prop shaft removal

I have checked the forums but have some questions. My 65 Am.Skier needs new packing and a new piece of hose between the shaft log and stuffing box. I removed coupling bolts and set screws but can't get the coupling apart. Do I need to heat the flange? Also the shaft is not cenered in the log but seems to turn ok. Should the shaft be centered in the log? What sort of hose should be used between log and box? Thanks in advance for any help. John.

John,
I made a puller from a piece of flat bar stock.Roughly 1/2 inch thick by 1-1/2 wide by about 8 inches long. Drill two holes that line up with two opposing holes in the flange. These holes should be to the end of the 8 inch dimension. Drill and tap a third hole in the center of the other two. This should be a fine thread like 1/2-20. Bolt the bar to the coupling and run the center bolt in against the shaft, using the the offset end of the 8"dimension as a lever that you can get a wrench on or block it to the hull. If you block it to the hull, put a good sized chunk of 2X6 under it so you spread the load.
I can't help with your other questions.

Riley wrote: SUNAPEE CROW wrote: John, I made a puller from a piece of flat bar stock.Roughly 1/2 inch thick by 1-1/2 wide by about 8 inches long. Drill two holes that line up with two opposing holes in the flange. These holes should be to the end of the 8 inch dimension. Drill and tap a third hole in the center of the other two. This should be a fine thread like 1/2-20. Bolt the bar to the coupling and run the center bolt in against the shaft, using the the offset end of the 8"dimension as a lever that you can get a wrench on or block it to the hull. If you block it to the hull, put a good sized chunk of 2X6 under it so you spread the load. I can't help with your other questions. That's a good idea. Probably a lot easier on the coupling than the bolt and socket method.

I'm going to disagree on this. I do not feel that only using 2 of the 4 holes on the flange is the way to go. Too much pressure and your chances of bending the flange are twice as likely.

Riley wrote: Pete, wouldn't the 8" of steel stabilize the flange? I'm surprised no one's ever made a decent tool for pressing the shaft out.

Bruce, No - the 1/2" by 8" steel is only bolted on in 2 spots and pulling on the coupling on those two spots.

Here's you puller: coupling puller

That coupling puller is the ticket.

Boat dr, that engine stand is too short. So on with my plan to build a stand. I did buy an engine leveler today to hook to my come along. One of the lifting rings is right next tot he carberator. I'm hoping I don;t have to remove it when I haul the engine.

I used a 2" chissel and a hammer and gently tapped it, rotating the shaft and it eventualy split, but Boat Dr implied that's not the best way. Your thread is back on track, maybe someone chime in with a better way.

Rick, I never endorsed the Buck Algonquin puller. Bruce asked if one was made and I provided a link.

With your long bar method, you do have the advantage of stopping the rotation from wrenching on the center bolt.

Sounds like you don't like cast iron!! It's yield strength exceeds all hot rolled steels and is roughly the same as most cold rolled. Are you sure that the designers of the puller put 4 attachment points on it to keep it from breaking?

I also never said your method wouldn't work. What I did say is pulling on only 2 points the chances of distorting the coupling are greater. I'd rather pull on 4 points and not worry about calculating out the stress's of snugging up a flat bar to the face to overcome pulling on 2 points.

Eric chucks up the shaft with the coupling and trues up the face. (I sometimes feel he does this because he gets rough with the removal!!!!) It's not a bad idea especially on a new coupling because you never know how true the bore is to the face. I have done it but only after setting up the shaft/coupling in V blocks and running the dial indicator on the face to see how true it runs. Did you check yours?

What's the best way to get the flanges apart if they are stuck?

Riley wrote: What's the best way to get the flanges apart if they are stuck?

Bruce, A chisel and hammer just like you did it. If you nick the face a little, a couple of strokes with a flat file will clean it up.

Edit: A old wood chisel works well because it is ground to the fine edge.

yes a wood chisel does work well, but dont let Greg know that

If you can seperate the coupling from the flange, try the socket and bolts method- think of it as a psuedo press.
-Brad

slide hammers are a gray area, in the wrong hands they can be deadly... i plead the 5th from here on out.
I will eventually take a picture of a PCM 1.23 and post it, it is a great example of what can happen to one of these transmissions with a slide hammer in the wrong hands, the back end is broken off from the main case because the guy was using a slide hammer to get the shaft out of the coupling

heat smear Pete?

eric lavine wrote: heat smear Pete?

Eric, In the case of our tool maker pressing the dowel in, it split 15K worth of die block. Hard pressed into hard there is no place for the materal to go. With a soft material being pressed together, yes, it will shear the fit. (it also blows any trueness of the coupling face to the shaft) With a .0005" shrink to fit, there isn't any shearing.

Chris, The slide hammer was used to pull the coupling and not just separate the coupling halves. With a known bad shaft, cutting it like you did sure saves some time and frustration. When you ordered your new coupling, did the fit come up?

Pete - I had ordered the shaft by itself thinking I could reuse the coupler - this was against Boat Dr's advice BTW. (I'm cheap)

My coupler was so stuck to the shaft that it certainly would have distorted the flange using the 4 bolt method. I only moved it 1/8 inch with all my swearing.

General Prop aims to please so they had sold me the shaft alone. When I called back to order the coupler they recommended I find someone to ream the coupler to fit. It was only $17 to ship the shaft back to them & at that point in my frustration I thought it was well worth the shipping it to have them take care of this, as they do this everyday.

Just another example of knowing when to let a professional take care of something.

For installation I heated the new coupler up on the barbie & it slid right on.