Axle nut

[Kodiak45]

Any tips on getting this 2.75"axle nut off. I've soaked with oil and used small propane bottle to heat and this thing won't move. Last one I took off another disc was removed with torch. Would it be easier if I removed the gang from the frame. If I take my torch to the farm, I'll end up cutting it off and probably ruin the axle threads. I haven't tried a cheater bar yet, just a big 24" pipe wrench.

 

[davesl708]

If it is frozen that tight a cheater bar may shear the axle.
I would split the nut to get it off.

 

[fidowanttobe]

Just helped my brother do this last week! Wrap a chain repeatedly around the disks up unto the gang so it won't turn eventually, heat the nut and BIG ***** cheater pipe. It will come, but you may need to buy a new nut.

 

[Kodiak45]

I might as well go ahead and order another nut. Even if I split the nut, won't the threads be too damaged to put another nut on?

 

[DJ54]

Perfect place for the 50/50 mix of Acetone, and ATF. Amazing stuff..!! Put it on 2-3 times a day for several days. Then as mentioned, wrench & big cheater. Had to do this several years ago on mine.

 

[k0ua]

I always have much more luck with impact than cheater bars. I would use Kroil for several days, and an big air impact.

 

[davesl708]

I might as well go ahead and order another nut. Even if I split the nut, won't the threads be too damaged to put another nut on?

Using a cheater bar runs the risk of damaging the threads on the axle. Split the nut on opposite sides will preserve the threads on the axle and only take about 1/2hr.

 

[bcp]

I always have much more luck with impact than cheater bars. ...

And if I didn't have a big impact wrench, I would use a flat-end punch and hammer to turn the nut. Maybe a little cold chisel application on the flats and the bottom of the slots to try to expand it a few thousandths and break loose the rust bond.

I wouldn't use a pipe wrench by choice. They will squeeze the nut tighter against the bolt while trying to turn.

Bruce

 

[Soundguy]

I always have much more luck with impact than cheater bars. I would use Kroil for several days, and an big air impact.

yup.. that is begging for a 3/4 or 1" impact after a good penetrant soaking.

 

[crackerjack222]

If you don't have, or have access to a large impact wrench...... I have used a 48" pipe wrench on the nut with a large adjustable wrench on the other end. this was after soaking it and giving it a few licks with a sledge hammer...:laughing: A 24" wrench just ain't gonna cut it. Put a long enough cheater on it and just break the wrench, been there done that. That's when I bought the 48" wrench from HF.

 

[whis]

keep it simple, use a cheater pipe

 

[farmer2009]

There's something to combining a couple of post. Best penetrating oil I've found is Kroil. It stinks but works. Then if no impact and you only have a pipe wrench and cheater pipe. Use a hammer. Something about quick sharp blows that has been known to loosen stuck nuts and bolts.

My FIL use to beat on anything he wanted to loosen before ever trying to take it apart. I've seen him loosen things that you'd think needed a torch to take apart. His son is the same way.

 

[D2Cat]

I found this on homadetools.com thought very interesting.

Homemade Penetrating Oil

For All of you Mechanic's and Self doer’s out there.
Penetrating Oil - interesting
This was in one of the Military Vehicle Club newsletters

Here is an interesting finding on Penetrating Oils
Recently “Machinist Workshop Magazine” did a test on penetrating oils. Using nuts and
bolts that they ‘scientifically rusted’ to a uniform degree by soaking in salt water, they then
tested the break-out torque required to loosen the nuts. They treated the nuts with a variety
of penetrants and measured the torque required to loosen them.
This is what they came up with:
Nothing: 516 lbs
WD-40: 238 lbs;
PB Blaster: 214 lbs;
Liquid Wrench: 127 lbs,
Kano Kroil: 106 lbs
(ATF)/Acetone mix (50/50): 50 lbs.

This last “shop brew” of 50% automatic transmission fluid and 50% acetone appears to beat
out the commercially prepared products costing far more.

Using a pipe wrench on a castle nut will make it more difficult to remove because the crenellatons can be pinched in by the wrench. Would be easy to split the nut with a chisel, as suggester earlier.

