Park Planer: Pulling the Transmission

[John Bailey]

Does anyone know how to pull the transmission off the Parks Planer. I want to dismantle the planer and rebuild. I'm new to this type of thing and I don't want to damage anything. I've used wheel pullers before, but the transmission is an odd shape, and I don't know of any type tool that will do the job.

John

[lou sansone]

John
i have not actually worked on the parks, but from the photos you showed, it seemed that there was an access plate on the side of the transmission case that would allow you to gain access to all the gears in the case. If that is so, then you will probably have to systematically take each gear off the shaft until all the gears are removed and you only have 2 or 3 machine shafts left. my guess is that once those gears are out of the way. there should be some form of attachment, via bolts, between the transmission housing and the rest of the machine.

In order to pull the gears off, you will probably have to loosen some form of set screw that holds the gears on to the shaft. the gears should have some type of key way in them. Some gears have 2 set screws. One set screw will be directly on top of the key way and the other can be at 90 degrees. Another old trick that used to be done to lock a set screw is to put a 2nd set screw on top of the first one. make sure you just completely remove the screws and verify that the shaft is indeed at the bottom of the hole.

You will need a gear puller of some type. Keep in mind that those gears are often cast iron ( although some machine do have steel gears ) and they can be broken if you really crank on the gear puller. Sometimes a little heat on the gear hub while having some tension on the puller helps to pop the gear off the shaft.

If the shafts have become rusty, you must file / sand down the shafts until you get to a smooth surface. you will not be able to pull the gears off over a rusted shaft. what will happen is that the gear will get stuck part of the way.


send photos of what you are doing if you get stuck
Lou

[John Bailey]

Lou,

Thanks for the suggestions. I think the Parks is set-up a little differently. Although, I admit I may be missing something with my lack of experience with these things. The only cover is a small section on the top of the transmission. (See picture) I can't see any way of getting a wheel puller down in there to work with the gears. The majority of the transmission case is cast aluminum with a welded seam. The case is not attached to the planer except for the infeed and out feed rollers and the cutting head. The shafts on these go through bearings, then through the case and onto the gears. The gears have set screws, and I've removed them.

I'm not sure if I'm missing something, or if the Parks is just set-up a bit different. Hopefully the pictures will give someone an idea.

John

[lou sansone]

ok on the photos
no matter what, the gears do slide on those shafts some what. I just can't believe that the whole case slides off the shaft. On the outside of the case there are 3 shafts that seem to be protruding through and each one has some sort of retainer. have you loosen them?
Another photo that you originally had seem to show some type of seam between the side plate of the case and the rest of the gear box. Are you sure that once those bolts and other du dads are loosed up that the side will not come off.

If you have to really try to slide the entire gear box off the shafts I have a very strong feeling that you are in trouble.

lou

[tod evans]

john, try contacting one of the folks at owwm who has done this. knowing what they went through could prove invaluable...02 tod

[Chris Rosenberger]

John,
I am not sure you will be able to do it without damaging something. With that being a one piece gear box the gear on the outfeed rolls & head have to slide off with the gearbox. With all of the rust I do not think that is possible. Did it sound OK when you ran it? If it did I would just make sure the gearbox was as clean as possible, put grease it & use it. Over time, with use, the parts may loosen up. I would not risk damaging something. Those parts are hard to come by.

[John Bailey]

Lou,

Thanks, sometimes my middle name is trouble. Sounds like this may be one of those times.

Todd,

I've got good suggestions from the OWWM folks. Seems as though I need to get the gears off first, if I'm able, then slide the casing off. Some have suggested I may have to slide everything off at the same time.

When I get it off, I'll get some pictures.

John

[CPeter James]

Before I went through the trouble of pulling the transmission off, you might want to try flushing it out with kerosene. This is the method that I have used on old truck and tractors.

Drain and clean out as much of the junk as you can. then overfill it with kerosene. Turn it by hand to ensure that nothing is binding. If it is relatively free, then plug it in and run it with NO load for a couple of minutes. Remove the cover and check inside. If all looks OK, run some more. Drain, flush with clean kero, and repeat. After most of the junk is off, wire brush (by hand or with a Dremel tool) everything you can reach. Flush, fill with kero and run, flush again. Clean any remaining rust that you can see and then flush and fill with GL-1 140 wt gear oil.

