Breaking loose seized up stuff!

[Riverbound]

I know I’m not the only one who spends a lot of time with rusty bolts, etc., trying to get something old to work again. I consider myself to be somewhat of a pro at the art of patience/WD-40/heat/leverage/hammer/swear. I’ve got two that have got me stymied right now though. First, a JD disc cultivator, which I really love, that I can’t adjust the width on. The deal is seized up and there is no place to really hammer. Any ideas? The other is part of a disc harrow. I broke the axle bar on mine and am robbing the bar out of another sitting in the weeds. I got the whole thing off, pulled all the spindles and discs off until the last spindle, which is bound and rusted on there too tight to budge. I broke some of that spindle off with the hammer trying, but only enough to hurt myself and not enough to get it off. Thoughts? I guess if you can’t see it it might be hard to imagine solutions. But who knows, you might know exactly what I’m dealing with. Anyway, thanks.

Brian

[Does’ Leap]

@Riverbound 35033 wrote:

I consider myself to be somewhat of a pro at the art of patience/WD-40/heat/leverage/hammer/swear. I’ve got two that have got me stymied right now though.

Brain, the only thing absent from the above description is PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil. This product is not “the answer” but a useful tool in the arsenal against seized-up objects and much more effective than WD 40. Also, I assume your “heat” is not propane or even MAPP, but oxyacetylene. There is “heat” and there is “HEAT!”

Good luck.

George

[Donn Hewes]

I used the torch to cut an old baring off a spindle the other day. Worked great I left the tiniest piece and cut in two places, then cut it out with a cold chisel. Spindle came out fine. tight quarters on a neighbors crimper.

[chrisf.]

The best method I’ve found to loosen stuck bolts, pins and sleeves is to heat them red but not for long so as not to heat the bolt or inner piece. Once it’s hot cool it down as fast as you can with water. If you can hit on it a few times. The only thing you might want to be careful of is if the piece is cast iron. I’ve never had trouble just heating it but cooling it quickly might make it brittle. I’ve done this often on the rock crushers I run and have pretty much always been able to get things apart.

[Simple Living]

I know a few who have tried the 50/50 mix of ATF/acetone. Have not used it myself but heard it works well. Here is a link to someone who did a trial of several different types of penetrants.

http://www.zrxoa.org/forums/showthread.php?207734-Rust-penetrants-test-results

Gordon

[grey]

I was going to say Kroil but the ATF/acetone sounds compelling.

[Riverbound]

Thanks. Maybe its time for a real torch. HEAT not heat. I’ll try the atf/acetone too. I knew I came to the right place.

[Author]

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