[Mark1305]

I finally got everything stripped down to split the cases on the Monster's motor except the primary gear. I own almost every other tool imaginable except a gear puller.

So first thing this morning I hop over to Sears and get a 2 jaw/5 ton puller because a 3 jaw won't fit around the primary gear.

I've wrenched on stuff for almost 40 years and have used pullers before, so the fine print warning in the instructions about not standing in front of the puller wasn't news to me.

Let me warn you - when pulling the primary gear on a 900 motor, not only must you not stand in harms way, but make sure there is a clear path for about 15 ft or more in the direction of pull.

I had to use a regular 1/2 inch breaker bar to turn the puller. And when it finally yielded, the gear and the puller cleared a path across the garage and ended up with the puller rebounding off the compressor tank and the gear ending up between the compressor and the wall. Sounded like a small cannon going off.

I'm glad I didn't leave the nut partially on the shaft to catch everything, as it would probably have buggered or torn the threads right off the shaft when the gear let go.

Work safe, ya'll.

 

[needtorque]

good luck getting it back on.

 

[Speeddog]

Wow!

I've had moto flywheels and such that were mounted on tapers come off with *authority*, but nothing like that.

Were there any spot-welded areas on the taper?
I've seen that a time or two...

 

[Mark1305]

I didn't think to check for little friction welds on the taper. I'll have to look at that tomorrow.

After getting everything open, it looks like I simply spun a bearing - for a while. Check the pic below to see what I saw when I separated the rod cap. I've never had bearing shells stay on the crank like that. One actually hammered/squeezed out sideways and was cut into some of the swarf I found in the oil and on the screen.

 

[Scrufdog]

wow, nice bearings. yeah, I'd say thats been around for a bit.

I once had a spring compressor fly off the spring, bounce off my ankle and land about 20 ft away from me, it was about 2 ft from hitting my friend's father's new Suburban that was outside of the garage.

 

[ducpainter]

I finally got everything stripped down to split the cases on the Monster's motor except the primary gear. I own almost every other tool imaginable except a gear puller.

So first thing this morning I hop over to Sears and get a 2 jaw/5 ton puller because a 3 jaw won't fit around the primary gear.

I've wrenched on stuff for almost 40 years and have used pullers before, so the fine print warning in the instructions about not standing in front of the puller wasn't news to me.

Let me warn you - when pulling the primary gear on a 900 motor, not only must you not stand in harms way, but make sure there is a clear path for about 15 ft or more in the direction of pull.

I had to use a regular 1/2 inch breaker bar to turn the puller. And when it finally yielded, the gear and the puller cleared a path across the garage and ended up with the puller rebounding off the compressor tank and the gear ending up between the compressor and the wall. Sounded like a small cannon going off.

I'm glad I didn't leave the nut partially on the shaft to catch everything, as it would probably have buggered or torn the threads right off the shaft when the gear let go.

Work safe, ya'll.

Sounds almost as bad as a 20 ton pulling chain breaking.

 

[chris]

Yeah, the Ducati primary gears are a mofo. I broke strained a couple of rented pullers before stepping up to the almighty Snap-On gear puller set. The advice given to me from old timer Ducati mechanics at the time was to go after it with an air impact then when it kinda stops, hit it with a hammer. Sounded like a gun shot, but all the parts just fell to the floor. Good thing, since I was standing in front of it!

 

[opwierde]

In the Haynes manual they mention using hydraulic puller on the M900 primary gear. I'm stuck at the moment, my puller lost the battle with the primary gear. I'll end up borrowing one at work I think. Thanks for the warning!

 

[Speeddog]

opwierde,

Have you tried applying some heat to the gear?

 

[opwierde]

opwierde,

Have you tried applying some heat to the gear?

Probably more heat than is sensible... And hitting it with a 1lb sledge hammer. No impression at all.

 

[Speeddog]

Probably more heat than is sensible... And hitting it with a 1lb sledge hammer. No impression at all.

Hmmm... then it's on there quite tight.
That's the bytch behavior of tapers.

I've found that penetrating oil will help, but you've probably already tried that.

Grab the chunkiest puller you can get your hands on.
Good luck!

 

[Mark1305]

Just for corroboration of opwierede's experience, I also used a little heat and some mild whacks from a machinists hammer (but not enough to hurt the crank bearings) to no avail.

In the end, I just kept cranking that breaker bar around until BAM!!

I also had to reset the puller to the shortest arm length and recenter it over the end of the crank to keep it from flexing and trying to capsize under the extreme pressure.

 

[test-reg]

I usually take my cases down to the local Duc dealership and 'borrow' the factory tool for that job. I usually come back at the end of the biz day with a sixxer of beer for repayment. ;D

 

[chris]

Yeah, and I used a penny as a "pad" between the end of the crank and the puller. It extruded and "flowed". Was awesome. The Snappy gear puller required a combination of their different parts and then took a lot of torque on the cross bolt. The guys at the transmission shop next to former location of CCW were shaking their heads at it. One of them said, yeah, you need the snap-on set. I took mine home because these clowns kept borrowing it!

 

[needtorque]

does someone have a pic of the puller that is being used on these gears? A pic of the primary gear while still attatched the the shaft would help too.

I would like to see if I could find something a bit less expensive than snap-on that will work well.

 

[Mark1305]

I'll try and get a picture of the puller a little later. The gear is already packed away in a storage container (plastic food storage containers keep groups of parts together and stack neatly inside a larger tote).

I paid $29.99 for the basic 2 jaw puller at Sears. It worked, but was at its limits.

 

[needtorque]

The reason I asked is that I have a puller at work that I use to remove the pittman arm off of steering gearboxes. It is about as beefy as you get but I would need to see the gear mounted on the shaft to know if it would work.

 

[ducpainter]

The reason I asked is that I have a puller at work that I use to remove the pittman arm off of steering gearboxes. It is about as beefy as you get but I would need to see the gear mounted on the shaft to know if it would work.

I've been reading this and thinking pitman arm puller the whole time. I don't know if the "legs" would be long enough, or if the bolts would foul on the cases.

 

[needtorque]

The one I use only has the center bolt which would center on the end of the shaft then the two arms (which are very thick) would go around the backside of the gear.

 

[ducpainter]

The one I use only has the center bolt which would center on the end of the shaft then the two arms (which are very thick) would go around the backside of the gear.

Does it have the two screws in the arms to keep it from slipping off the pitman arm?