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Removing wheel on Craftsman rider

#1

E

Elkins45

My mower is about 16 years old now and the tires have leaks due to sidewall cracks that Slime won't fix. Instead of traditional bearing caps the wheels have what appear to be heat shrink plastic covers.

wheel - 1.jpg

I know I can peel it off somehow, but it doesn't look like it would be possible to get it back on. Is there some trick to removing and replacing these wheels, because I need to get new tires?


#2

B

bertsmobile1

Elkins45 said:
My mower is about 16 years old now and the tires have leaks due to sidewall cracks that Slime won't fix. Instead of traditional bearing caps the wheels have what appear to be heat shrink plastic covers.

View attachment 38435

I know I can peel it off somehow, but it doesn't look like it would be possible to get it back on. Is there some trick to removing and replacing these wheels, because I need to get new tires?
Click to expand...

The axel covers are made from PVC and both go hard & shrink over time .
Don't waste time buggerising around with them chop them off & replace them with nice new ones.
In fact why not treat the mower to 4 nice new ones they are about $ 2-50 a piece.
I used John Deer ones , which are yellow because down here JD parts,( $ 2-50 ) are a lot cheaper than Husqvarna parts ( $ 9.10 ).
All lawn tractors that come out of the AYP factory have them fitted so shop around, Craftsman, McCulloch, Roper , Rally, Poulan , JD 100 series and probably 50 other brands , same wheel, same grease cover.
The only thing that changes brand to brand is the colour.
JD are yellow , Husqvarna are orange, Rally are red ( goes faster ) all the others are black.
The wheel will most likely be rusted solid onto the axel.
DO NOT BASH IT WITH BIG HAMMERS, PULL IT OFF WITH YOUR CAR or any other butchery.
Warm it up then spray with Kroll or similar & let it cool.
Repeat a few times, keep the key up.
Now get a pair of scissor jacks put them between the wheel & the rear body panel then tighten them up to put a reasonable load on the wheel .
IF you have an air hammer, apply it to the axel while pressing hard on the axel.
When the wheel shifts 1/8" put another turn on the jacks and repeat.
You can use a FBH and punch, but an air hammer works much better.
Repeat till the wheel is off then polish the axel and grease liberally before replacing the wheel.

The axel is only held in with either a round wire clip or an E clip, both pressing against the alloy case so extreme violence will rip the axel right out and can write off the tranny.
A proper 2 year service removes the wheels & greases the axel so they slip off easy.

The only other method that works without destroying anything is to split the box, pull the clip off the axels and press the axels out of the wheels.
And yes I have had to resort to this a couple of times.
And after the first one, every mower that comes in get the axels greased.


#3

E

Elkins45

^^^^ Thanks for this. I will see if I can scare up some scissor jacks somewhere. I ordered a bag full of plastic covers from Amazon.

Wonder if you can get ag tires to fit these wheels? :)


#4

B

bertsmobile1

Elkins45 said:
^^^^ Thanks for this. I will see if I can scare up some scissor jacks somewhere. I ordered a bag full of plastic covers from Amazon.

Wonder if you can get ag tires to fit these wheels? :)
Click to expand...

Might be different in the USA but just about every small run about car down here uses scissor jacks so wreckers usually have drums of them.
Be a little picky and get ones with a hex on the end rather than the hook


#5

Boobala

Boobala

bertsmobile1 said:
The axel covers are made from PVC and both go hard & shrink over time .
Don't waste time buggerising around with them chop them off & replace them with nice new ones.
In fact why not treat the mower to 4 nice new ones they are about $ 2-50 a piece.
I used John Deer ones , which are yellow because down here JD parts,( $ 2-50 ) are a lot cheaper than Husqvarna parts ( $ 9.10 ).
All lawn tractors that come out of the AYP factory have them fitted so shop around, Craftsman, McCulloch, Roper , Rally, Poulan , JD 100 series and probably 50 other brands , same wheel, same grease cover.
The only thing that changes brand to brand is the colour.
JD are yellow , Husqvarna are orange, Rally are red ( goes faster ) all the others are black.
The wheel will most likely be rusted solid onto the axel.
DO NOT BASH IT WITH BIG HAMMERS, PULL IT OFF WITH YOUR CAR or any other butchery.
Warm it up then spray with Kroll or similar & let it cool.
Repeat a few times, keep the key up.
Now get a pair of scissor jacks put them between the wheel & the rear body panel then tighten them up to put a reasonable load on the wheel .
IF you have an air hammer, apply it to the axel while pressing hard on the axel.
When the wheel shifts 1/8" put another turn on the jacks and repeat.
You can use a FBH and punch, but an air hammer works much better.
Repeat till the wheel is off then polish the axel and grease liberally before replacing the wheel.

The axel is only held in with either a round wire clip or an E clip, both pressing against the alloy case so extreme violence will rip the axel right out and can write off the tranny.
A proper 2 year service removes the wheels & greases the axel so they slip off easy.

The only other method that works without destroying anything is to split the box, pull the clip off the axels and press the axels out of the wheels.
And yes I have had to resort to this a couple of times.
And after the first one, every mower that comes in get the axels greased.
Click to expand...

Once you get the old "axle--caps" off you should find a large flat washer that fits into a groove in the back of the axle-cap which secures it, a REAL PITA to remove them, I took a grinder to the washers and now they pop right right off with a small hook-type tool ... see enclosed pics ..

DSCN2550.jpg...DSCN2549.jpg


#6

upupandaway

upupandaway

Boobala said:
...a REAL PITA to remove them...
Click to expand...

Just curious, how are you removing\installing them??

I just use a medium(10"??) or large (13"??) flat screwdriver, stick it into the notch of the E-clip and pry and it shoots off. To install, i get 2 med size flat screwdrivers and put the E-clip facing down with the 2 screw drivers on top- 1 to each side just off top center (basically to form a "cup" so the clip won't got to one side or another). 1 hand holds the ends of the screwdrivers and the other hand pushes down the middle of the screwdriver holding the drivers so that don't spread apart thus pushing down both sides of the clip and so as to NOT fall off the clip and bam! back on in 10 seconds.


#7

Boobala

Boobala

Just curious, how are you removing\installing them??


Are you asking about the cap or the wheel itself ??? ...... to get the cap off I use a pair of Channel-Locks ( some call em water-pump pliers) it takes some patience and putzin aroun and even if you destroy them you can get new one's for a few bucks each, the wheel as stated by an earlier poster usually has an E-clip or cotter pin I use a screwdriver to remove the E-clip and I just cut a cotter-pin with a pair of side cutters and replace it, putting an E-clip on ....... patience and again Channel-Locks, then force it down, but it takes patience till you get the hang of it, (use eye protection when installing E-clip, they are "springy" and sometimes will fly back at you when installing with channel-Locks.....


#8

B

bertsmobile1

Interesting,
I use a slightly modified oil seal remover ( the ones with a sort of claw each side) to remove the plastic cap as it can get behind and push directly out.
Screwdrivwe for removing the E clip & lock jaws for replacing it.


#9

E

Elkins45

Just to update: I cut off the caps, popped the E clips off with a screwdriver and the wheels slid right off with just an easy tug. Couldn’t have been easier.

Now, popping the tires off the wheels and putting them back on was a different story. Fortunately I didn’t poke a hole in my inner tubes getting the tires back on. It’s nice not to have to pump up the tires every time I mow only to have one side be low before I finish the yard.


#10

B

bertsmobile1

Good to hear.
I hope you treated the shaft to a little never seize or axel grease so they will come off easy every time.
Some have been that bad I had to split the tranny and press them out.


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