rear riding mower tires rusted on and stuck, won't budge

logert gogert

Well-Known Member
i have just recently got 2 used good condition tires to replace the other pair, because it was dry rotted and tread was pretty much gone.
and i went to go take off the original pair, and it wouldn't come off, tried banging, pulling, lubing the hub and axle, but still would not come off
wheel is held on by a bolt and not a clip ( yes i took the bolt out )

any suggestions?
any help will be much appreciated
thanks -logan
 
What I did when i knocked my rims loose after 20ish years is a mix of torch to heat up the rim to hot then spray water on it to crack the rust, and grind the end of the shaft to make it tapered so that when u pound it, it won't mushroom to stop the rim from coming off.

While i haven't needed to do this on lawn equip, i did use it to get some nuts to turn instead of cutting them off - Muratic acid. On my truck, i taped a plastic bottle to hold the acid on the rusted nut for a few min and the rust broken down, the parts came off easy. The alignment guy said he couldn't get the nuts loose so this and i replaced some suspension parts while i was at it are why i did this. Maybe if u tape a funnle and have acid seep through the rust will weaken the rust so u don't have to pound(of if u r using a puller) too hard. fwiw.
 
wait, wouldn't heating it up then spraying water on crack the metal?
i know it will crack/shrink the rust but you would think it would warp or crack the metal.....right?
and if i do do that, how would i take it off, I'm afraid that banging it off with a hammer right mess up the transmission ( will it? )
 
Last edited:
I drilled a hole and split the hub with a sawsall directly on top of the key and drove a wedge both inboard and outboard to spread the hub. It mows grass just as well like that as it did previous to that surgery procedure.
 

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is that wheel key'd or held on by a bolt????
and if it is key'd will what you did work on one that is held on by a bolt
( yes i took the bolt off mine )
 
How do we know if it is keyed or D-shaft if you don’t supply model and serial numbers for the unit? Have you even tried looking up the unit to answer your questions on your own?
 
no no no, i KNOW what my mower shaft is i was just wondering if the picture that senior citizen posted was keyed or other
 
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