Posthole Digger Auger Bit Frozen to Shaft

[tjus77]

Purchased a used somewhat heavy duty 3 pt hitch auger and need to put a shorty bit on it. Looks like the bit has never been removed before. It took me an hour to get the bolt out (the nut came off easily). Now the bit won't budge off the shaft. Any suggestions?

 

[WranglerX]

Keep tapping it with hammer till rust releases its bond....

Dale

 

[aczlan]

Purchased a used somewhat heavy duty 3 pt hitch auger and need to put a shorty bit on it. Looks like the bit has never been removed before. It took me an hour to get the bolt out (the nut came off easily). Now the bit won't budge off the shaft. Any suggestions?

Does it have a round shaft, or a hexagonal one?
If it has a round shaft, I would lubricate it, then go and see how many holes I could dig before it loosened up.

Aaron Z

 

[Texasmark]

Acetylene torch and hammer. Heat till orange in a vertical strip and bang on it with a hammer. Repeat 4-5 times, moving around the circumference. Soak it good with penetrating oil while still hot (after you shut off the torch) then bang on the flues to drive it off. Or do as mentioned, or if you don't want-need the auger take a grinder and grind down to the drive shaft of the digger, then soak with penetrating oil and bang it off.

 

[ArlyA]

Unless there is some reason to get it off ASAP, I'd go with Aaron's suggestion. Good luck!

Does it have a round shaft, or a hexagonal one?
If it has a round shaft, I would lubricate it, then go and see how many holes I could dig before it loosened up.

Aaron Z

 

[Birdhunter1]

Even if it has a hex shaft I would still put the penetrant to it and go drill holes, it might break the bond loose just enough for it to pop off.

 

[Hiptfarms]

Around where I live we use Automatic transmission fluid as a lubricate to release "frozen" - or rusted- metal objects. I'd soak it a couple hours by repeatedly applying the penetrating fluid then try lifting and dropping the implement up and down to shock the parts apart. If that didnt work I'd try to dig a hole but not too deep. It's a pain to try to remove an auger that's down in a hole.

 

[aczlan]

Around where I live we use Automatic transmission fluid as a lubricate to release "frozen" - or rusted- metal objects. I'd soak it a couple hours by repeatedly applying the penetrating fluid then try lifting and dropping the implement up and down to shock the parts apart. If that didnt work I'd try to dig a hole but not too deep. It's a pain to try to remove an auger that's down in a hole.

As long as you dont dig down past where the bolt goes on, you just put a new bolt in and start the PTO while lifting it up.
No more than 1/2 of a turn needed.

Aaron Z

 

[SmallChange]

Does it have a round shaft, or a hexagonal one?
If it has a round shaft, I would lubricate it, then go and see how many holes I could dig before it loosened up.

Aaron Z

This. It'll probably work pretty quickly. But if it doesn't, against all odds, you could also try leaning on the boom one way and the other while it spins in the hole, or go forward and backward a little bit, to put a prying force on the frozen connection while the auger spins in the hole.