Using a gear puller

Part 1. Preparation and safety

Objective

• Select, install and use a gear puller to remove a pulley.

Personal safety

Whenever you perform a task in the workshop you must use personal protective clothing and equipment that is appropriate for the task and which conforms to your local safety regulations and policies. Among other items, this may include:

• Work clothing - such as coveralls and steel-capped footwear
• Eye protection - such as safety glasses and face masks
• Ear protection - such as earmuffs and earplugs
• Hand protection - such as rubber gloves and barrier cream
• Respiratory equipment - such as face masks and valved respirators

If you are not certain what is appropriate or required, ask your supervisor.

Safety check

• Always wear eye protection when using a gear puller.
• Make sure the puller is located correctly on the work piece. If the jaws cannot be fitted correctly on the part, then select a more appropriate puller. Do not use a puller that does not fit the job.
• Make sure that you understand and observe all legislative and personal safety procedures when carrying out the following tasks. If you are unsure of what these are, ask your supervisor.

Points to note

• Gear and bearing pullers are designed for hundreds of applications. Their main purpose is to remove a component, such as a gear, pulley or bearing from a shaft, or to remove a shaft from inside a hole. Normally these components will have been pressed on to that shaft, or into the hole, so they will need considerable force to remove them.
• Gear pullers come in a range of sizes and shapes, all designed for particular applications. They will consist of three main parts:
  • Jaws
  • Cross Arm
  • Forcing Screw

• There will normally be two or three jaws on a puller. They will be designed to work either externally around a pulley, or internally.
• The forcing screw is a long, fine threaded screw that is applied to the center of the shaft. When the forcing screw is turned, it applies many tons/tonnes of force through the component you are removing.
• The cross arm attaches the jaws to the forcing screw. There may be two, three or four arms. If the cross arm has four arms, three of the arms will be spaced 120-degrees apart. The fourth arm will be positioned 180-degrees apart from one arm. This allows the cross arm to be used as either a two- or a three-arm puller.

Part 2: Step-by-step instruction

1. Examine the gear puller
   Examine the gear puller you have selected for the job. Identify the jaws – there may be two or three of them, and they must fit the part you want to remove. The cross-arm enables you to adjust the diameter of the jaws. The forcing screw should fit snugly onto the part you’re removing. Finally, select the right size wrench to fit the nut on the end of the forcing screw.
2. Adjust and fit the puller
   Adjust the jaws and cross-arms of the puller so that it fits tightly around the part to be removed. The arms of the jaws should be pulling against the component at close to right angles.
3. Position the forcing screw
   Use the appropriate wrench to run the forcing screw down to touch the shaft. Check that the point of the forcing screw is centered on the shaft. If not, adjust the jaws and cross-arms until the point is in the center of the shaft.
4. Tighten the forcing screw
   Tighten the forcing screw slowly and carefully onto the shaft. Check that the puller is not going to slip off center or off the pulley. Readjust the puller if necessary.
5. Remove the part
   If the forcing screw and puller jaws remain in the correct position, tighten the forcing screw and pull the part off the shaft.