Last Sunday I finally got around to trying to put back together a Howard 3pt tiller that I took apart a couple years ago.

One of the problems of letting a project set around too long is forgetting the correct sequence to reassemble parts

I had a large ball bearing that needed to be replaced.  The old bearing had disintegrated and the bearing race had to be cut off with a torch.

I put the new bearing on the shaft and it didn't go on easy, but after putting the washer and nut on the shaft end was able to force the bearing on the shaft.

Shortly after getting the bearing on, I had my oops moment  I realized that another piece was supposed to go on the shaft before the bearing and now I had to get that bearing off again :eek:

Using a pulley puller didn't work as it was on too tight and I didn't want to risk ruining a $100 bearing.

Tried the old cold chisel trick of using the taper as a wedge behind the bearing to try to push it back off the shaft.  That wasn't working as the chisel would keep sliding out of position.

Finally I decided to make a tool out of some plate steel with a taper wedge shape with a U slot so it would fit over the shaft behind the bearing.

My first attempt didn't work as the tool I made was too small and the two tapers would spread apart when I tried to drive it down behind the bearing.

Second attempt I machined another U shapped wedge but made it larger and less likely to have the legs spread.

It worked

Got the bearing off!!!

After getting it off I chucked up the shaft in my lathe and cleaned up the shaft so it no longer takes so much effort to get the bearing on/off the shaft.

Hopefully, the rest of the reassembly of the tiller will go without more problems.

It is always disquieting to finish a job and find some small part left over.

I assembled the engine for my Case VC that had been apart for over 2 years. Had it all together on the stand and while putting things away, noticed a woodruff key in the parts bucket. I scratched my head for a couple days on where it went. Couldn't think of a single place where it went. The front pulley had its key and was too big for the camshaft.

Decided to put the belt pulley on and the woodruff key was no where near the pulley, then remembered the key still in the bucket, and sure enough it was a perfect fit. I normally try to keep parts seperated for different parts of the tractor, but for some reason I put this in with the engine parts. I slept better that night.

Gene

Sounds like you made something similar to the wedges used to remove a drill chuck from its arbor (those mounted with a Jacobs taper, not srew on types). I'll keep that idea in mind!