Help! How do I remove the input pulley

13 years ago

Hey all - I have a Craftsman (MTD) lawn tractor, and I need to pull the input pulley (to replace the drive belt and hydro fan). The tranny is a hydrosatic unit. I can't seem to find any way to 'lock' the input shaft to be able to remove the nut holding on the pulley and fan.

I've tried about everything I can think of with no success. There are no holes in the pulley itself, and there doesn't seem to be any clearance below the pulley to get any other sort of tool in to hold it in place.

If it helps, you can view the parts drawing here. In this drawing, the pulley is part #42.

I will be immensely grateful for any info. I'm REALLY hoping I don't have to open up the tranny to do this. Thanks a ton!

dan
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This post was edited by dano_user_4dcc76a032a93 on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 21:22

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Comments (4)

User
13 years ago
If you're just replacing the drive belt you don't need to remove the fan and pulley from the trans.

If you are replacing the fan then an electric or air impact is the tool to use. you can buy a nice electric impact at Harbor Freight for under $40 when on sale. You'll find lots of uses for it once you have one.

The pulley is on a splined shaft so light tapping under each edge of the pulley will dislodge it. A little anti-seize on the splines before reassembling is a good idea and make sure you torque the nut to specification.
ericwi
13 years ago
If you need to keep the pulley from turning, one way to accomplish this would be with a broken drive belt and a "vise-grip" tool. The idea is to wrap a section of belt around the pulley, gather the two ends together, and clamp on the vise-grip, so the belt is tight around the pulley. You should be able to hold onto the vise-grip pliers, and prevent the pulley from rotating, as you loosen the nut.
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dano_user_4dcc76a032a93
Original Author
13 years ago
Wow, it's amazing how simple something goes with the right tool! The impact wrench worked perfectly, probably took longer to get the compressor up to pressure than to actually get the nut off.

Poor design for the input pulley, could've been SO much easier with just a hole in the pulley to jam in a center punch, but oh well, it's down now, thanks a ton for the help!

dan
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User
13 years ago
"Poor design for the input pulley, could've been SO much easier with just a hole in the pulley to jam in a center punch..."

Rather than the manufacturer expecting that anyone who decided to work on their tractor would have the right tools for the job... REALLY? Sounds like you had the impact but just didn't drag it out.

How did you lock the pulley so you could torque the nut to specification?