The chain should be fairly easy to replace. It has some kind of master link. I would hesitate on removing the case as I think you are going to do more damage than good. I really think that you can get most of the rust out with the above method. After you have used it for a little while, drain, flush with kero and refill with the gear oil and monitor the condition of the gear oil. Change it when it gets dirty.

CPeter

[John Bailey]

Thanks for all the replies. At this point I've been workin' on this for a couple of days now. I have come across some ridges that appear to be made by the set screws. However, by going slowly, I've been able to work the infeed roller gear and the cutterhead gear off. The ridges don't seem as bad as some that have been described at OWWM. I've losened the outfeed roller gear to where it rotates easily by hand on the shaft until it gets to the end of the shaft. When the gear gets to the end of the shaft, it stops dead. It would appear there has been "mushrooming" of the end of the shaft. This is the end where the throw out bearing is. I can get to this end with a file. Would I be able to file the end down so it will pass through the gear? Even if I can, is it a good idea or are there some unintended consequences I'm not thinking of.

As far as not taking it apart. I knew from the beginning it would probably be wise to leave it alone, until it really breaks. However, one of the main reasons I bought it was to learn how to do these things. If I'm able to take it apart and get it back together with out too much damage, I've got a real deal. If, on the other hand, I really mess it up, well, It's cheap education. Any way, I seem to like these old machines, so I better learn to fix 'em.

John

Thanks for any info, John

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John.....try a little croakus cloth..........I'm trying to remember the correct technical name..........a fine grit....hold a loop around the shaft and rotate the shaft....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John.....try a little croakus cloth..........I'm trying to remember the correct technical name..........a fine grit....hold a loop around the shaft and rotate the shaft....

[John Bailey]

Looks like the spelling on that is "crocus cloth." Is that something I can get at the local hardware store?

John

[John Bailey]

Got-r-done!! After figuring out the problem, getting the transmission case off was a snap. Looks like the infeed roller's shaft had been pounded on at some point. Had to file a bit, and the gear came off smoothly. After eight hours today, I quit for the day. I've got one more small gear, way down in the casing to go. We'll get that tomorrow.

John

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John.....emery cloth .....equals croacus cloth......sorry........could remember the alternate name earlier..........Glad to hear you're making progress!

[Ken Garlock]

Ken you are close, but as they say, no cigar.;)

Definition: An iron-oxide coated abrasive cloth, used as a polishing agent after most of the work has been done with emery or aluminum oxide.
Definition Copyright ©1989 CRC Press LLC. All rights reserved.

It is spelled CROCUS, and is a separate entity apart from Emery cloth.

[John Bailey]

Thought I'd update this for anyone who may be interested. The last post had me doing battle with the transmission case. I've been able to get everything off now. The only major problem came with the last set of gears that sits very low in the case. I couldn't get anything into the case to get any leverage. So, I decided I had to cut the shaft to get everything else out. That seemed prudent as a new shaft is going to be in the $25 range as opposed to the risk of damaging the entire transmission casting for around $300. I couldn't figure out how to cut the shaft, then, out of frustration, I took a coping saw to it. To my surprise, it started to cut. 2 hours and 2 blades later, I had the shaft and gears out.

The first pictures is of the shaft and gears as they were while I was cutting. Next is the pieces when done. And finally, a picture of the entire transmission with parts in order ready to be labeled.


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This has truly been a learning experience for me. Now I'll start taking the rest of the machine apart, then, the hard work of cleaning all the parts, deciding which one need replacing, painting, polishing and finally, re-assembly.

