wheel pullers - reviews?

I have the Timko wheel puller, and it's worked very well.  It's quite robust and comes with pins for both small and larger axles.

It's excellent for flywheels and wheels, just change the pin.

For work gears, I picked up this Great Plains Gear Puller

Between the two, I have most bases covered.  I use an arbor press to put the stuff back together.

overlandflyer posted:

any feedback on the two different wheel pullers at the Olsen toy train parts site, or any others that can be recommended?

looks like they are for O gauge (upper) and STD gauge (lower) size wheels.

The upper one looks like a modified battery terminal puller, which can be found at any hardware store in an unmodified configuration.  One note on this one, if it is a battery terminal puller, the jaws would need to be modified, as they would be too thick to properly get between the wheel and frame if not modified.  The detail of this photo does not show how thick the jaws are.  

The lower one looks like it is adjustable to smaller wheels and is simply shown on a standard gauge engine.  This one looks to have thin jaws, but the detail of the photo is not great.

The Timco one looks good, as it looks to be made of hard steel with thin jaws that should be easy to get between the wheels and the engine frames.  I might have to look into one of these.  Gunrunnerjohn where did you get this from?

Nation Wide Lines posted:

overlandflyer posted:

any feedback on the two different wheel pullers at the Olsen toy train parts site, or any others that can be recommended?

The upper one looks like a modified battery terminal puller, ...

ah, for the days when you could pop the hood and actually see your car battery !!

GRJ, that Timko model looks nice... thanks for the input.

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for $10..98  plus tax.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping bout $8, per his instructions. Timkorepairdepot.com by money order or check only.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Where can one get the Timko puller?

Direct from Frank Timko.

Timko Repair Depot

Just send an email and say you want to buy a wheel puller.

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Oh, I don't know.  Take me for instance - if your middle name is (putting it politely) "Mr. Thrifty", it might be worth it.  

Mixed Freight posted:

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Oh, I don't know.  Take me for instance - if your middle name is (putting it politely) "Mr. Thrifty", it might be worth it.  

I personally prefer "frugal".  I agree, not a big deal at all to modify it.

Pete

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Direct from Frank Timko.

Timko Repair Depot

Just send an email and say you want to buy a wheel puller.

 

Thanks

What about the excellent wheel pullers from "PE Design"?  

I don't respond much here, but do read, and I just thought that the PE Design wheel pullers are the best made. And for a great price for the quality.

Also since I am on here for now, "Hobby Horse Products" is still in business and has those wonderful $25 frame spreading tool that make replacing a fiber pick up plate a breeze. And I recently bought 4 different colors of large spray cans of prewar paint from them that I was totally impressed by the quality (and color match) of their paint. It's not the dull finish & takes a month to dry paint like every other train paint I've tried over the decades. It's tacky in less than 5 minutes, and the 2nd or 3rd coat goes on perfect with no runs. You can get a very good thick coat (the way the originals look) without runs. And it's dry & cured in 24 hours that you can continue with your project without the 1 to 2 week delay like so many other train paints. I actually thought that Hobby Horse Products went out of business many years ago. I called the phone number and was surprised that everything is still available (and more items) from this company.

I'm sorry I don't contribute to this board more often. I just have my medical issues along with "family drama" as my parents are about to pass. (It's so sad to see what money does to some people).

Bill TCA#96-42883

It looks like a decent wheel puller, but I don't see that's it's "better" than the Timko wheel puller.  Truthfully, they look very similar is design to the Timko.

PE Design wheel puller

They do have a lot of varieties of them, that's for sure.

I have several of the above pullers.  Do not forget the Lionel ST-311 puller. When I put my hand in the puller drawer, that is usually the first one I come out with. The problem I have is I still have not found a puller that will address the problem of not being able to get the jaws under the wheel 180 degrees apart.  There are many Lionel post war units that have the wheels so close together and /or a frame design that very much limits access to the edge of the wheel for puller jaws. 

I have been looking for a good pickle fork, but have yet to find one that is small enough, yet strong enough,  to use on O gauge equipment.  I have considered trying to use the press and a pin to push the axle out of some wheels, but many of the die cast frames are so iregular that good solid level support is difficult to achieve.  I usually manage to get things apart without doing too much damage.  On occasions I still resort to a hammer and punch with the frame on a towel in my lap.  

Please keep the good ideas coming, there must be a better tool out there somewhere.  

Kukko puller I got years ago is still good, had jaws for O and for standard gauge. German made but don't see them offered anymore

Nation Wide Lines posted:

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Where can one get the Timko puller?

 

for those interested, the response i got from Frank.
i'm sure he would not mind me posting it.

cheers...gary

=====+++=====

David Johnston posted:

I have several of the above pullers.  Do not forget the Lionel ST-311 puller. When I put my hand in the puller drawer, that is usually the first one I come out with. The problem I have is I still have not found a puller that will address the problem of not being able to get the jaws under the wheel 180 degrees apart.  There are many Lionel post war units that have the wheels so close together and /or a frame design that very much limits access to the edge of the wheel for puller jaws. 

