Need help with Byrd install

[Matt Benton]

I have completed the removal of the stock head on my PM 15 planer, with the exception of the last step. I can't get the shaft of the head out of the bearing in the gearbox. I've beaten on it with a hammer pretty hard with no luck.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

[James Baker SD]

I did that install last summer and remember that several steps were harder than the Byrd instructions implied. I also had a gear puller, but that probably did not help with this step. If memory serves me, I opened up a metal vise, laid the gear box over the opening with the cutter head hanging down and beat on it with a hammer and gravity assist until it started to move. I purchased 3 or so extra M6 screws and basically destroyed them with the hammering. Overall I am pleased with the results now that the planer is back together, but would not want to do it again.

[Brad Pickens]

Take it to a machine shop, have them pull the bearing off the old head and press it onto the new one. It will take them less than half an hour, it will cost you twenty or thirty bucks, and you won't be beating on a forty pound hunk of metal full of knives that is held three feet off of the floor and is liable to cause some excitement when/if the bearing suddenly comes loose. As a bonus, you won't be wrecking the screws, possibly stripping the internal threads of the planer head, and it significantly lessons the chances of damaging the bearings, which are pretty spendy to replace.

[Dave MacArthur]

Matt,
I've read 3 or 4 threads on exactly this issue, folks trying to figure out how to get the shaft/bearing/gearbox apart, how hard to hit it, etc... Many folks have done it and posted replies.

I did a search for byrd head install planer, but there are 5 pages of hits... I didn't wade through them all, but if you don't get replies here in the timeframe you're looking for, you can do a bit of search reading and I'm sure you'll find answers on exactly this question.