Removing a yacht wheel

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hennypenny

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I am removing my ST4000 mk1 wheel drive for in the hope I can repair it at the weekend. I tried to do this a couple of months ago but could not get the wheel off having undone the necessary bolt on the front with the winch handle. Any ideas on how I can remove it? I have tried pulling and swearing.
The steering system is a Whitlock one.
Thanks
 
E-mac said:
My Whitlock is a tapered shaft with a woodruff key and comes off easily.
You could try 3 leg puller
Click to expand...

Same thoughts I had, boiling water and a puller. If you don't have a puller then try something makeshift. e.g line passed behind the hub through spokes and to the front several times. Tie off at suitable length, place a spanner or bar on top of the loosened nut and twist the loops tight with another spanner (Spanish Windlass style). Pour boiling water slowly over the hub before final twists and tap with a metal hammer. You should only need to shock it lightly with the hammer. The loosened nut will stop it dropping on your foot. :D

Just a thought. I've never had to resort to this as hot water and a light pull has always worked for me. I don't even need any heat now as my wheels have been off a few times and still have some lubricant on the tapered shaft.
 
My Whitlock wheel comes off easily too, but if it is really stuck, this is what worked on my prop: put tension on it with a puller, then a few taps and there she goes.
 
My wheel has a pin through the boss and taper, which was not evident at first. Once the pin was driven out, the wheel still needed a few knocks to get it off. I used the drift for tapping out the pin to knock the wheel off. It was a bit awkward as the compass was in the way but a couple of taps broke the grip.
 
I had the same problem last winter, when for the first time in my ownership I decided to remove the wheel as the first step in changing the bearings on the pedestal. It was just impossible ! So I finally removed the wheel along with the shaft it was stuck to. I then took it to the area in my local town where there are a lot of secondary car repair, exhaust, cheap servicing, gearbox specialists. I'm sure you know the sort of area ! I then asked around the traders and found a gearbox specialist who had a large enough hydraulic gear press that could take the wheel in-situ. He examined it carefully to check there were no pins holding the wheel to the shaft and put it in his machine. I was a bit concerned and asked if he could use a low pressure to start with and was told it only applied one pressure - goodness knows how many tons. Anyway the hydraulic plunger came down very slowly , there was a slight squeak and groan and the shaft just slipped out. The guy doing it didn't want any payment. I think it just livened his afternoon up and probably took no more than 10 minutes to set up and do.
 
Be careful with the puller. There are types with a cone shape end that fit into a detent into the threaded part at the end of the taper. It is easy to bell out and distort the end of the threads. I know because I had this happen to me. Less of an issue if the puller’s centre shaft is flat nosed.
 
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