John

[lou sansone]

wow... I would not have believed it! you have done good . I think your going to be able to save the machine
best wishes
lou

[John Bailey]

Thanks Lou,

It's been a chanllenge, but enjoyable. There are some parts that are damaged beyond use, but only a few. Most problems were do to set screws that formed ridges on the shafts. Obviously the shaft I cut will need to be replaced, and there is a brass sleeve that is shot. I think one of the small gears, once I clean it up, will need to be replaced also. One stud that holds the infeed roller and spring is broken. Other than those parts, everything seems to be in pretty good shape. With the price list I have, it would appear I'm going to spend between $100-$150 in parts. I didn't think that was too bad.

John

[tod evans]

way to go john! determination and plain ol` bullheadedness once again succeed! can`t wait to hear you`ve got it purring again..02 tod

[Michael Adelong]

It is spelled CROCUS, and is a separate entity apart from Emery cloth.

Wow... Learned sumthin' new. I always thought both names referred to the same product. Looks like I've been wrong my whole life (again). :(

Michael

[John Bailey]

Todd,

A few skinned knuckles too!!:o

John

[tod evans]

they`ll heal and you`ll have one heck of a nice planer!

[Steve Clardy]

Not to be picky.:)
Crocus cloth is for cleaning up armatures, etc.
It has different sanding particles than emery cloth.
Finer grit, will not stick to copper.

[John Bailey]

Steve,

So, in your opinion, should I be using crocu cloth or emery for most of the clean-up job.

John

[Steve Clardy]

Emery cloth.

[John Bailey]

Thanks, Cowboy!!;)

John

[Dev Emch]

Emery cloth. With Crutons and an oil vingerette....

No, actually wet sand with emery using oil. Motor oil works as does a light #20 SAE electric motor oil. As you get finer in grits, consider using maybe some 3-1 oil but it is not needed. The #20 SAE works for most of this. Fine emery with #20 SAE will leave a nice satin sheen on the metalwork.

[Michael Adelong]

Steve,

Can the 2 be identified by the color? I've seem reddish brown and dark grey/blackish. Both seem to always have a blueish grey color cloth backing.

[Brett Baldwin]

Nice work John. Its always good to see a machine brought back to life with a little elbow grease and ingenuity. Keep up the great work.

[Steve Clardy]

Let me look-----------------------------------------------------------

Ok. My emery is kinda a light purple on back, gray on the business end.
My old roll of crocus, probably12-15 years old, [don't use it much anymore] is brown back, reddish brown on the business end.
I don't know if crocus had a standard color or not.

[Norman Hitt]

Let me look-----------------------------------------------------------

Ok. My emery is kinda a light purple on back, gray on the business end.
My old roll of crocus, probably12-15 years old, [don't use it much anymore] is brown back, reddish brown on the business end.
I don't know if crocus had a standard color or not.

Steve, to my knowledge, All Crocus cloth is a reddish brown on the "Business Side", due to the color of the Iron Oxide that it is made of. We always used this to smooth new military Brass before doing a final polish with "Brasso".

Emery Cloth is always a blue/grey,purple or light maroon on the back and gray/black on the business side, (or at least all that I have ever seen), and it's finest grit is coarser than the Crocus cloth.

[John Bailey]

Twice – nay, thrice – the force of evil raised its never ceasing head. Hence, a fortnight ago, the cave where evil dwells (that menacing transmission casting) laughed its claustrophic creed to deny my access. Ah, but thence came the river of fluidity (PB Blaster) to become one in battle and the bowels of the cave were thrown to the sky. (Got that sucker off.) And on the second fence of battle came the mighty shaft of ragged warhead, this dreaded warhead, with the strength of Lord ‘Arn himself. (gear-shaft with a frozen gear on the end) Powerful was Lord ‘Arn, powerful was his grip and I could feel the power of his warhead. Alas, with strength awaine and courage in retreat, I prepared to face humiliation. Then, in desperation, I lunged, and with brother warrior, Cope the Great (a coping saw), gave one last desperate volley. With this last great skirmish, Lord ‘Arn broke and cascaded to the depths (fell to the bottom of the casting). Now, to the finish, I, and all my warriors did contain and plunder the camp of the now diluted army of darkness (the rest of the planer was taken apart). The Dragon Has Been Slayed!! (I got every set-screw, bolt, shaft, gear, and bearing taken apart on this Parks 12” Planer.)<o></o>
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <o></o><!--[endif]-->
And the glory of battle will live on with every drawing and painting of the historian’s brushes. Before you is not the carnage of battle, but the plunder of victory (pictures for the picture police).




