Mule Drive Died -- How do you get the pulleys off??

[dcrage 625]

The mule drive on my 310-8 with the 37" SD died today -- The bearings on the inner pulley gave up the ghost

How do you pull those pulleys off of the shaft???

Also there is a groove in the shaft where the bearings died -- I am assuming that isn't supposed to be there and resulted from bearings failing -- What do I do about that???-- Can you get a new shaft and if you do get one it would have to welding back into the idler support?? -- Or can the old shaft be "fixed" in some manner

Don't think it matters but I have the 37" SD that uses the regular V belt (not the 6-sided one)

[Trouty56 565]

I'm not sure about what others would do but a gear puller may get those off. The inside pulley is trash anyway. The members have really been speaking highly of an acetone/atf mixture (1 part to 1 part) as a releasing agent. As far as the groove on the shaft....clean it up good, fill the imperfection with jb weld and use emery cloth to round it out again. If you get too much invested you may as well find a replacement mule.

[bowtiebutler956 650]

I would use a puller on the pullies, but be careful, as they are cast iron, and can break. Use plenty of penetrating oil. You can get bearings for them at the local auto parts, just take the old one with you. As far as the groove goes, my B-80 did the same thing, and I just cut the spacers they use on the mule drive shaft a little so that it placed the pulley about a half inch over, on a fresh uncut part of the shaft.

Matt :flags-texas:

[Forest Road 594]

I have a couple mule drives available. If you're interested PM me with an email address for pics and prices.

[Kelly 1,029]

They only used the cast iron pulleys a few years and they are nice as you can replace the bearings in them, I've sold a number of those pulleys, to people who want to be able to rebuild them, as for getting the old pulleys off, I've used a few methods, air chisel, heat and a hammer, and some slide right off, if the grove in the shaft is too bad you may want another mule drive, you can try the JD weld, be sure to use a Anti seize compound on the shaft so the next time they slide off with little issues new pulleys can be had for about $25 each

[can whlvr 993]

ive had to cut off pullies with an angle grinder

[tunahead72 2,400]

There are some old threads on this problem, it's fairly common. These guys have mentioned all the basics, but you can try a search on "mule drive pulley" if you need some more ideas.

I can't find the thread right now, but there's another method I used recently on one of my mule drives, with some major inspiration from Terry (TT). If I remember corectly, it basically involved removing the mule drive, nut and outer spacer, supporting the pulleys on blocks of wood, applying liberal amounts of PB Blaster to the pulley shaft, letting it sit overnight and coming back the next morning to gently tap the shaft with a rubber mallet. I couldn't believe how easily the pulleys slid off, with no heat/puller/grinder/chisel/cursing required.

If I can find the thread I'm thinking about, I'll come back and post a link here.

[Rooster 191]

E-tank it!

[dcrage 625]

I didn't have any ATF at home so I had to go buy some -- I will be trying the ATF/acetone soak tonight and then try to remove the outer pulley and middle spacer -- The outer spacer is moving freely -- I will update later with the results

[dcrage 625]

I was suprised when I mixed the ATF and acetone together last night -- They don't make a homogeneous solution -- Chemistry talk here, it makes an oil emulsion which seperates pretty quickly back to ATF and acetone -- I guess an emulsion can wick into the tight spaces I am hoping to get it to

Put some on the outside of the outer pulley -- Nothing good to report yet -- The mule drive shaft is at an angle so getting the pulley to set flat is an issue

More later

[Rooster 191]

LOL...

!!!! E-TANK IT !!!!

[dcrage 625]

But the paint on the bracket is in great shape!! -- Rooster your e-tank going to make me have take up painting as well as gear pulling

[Rooster 191]

Don't stick it All the way in.??? Lol

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

Don't stick it All the way in.??? Lol

If I had a nickle for everytime I heard that as a solution !!

[SousaKerry 501]

Rooster, on 19 July 2012 - 06:38 PM, said:

Don't stick it All the way in.??? Lol

If I had a nickle for everytime I heard that as a solution !!

Now SOI we all know your hung like a squirrel so we know you have personally never heard that before

:ychain: :dance: :ROTF: :ROTF:

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

"hanging well" is what nature's A students do best. Improvise, adapt, overcome.

as far a E tanking - I say put in and and leave it in until the job is done !

Any paint not worthy to stay will only cause issues in the future.