How do I remove a stuck Transaxle Pulley?

I recently discovered offroad mowers and decided to build one myself. Im currently working on swapping my transaxle pulley but ive hit a snag. I cant get the out pulley off! Its a 9in pulley on a peerless 6speed with a 1/2in shaft with a keyway. I removed the snap ring and have been soaking it down with wd40 for about 2 days now. Still wont budge! If anyone has any suggestions to try and get it off i would be greatful!

Try wiggling it a couple times it should come off.
If it still wont come off get a pully puller.

More than likely will need a pulling tool. Heat will also help, just direct it around the pulleys inner diameter but not directly on the input.

If you have a helper, have them lift the transmission up by the pulley and use a punch and hammer to tap the shaft. This has often worked for us.

If that doesn't work:

As Doug said, borrow or rent a puller if you don't have one, and heat the pulley at the shaft with a torch. Try not to heat the shaft itself any more than necessary because that would be counter productive.

Additional idea - You could try putting the transmission back in without the keeper in place and drive it around to loosen it up. I've heard it often works for the engine pulley anyways.

When using the puller, cut the pulley off the hub, then use the puller on just the hub.

These can be a real pain. You can use a sawzall also to cut the hub in half.

I drilled 2 holes equally spaced in the pulley.
I then made a plate with 2 holes drilled for the same spacing

I put a socket smaller than the bore of the pulley on the shaft
I then bolted the plate down over the socket and through the holes on the pulley

Then all I had to do was tighten up the bolts until the pulley moved.

If the pulley won't move, tighten up the bolts and heat the pulley a bit, or tap with a hammer to shock it a bit.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I will try a few more and if nothing works I'm just going to cut it off.

hey i just had the same problem with mine, i got a gear puller and lifted it up a little, then it started to thread into the hole, so i got a small deep well socket to go in the hole and it came right off.

Try using PB blaster or ATF instead. Might work better.

Tractor Man Jeff wrote:

Try using PB blaster or ATF instead. Might work better.

Wonderful stuff, let it soak in it for a few hours. If it doesn't come loose, then apply a Little heat. You can put two old lawnmower blades under each side of the pully supporting it with some wood blocks if you do not have a "helper" to hold it up and tap the end of the shaft with a brass hammer or pin. If you're not going to reuse the pulley, you can cut some wooden wedges and drive then under the pulley to pry it off if you don't have a puller.

Hammer, oil

Try a tourch heat it up and then try to work it off.
You might half to cut it off.

Hey thanks for all of the suggestions on how to remove the stuck pulley. I ended up trying almost everything and had to resort to cutting it off. I have to say it had to be the hardest steel i have ever tried to cut! I first tried to cut it with a sawzall but after chewing through 4 metal cutting sawzall blades i decided to just use a cut off tool. After almost 3 hours of cutting i finally got it off!

Most have been some thick steel.
Least its off tho.

Dang, lol