I was mowing last week when the rear wheel - on the drive side (right)
fell off. No warning, the rim stripped off and broke. I ordered a
replacement wheel/rim combo.

How in the name of Sam Hill do I get the old "rim" off? I put some
liquid wrench on the bolt end to help free it up, but there's nothing
for me to grasp to free the bolt that holds the wheel on. I tried a
pimp wrench, vice grips, etc. I try to turn it and it slips right off.

Any tips?

FYI, what's left around the axle is the plastic base of the hub.
Unlike the front rims, the back rims seem to be bolted directly to the
axle. When I turn it, the axle turns. I haven't removed the "hogshead"
to see if there is something that I could clamp onto.

[posted and mailed]

rickm wrote in
:

I was mowing last week when the rear wheel - on the drive side (right)
fell off. No warning, the rim stripped off and broke. I ordered a
replacement wheel/rim combo.

How in the name of Sam Hill do I get the old "rim" off? I put some
liquid wrench on the bolt end to help free it up, but there's nothing
for me to grasp to free the bolt that holds the wheel on. I tried a
pimp wrench, vice grips, etc. I try to turn it and it slips right off.

Any tips?

FYI, what's left around the axle is the plastic base of the hub.
Unlike the front rims, the back rims seem to be bolted directly to the
axle. When I turn it, the axle turns. I haven't removed the "hogshead"
to see if there is something that I could clamp onto.



If you can't hold the wheel hub tightly enough to get the nut off
the end of the axle, then you can hold the drive lever AND the other
tire to lock the differential up. That should let you get the nut off.
Since Snapper uses fine thread almost exclusively, it shouldn't be
rusted that tightly that it won't come off that way. If it is old
enough to have plastic wheel hubs, you could cut / melt the hub off
and then hold the axle shaft with an adjustable (Crescent™) wrench.
The center of the drive wheels is double-d, meaning it has two flats.

Matt