I have been looking for a good pickle fork, but have yet to find one that is small enough, yet strong enough,  to use on O gauge equipment.  I have considered trying to use the press and a pin to push the axle out of some wheels, but many of the die cast frames are so iregular that good solid level support is difficult to achieve.  I usually manage to get things apart without doing too much damage.  On occasions I still resort to a hammer and punch with the frame on a towel in my lap.  

Please keep the good ideas coming, there must be a better tool out there somewhere.  

 

Be extremely careful if prying or wedging against die-cast metal frames, pickle fork or not.  The zinc won't have near the compressive strength of many other metals.  And a pickle fork wouldn't produce a straight-line force in most instances without introducing a bending moment into the axle and/or wheel, which could also cause damage.

arrived this weekend... nice solid construction.

I received my Timko puller on Friday!  Am anticipating using it sometime this week.  It seems to be a great design.

The Timko puller works great on all types of train wheels and flywheels. Great service and fast turnaround.

Any recommendations for pulling a "pinion gear" on a motor?

The worm or pinion gears are frequently on there pretty solid.  Usually, it requires heat  to convince them to come off.  I have this one for gears, but it has a limited reach and some worms won't fit.

Thanks John.  I have an older MTH steam engine motor which burned out but MTH does not have a direct replacement for the motor/pinion gear.  I have the replacement motor, but need to transfer the old pinion gear to the new motor.

Has anyone tried the below device, it claims to remove and installs pinion gears and has the depth needed to accommodate motor shaft and pinion gear.  Costs around $20

Thanks

@rad400 who is the manufacturer / seller of that device?  Is it appropriately sized for O scale??

I'd like to hear about something that is sized to remove worm gears, my puller won't do a lot of them, not enough throat depth.

Bob, I second the question, where did you see that?  $20 sounds too cheap for something robust to yank worm gears off.

Sears battery terminal puller.   

I doubt that rusty device would work for pulling worm gears.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'd like to hear about something that is sized to remove worm gears, my puller won't do a lot of them, not enough throat depth.

Bob, I second the question, where did you see that?  $20 sounds too cheap for something robust to yank worm gears off.

Google  "Echo 1 gear remover" & "Airsoft motor gear remove"r for youtube videos.  Prices range from $20 to $40.  The device is for motors in an air gun.  Looking at the videos, the pin which pushes out the gear may be greater than the diameter of the motors shaft which we use in model train motors.  Not sure if this device will work for us, but just wanted to see if anyone ever tried using or modified one for our usage. It seems to have the depth needed to work to pull off model train motor worm gears.

John- What is the max depth for the Great Plains pinion puller?

I can't see how this pulls anything like a gear.  What grabs the gear?

rad400 posted:

John- What is the max depth for the Great Plains pinion puller?

About 1" total length of the gear to the end of the shaft you're pushing on.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I can't see how this pulls anything like a gear.  What grabs the gear?

rad400 posted:

John- What is the max depth for the Great Plains pinion puller?

About 1" total length of the gear to the end of the shaft you're pushing on.

A video is worth a million words.  Look at the youtube video to see how it works

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I can't see how this pulls anything like a gear.  What grabs the gear?

rad400 posted:

John- What is the max depth for the Great Plains pinion puller?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The worm or pinion gears are frequently on there pretty solid.  Usually, it requires heat  to convince them to come off.  I have this one for gears, but it has a limited reach and some worms won't fit.

About 1" total length of the gear to the end of the shaft you're pushing on.

About 1" total length of the gear to the end of the shaft you're pushing on.

John -  If the 3 screws were replaced with longer ones, would it not give you more than an inch to work with?

I suppose, I don't know how critical the alignment would be with longer screws. 

That's all very well if the pinion gear has a "shoulder" on the back of it to locate the " Airsoft motor gear remover". I don't think it will work on my old "open frame" Buco armature motors, or any other open frame armature motor for that matter, because the pinion gears are usually pressed tight up against the armature winding. There is no space what-so-ever to get any type of gear puller in behind the pinion gear to even start the removal process.

Any advice to the contrary will be greatly appreciated.

Peter (Buco tragic) on the sunny Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

I recommend sending them to Frank Timko if you need to move a worm from one motor to another.  He has the tooling and he's reasonable.

rad400 posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I can't see how this pulls anything like a gear.  What grabs the gear?

rad400 posted:

John- What is the max depth for the Great Plains pinion puller?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The worm or pinion gears are frequently on there pretty solid.  Usually, it requires heat  to convince them to come off.  I have this one for gears, but it has a limited reach and some worms won't fit.

About 1" total length of the gear to the end of the shaft you're pushing on.

About 1" total length of the gear to the end of the shaft you're pushing on.

John -  If the 3 screws were replaced with longer ones, would it not give you more than an inch to work with?

Back when I was into slot cars I had a K&B gear puller I wanted to add longer screws to it. When I did it would try and skew to one side as I tightened down. I cured it by cutting some 1/4" steel tubing and making sure all the tubing was exactly the same length once the frame of the puller was pulled down tight on the steel tubing the puller was quite rigid and worked well.          j

Good idea with the tubing John, that would probably be an excellent and easy fix.