tapered pin removal

Hi all, I'm having to remove the three point hitch cover on my tractor and the two lift cylinders are attached to the lift arms by tapered pins with nuts on them, nuts are loose, but how to remove the pins without damaging them???

Brass hammer??

I use mine all the time on threaded ends and haven"t hurt any threads yet.

Gary

I don't know what you are working on but in that type of situation it usually works to thread the nut out to where it is flush with the end of the pin, then tap on the pin/nut surface with an appropriate hammer.

The trick on any tapered pin, tie rod end etc is to strike the side of the arm the pin goes in. Might need to pry on end of pin while striking but no need to hammer on it. Fellow taught me that up in Stephenville Crossing, Newfoundland when I was in the Army in 1955. It works.

NO,NO do not hit on the end of that pin with a
hammer. No matter if you have a nut screwed on flush.
Put a block of oak or some other hard wood on end of
pin with nut flush and then hit it with a hammer.
Works better yet if some one can hold a backup hammer
on back side of the housing.

WRONG! WRONG way to do it. Hit the part the pin is in.

Pete 23 has it right.

As others have said hit the side and not the pins. The vibration works the pin loose. Since learning that way have never used a picklefork(sp?) since and has been almost 30 years. Leave the nut on but threaded loosly to prevent parts seperating uncontrolled.

Many of the older machines I work on have quite a few tapered pins holding things in alignment. First, if the pins your working with were pulled in with a nut, then they are going to be pretty tight. That said, a combination of the things stated thus far will get you the end result your looking for. First I have never gotten a tapered pin out of something just by hitting the side of the housing, etc it was in. Yes, hitting around the outside like that will help loosen it but rarely, if ever, will that alone make the pin jump out. So, don"t be afraid to give it some persuasion before doing anything else.

Now, put a nut on the threads, and screw it on until it is just shy of being flush. Basically that will allow you to hit the end of the pin, to drive it out, without actually hitting the pin directly and mushrooming the end/messing up threads. Now I would recommend using something softer than the hammer in contact with the face to make the chance of damage even less. On the one hand the wooden block mentioned already is a good suggestion, but only if it"s something really hard like oak. If the wood has any rebound it will greatly diminish the effectiveness of the hammer blows. The best thing to use is a piece of soft brass, or copper. I keep brass punches on my truck, and in the shop, to use for things like this and have never messed up/mushroomed anything I"ve hit with it yet.

Beyond that, all I can say is that most tapered pins are going to be a royal PITA to get out, but sometimes you do get lucky....Good luck.