;"> </span> <span style="color: rgb0, 0, 36; : rgb254, 252, 212;"><b style="">Has anyone tried ELectrolesis at this point ??</span>

Yes, I have. Of the 8 that I left soak for a couple days, only 3 needed heat afterwards

I have taken the snap ring off the back of the eccentric and removed it from the housing, sand blast everything and re-assemble with some lock tite. 

The easiest way that I have found to free up the eccentric is to take them off and heat cherry red and throw them in a bucket of cold water. They will almost always come loose

IBWD MIke wrote: I've 'cooked' a lot of them in the burn barrel. Hang them on a piece of wire over the side for easy removal, burn whatever is in the barrel and let cool. Every one I did this too came free quite easily.