 

[chim]

These two methods have been listed on TBN and helped me. I used the ATF/Acetone on stuck muffler bolts and it worked well. Applied it several times over days. I also had success with wax on a fan blade and a glad hand on an old flatbed trailer at work.

The fan blade was a large aluminum casting attached to a steel motor shaft and secured with 2 steel allen setscrews. Warmed the stuck parts enough to have the candle melt when held to the metal - not the kind of heat that you'd apply when using heat as the sloe means to loosen them.

Two weeks ago the bolt for the center blade on my RFM refused to come loose. Instead of the above methods I elected to go with brute force. I got the 18V 1/2" DeWalt impact on it and nothing. That tool usually works but not this time. Then I used a borrowed air impact and still no go. I had the deck flipped up on its side and ratchet-strapped to a tree for Spring cleaning and sharpening, so as a last resort I blocked the blade with a chunk of 6x6, got a long breaker bar with a socket, and proceeded to jump on the bar with my 265#. It finally broke loose. There was some corrosion in the threads, but fortunately no damage. After cleaning the threads well I gave them a dose of anti-seize for reassembly.

 

[LD1]

If you have no luck with cheaters, and penetrating oil, dont jump the gun on torching it off. But do take the torches. A nice dull cherry red and it should come right off and not damage the threads on the shaft, and likely can also save the nut.

This last “shop brew” of 50% automatic transmission fluid and 50% acetone appears to beat
out the commercially prepared products costing far more.

Using a pipe wrench on a castle nut will make it more difficult to remove because the crenellatons can be pinched in by the wrench. Would be easy to split the nut with a chisel, as suggester earlier.

Been suggested and proven time an again that acetone and atf is a great penetrate. But there is a reason it preforms well and commercial stuff dont stack up.....

Commercial stuff wont eat paint and plastic. Acetone will. So you have to be careful where you apply it.

 

[DJ54]

**Commercial stuff wont eat paint and plastic. Acetone will. So you have to be careful where you apply it.**

I know more than several times, paint has been a problem once a nut/bolt has been broken loose, and gums the threads, so the 50/50 mix works great for most of the places I use it.

I've used KROIL for 30 years, and PB Blaster too. The 50/50 mix puts them to shame. Happy to say I got the recipe from here, seeing postings from Soundguy using it. I finally tried it, and will not be buying the other products anymore. A gallon of Acetone is like $12.00 at the big box stores, and quarts/partial quarts of ATF at auctions in the dollar boxes has me a supply that will last for years.

 

[D2Cat]

I mix the acetone/ATF in a glass baby food jar. When I'm working on a project I load a reservoir (as used in an insulin pump) or a cattle syringe and place the mixture exactly where it needs to be as it drops out of the needle. Pretty simple to keep it off plastic and painted areas. A little dab will do ya!

 

[LD1]

I know more than several times, paint has been a problem once a nut/bolt has been broken loose, and gums the threads, so the 50/50 mix works great for most of the places I use it.

Was more referring to the surroundings. Like a through-the-hood muffler on an old tractor. Put some on the clamp bolt, a little drops on the hood, hood paint blisters. Or in the engine compartment on alot of vehicles made since about 1990. Lots of plastic that the acetone will crack and make brittle that you dont want to get any on.

 

[DJ54]

Gotcha'... I was referring to quite a few used attachments I've bought in the past that were in pretty decent shape, and PO's kept them that way, including several brush on paint jobs over the years. Seems the bottom side of anything with threads has little drips of paint still hanging there.

 

[Kodiak45]

The nut is about 2.75" in diameter, I'm not even sure where I could find a socket that big and I don't have a compressor to take in the field anyway. I doubt any 18v impact would even touch it. I used a 4 lb hammer the last time I tried with all my might. I'll give the cheater bar a try this weekend after heating with my torch, but it will come off this weekend one way or the other as I need to confirm if the bearings need replacing and if they do, I might as well throw in a nut or two on that order, assuming they aren't $50 each.