[C38] Ease of wheel removal - in our case

[chapuys at aol.com]

I had the same experience when I installed a new autohelm a few years ago.  The previous owner had properly greased the shaft and I did the same when I reassembled.

Bob Miller 
#113 in San Diego
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: "Marci Brown" <mb at seafor.us>
Sender: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 11:09:27 
To: 'Catalina 38 Listserve'<listserve at catalina38.org>
Reply-To: Catalina 38 Listserve <listserve at catalina38.org>
Subject: [C38]  Ease of wheel removal - in our case

Our wheel fits on the shaft snugly, but because it was nicely lubricated by
the previous owner - it comes off easily when necessary. I did it back in
May when I was working on our autohelm. Is this normal? 

Marci J. Brown
PO Box 520549, Winthrop, MA 02152 USA
Ph: 757-502-7422 | Email: mb at seafor.us
-----Original Message-----
From: tdtron at earthlink.net [mailto:tdtron at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2011 3:29 PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Solvent for removing wheel

Hello Pierre and forum,

The first time I pulled my wheel, I had not planned on pulling the wheel so
I didn't have my puller set with me and I had to improvise.  I have a full
set of technician tools but they were 500 miles away but we managed to get
the wheel off anyway.

After spraying the shaft with PB Blaster for a day, I made an improvised
puller by making use of the spokes of the wheel by strapping pieces of steel
flat bar across the shaft and nut with the nut slightly loosened. 
Leaving the nut on helps protect the threads and helps steady the steel flat
bar.

I used many hose clamps around the spokes and steel flat bars to pressure
the pieces of steels against the shaft and nut at the center of the wheel.

I layered several of these Rube Goldberg pullers until I felt I had as much
pressure as my rig would muster.

I then hit the center of the mess right over the shaft and nut with a ball
peen hammer.  The vibration impact of the hammer loosened the wheel so that
I could continue tightening the hose clamps until the wheel was off.

If you have access to a gear puller, the work would be much more simple but
as I stated, that option was out for me and since I have ever size and shape
of puller already, I really didn't feel very much like buying another one.

After the wheel was off, I cleaned the shaft and hub and coated the shaft
with marine trailer bearing grease.  I have removed the wheel several times
since and each time the wheel has come off easily once the nut was removed.

I think Catalina must have installed our wheels dry with no oil or grease
and after a few years of corrosion, they get pretty well welded onto the
shaft. 

Tom Troncalli




> [Original Message]
> From: Pierre Patino <pierre.patino at gmail.com>
> To: Catalina 38 Listserve <listserve at catalina38.org>
> Date: 7/7/2011 2:40:30 PM
> Subject: [C38] Solvent for removing wheel
>
> Hello All
>
> Can anyone recommend the best solvent for disengaging the wheel (from 
> the binnacle) ? I removed the nut but I couldn't pull the wheel off 
> and I used a hammer to try to tap it out but I gave up.
>
> Thanks in advance for your time.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Listserve mailing list
> Listserve at catalina38.org
> http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org






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