Spanner wrench or hammer and punch?

[charlz]

I am looking at repacking the swing cylinders on my Kubota b670 backhoe. The cylinders have the gland nut with the pin holes in the face. Is it easy to spin them out using a hammer and punch? I hate to go spend 30-40 bucks on a wrench I will likely never use again. Would a car parts place that rents tools maybe have a adjustable face spanner wrench???

 

[BigKansas]

If you are real crafty you could make a tool that would work without buying a spanner wrench. I worked a hydraulic shop for years and nothing bugged me more than a person who beat the tar out of a part with a hammer, chisel, or a punch and then expected me to get it apart for them. I believe that some parts places do rent out tools and I would check into that before hammering on your parts. The tool would also be useful when you put them back together.

 

[dfkrug]

Here is what I have done, CHARLZ:

Take some scrap steel and fab up a DIY wrench with drilled holes exactly at
the spacing on your gland. Drill the holes the same size and use drill bit
shanks as pins. Use scrap steel at least 1/4" thiick.

Another way is to cut your own pins to fit the gland holes snugly and use
a large channel lock pliers. I have had good experiences using tapered
rollers salvaged from wheel roller bearings. They wedge right into the gland
holes. Don't *%^#-up the holes!

 

[charlz]

Yeah I don't really have a huge scrap pile or I would likely make something... as is I would have to go buy steel The packing kit are on order so I have some time to figure something out. I think I will check with the auto parts stores... if they will even have a clue as to what I am talking about. This is where HF could come to rescue (use the tool once and likely never again) but they don't carry this type of spanner.

 

[dfkrug]

Actually, CHARLZ, HF does carry this tool, which is called a pin wrench.
It may or may not be big enough for your application. Try #36554 on the
HF website....it is only 2.99. Do NOT expect to find these esoteric tools
at the HF stores.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

I have a chain wrench that is made to fit my 1/2" drive power bar. Works great for these. Better then a pipe wrench as the force is all the way around the gland. Does not tear things up near a bad.
Ken

 

[DanD78]

Look in McMaster Carr on line and buy a face spanner wrench. Would you buy a used tractor that has punch and chisel marks on the cylinders? Makes you wonder how the guy took care of other parts of his tractor.

Dan

 

[Dargo]

Yeah, I'm in the "buy or borrow the right tool" camp. I'm sure you can get it off with a punch, but as the others have said, it will look really bad. Worse yet, you may not be able to get it back on tight enough. I actually used the chain type pipe wrench with a piece of inner tube under it along with the spanner wrench to get mine back on tight. That was on a 955 Cat dozer. Believe it or not, once I got the ends off the job wasn't bad at all. The kit I bought to repack the cylinders were complete and everything fit well. I ended up wishing I'd fixed those leaky cylinders years earlier. Good luck!

 

[john_bud]

Ever see that email that goes around "If women ran the world"? It shows a butter knife and high heal shoe in a blister pack labeled "Hammer and Screwdriver".

I would get the HF tool and understand that it may only last 2-5 uses. Or spend the 30 bucks for a new one. Or get one off ebay for 5-10 bucks. I did it that way and now have 3 sizes.

jb

 

[charlz]

Thanks for the HF item # but it doesn't go wide enough.

I am not completely sure of the size or I would just buy a fixed width one. I dunno if these cylinders are metric but the pin spacing center to center doesn't appear to come out to a nice number like 1.5 inches or whatever.

I'm just a cheap bastard and hate to spend more money on the tool than the parts