Axle hub removal bobcat 773

[TreeTiger]

My father and I own a tree service and a machine shop. We used to repair cars a lot and have done general car repair since the beginning of time. We have run into a small problem trying to remove the hub I told him the method of hub removal (2 bottle jacks and popping it off.) he is afraid of damaging something inside the chaincase. So we went and bought a bar type puller $300 later. None of the bolts we have been using will stand up to the pulling task. either the bolt beraks or the thread in hte nut rips I tried using 2 nuts then the bolts are breaking. Now my question is there any chance whatsoever to mess up a bearing or whatever by pushing on the hub with b-jacks If so. what size and strngth nut and bolt to use?

 

[TreeTiger]

Talked to

 

[Tazza]

Talked to

The bearings will be fine, i have done it this way a few times. Others have simply used a sledge hammer and belted the back of the hub and got it to seperate. I load the hub up with two bottle jacks, then strike the back of the hub with a copper hammer to get it to come free.
I think you'll find the bearing cup and cones are a LOT stronger than your father thinks they are.
I can understand the puller not being up to the task. The force needed to get it to break the seal is huge. The only way i can see it working is with a hydraulic puller.

 

[TriHonu]

The bearings will be fine, i have done it this way a few times. Others have simply used a sledge hammer and belted the back of the hub and got it to seperate. I load the hub up with two bottle jacks, then strike the back of the hub with a copper hammer to get it to come free.
I think you'll find the bearing cup and cones are a LOT stronger than your father thinks they are.
I can understand the puller not being up to the task. The force needed to get it to break the seal is huge. The only way i can see it working is with a hydraulic puller.

The last one we did on a 773 we used (3) 6 ton bottle jacks and still had to smack the axle with a 6 lb sledge to pop it loose.
We asked a Bobcat dealer how they remove them. The tech told us that a puller will seldom remove the hub unless it is a new machine. He stated they have used bottle jacks, heat and now have a large hydraulic gear puller.
Check your axle shafts for play (in and out where you can pull it straight out and push it in). Bobcat sells a "special washer" that replaces the one on the chain-case end of the axle shaft to remove the end play. It is a machined piece with recessed sides. The two sides are different to give you two different amounts of correction depending upon how much end play you have. The washer was about $50 USD. If you have a lathe you could easily make one. Our parts guy told us that the end play will take out the bearings if you don't fix it.
If the washer won't fix it you have to replace the axle shaft and bearings.

 

[Fishfiles]

The last one we did on a 773 we used (3) 6 ton bottle jacks and still had to smack the axle with a 6 lb sledge to pop it loose.
We asked a Bobcat dealer how they remove them. The tech told us that a puller will seldom remove the hub unless it is a new machine. He stated they have used bottle jacks, heat and now have a large hydraulic gear puller.
Check your axle shafts for play (in and out where you can pull it straight out and push it in). Bobcat sells a "special washer" that replaces the one on the chain-case end of the axle shaft to remove the end play. It is a machined piece with recessed sides. The two sides are different to give you two different amounts of correction depending upon how much end play you have. The washer was about $50 USD. If you have a lathe you could easily make one. Our parts guy told us that the end play will take out the bearings if you don't fix it.
If the washer won't fix it you have to replace the axle shaft and bearings.

I use a heavy duty bar puller and have never not got one off and do a lot of them , I am not sure how many tons it is , the nut on the end of the screw is 1 and 1/2 " hex , I have a axle center bolt that I put in a lathe and put a point hole into the center , this keeps the puller shaft centered at all times and not slip , to attach it to the hub has been tricky to get something that will hold up , and I have tried a few things , what I got has been the best concocktion to date , I took two lug nuts and a 5/8 " grade 8 fine thread nut ( which fits the bars of the puller ) , I screw the lug nuts tight on a lug stud and welded the two together with a very high tensel rod I got from a friend , it is the only rod I have found that holds up to multiple pulls , then weld the 5'8 nut to the lug nuts , I screw that to the bars leg and onto the studs in the axle , if you do one nut it will pull the threads off the stud , two nuts hold up , I get a good bind on the puller and hit the hub with a 20 lb mall once or twice