[Farmall] Gear puller

[Karl Olmstead]

Anybody succeded in pulling the steering gear off the top of the front 
bolster on an F-12, 20 or -30?  How big of gear puller did it take?  I tried 
last week to pull the gears on a couple of F-12 bolsters, and all I managed 
to do was break my puller.  I guess it wasn't designed to be tightened with 
an air impact wrench.

At any rate, I'm in the market for a new gear puller, and wondering how big 
to buy.  Five, ten, twenty, thirty ton....  Those things aren't cheap, 
either.  Anywhere from $140 to $300 for a decent one, it seems.  Doesn't 
appear to me that heating up the gear with a torch would accomplish much; I 
think the shaft would be heating nearly as rapidly as the gear.

I'm just about done with rebuilding the front end on an O-12.. boring out 
worn axle pivot holes in axle and mounting bracket and pressing in nice new 
bronze bushings, making new steering knuckle bushings and pins.  Over a 
month invested, so far.  Good thing I don't have to make a living in this 
line of work.  Learning a lot about using the lathe and mill, though.

Also learned that it is a really bad idea to lean my forearm against the 
exhaust stack on an F-14 with engine at full throttle, while tuning 
carburetor.  I'm sure the scar will last the rest of my life.

-Karl