[njsteve]

Nice old tractor Verne!

Yesterday I decided to be nice and ordered some new rear tires for the old 185. Only I have come to learn that this series of tractors is cursed with a tendency to weld their rear rims to the axles after 31 years or so of use. I removed the snap ring, fully expecting the wheels to slide right off like the manual says...yeah right. This is the reason they went to bolt on wheels on the more recent tractors.

And of course there is no ledge or collar to attach a gear puller too. Most people try a torch on the back side of the wheel hub but that rarely works and damages the transaxle seals. Other method is drilling two holes in the rim face and using a harmonic balance puller with the bolts through those holes. That rarely works, too. And if you hammer too much on the rim face or axle you can pop the internal snap ring off inside the case, requiring the entire transaxle to be rebuilt. Another method is to weld a short collar onto the rim hub and then try to use a gear puller. Not very effective either. It seems the consensus from owners is disassembling the transaxle, pulling the axles, and then using a hydraulic press to press to axles out.

So my only choice is to see if my lawnmower guy can dismount and mount the new tires while they are still on the tractor.

Here's a photo of me doing my biblical Samson imitation while my wife Delilah laughs in the background. No, this didn't work either, and the Temple of John Deere is still on four wheels.