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And what of tomorrow. Forsooth, tomorrow comes the Battle of Lightning. (Electrolysis) Onward, ever onward.

The lessons of a thousand battles will be told in parables for eons to come. The lesson - to do battle, to engage and live. (Also, make sure you have lots of ventilation when using PB Blaster all day.)

Yours in the Good Fight,

John

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congratulatons Oh Mighty Warrior! Fight On! Fight On! (And it's a good thing thou hast satisfied the thirst of the mighty Lord Photo Cop lest he strike thee with his mighty thong!):D

[Dev Emch]

Just remember that the burps and belches of Lord Thor must not be contained for they too are ever mighty in the presence of flame! (Parts undergoing electrolysis striping release hydrogen gas! Some crazy Mr. Science types keep insisting this may be the solution to our energy crisis so I think this stuff may be explosive... but dont let that stop you!:p:p:p)

[Frank Chaffee]

Sir John,
It is so good to see you getting out and about these days. Long ago, I saw that the Aegean climate, with its incessant sunshine, and nothing more threatening than the Minotaur and Cyclopes and whatnot, would become too confining for you. And high time too, I must say, that you carry the light of humanity’s precious seed to the darker realms of the north, where you now tilt at the Dragons of our modern age. Keep thou thy mask Sir John closely fastened to thine face whilst engaged in this seminal and crucial undertaking, as the gasses released in this transformation of psychic material, per the observation of Sir Dev, are highly inflammable, and even more likely to cause intoxication than your diet of carrot juice.
Your brother in the farce, John,
Frank

[John Bailey]

Farce!! What you say, man, Farce!! I tell you now and through the ages, the lassistude my heart feels for those of little soul from across the tall water of the West, for they know no glory of the battle. May the cheese melt within your aural orifice and orgone return to you being.

John

[Jim Davenport]

John;
You're talking about electrolysis. Is that the process using "washing soda" as the electrolyte?

[John Bailey]

Jim,

Yes.

John

[CPeter James]

Have you used the electrolysis before? I use lye with mine. This is a link to a good source of information on the subject.

CPeter

http://www.fboerger.com/Restoration%20Tips/Restoration%20Tips%20Page.htm#Electrolysis

[John Bailey]

CPeter,

Yikes, I think I'll use soda. Lye scares me.

John

[Dev Emch]

CPeter,

Yikes, I think I'll use soda. Lye scares me.

John

NOTICE! ACTUNG!

When using lye and esp. the lye gravy mentioned in CPeter's post, make sure you dont have any light alloys in play. For example, the way strips used on a northfield jointer container poured and scraped babbit linear bearings. These are recesses in the cast iron filled with babbit and then scraped to fit. They go to alot of effort to do this and the results speak for themselves. Use of lye may have adverse affects on these parts. Pot metal, alumnium, etc. are susceptable to lye damage.

[CPeter James]

What are you going to use for a power source? A battery charger? Actually, the lye electrolysis doesn't bother the brass parts on the carburetors that I have done.

CPeter

[John Bailey]

CPeter,

I'm using a 10 amp battery charger. I did a small gear this afternoon and it worked slick. I've got a bigger, more rusted gear in there right now, and will probably leave it overnight. I posted another question on the Off Topic about whether to leave the battery charger on "manual" or "automatic." Any advice would be appreciated.

John

[Dev Emch]

What are you going to use for a power source? A battery charger? Actually, the lye electrolysis doesn't bother the brass parts on the carburetors that I have done.

CPeter

Hmmm, interesting. But what do you do with all the old paint, lye and goop etc? Your URL had Frank power washing a tractor tire on the driveway or landing. Where does all the lye gravy and old paint go? Wouldnt this be an environmental issue? This is of concern since most of the trees around these concrete areas are purchased and planted by us so we dont wish to pollute our back yards. Is there a way to neutralize the lye?