Posted by Sherman in Idaho [24.32.202.166] on Sunday, October 06, 2013 at 12:54:13 :
In Reply to: LU2 winch key removal posted by Joe Cimoch [68.186.242.95] on Sunday, October 06, 2013 at 12:01:00 :
I used to use the usual methods of trying to pry it with a pick or small screwdriver or grab it with a pair of dikes, but then I discovered that they're almost always easy to get out with vise-grips. The key is to use a good pair of vise-grips whose jaws are still good and square at the end and not rounded off at all. Grab it well with them and then use a small hammer to tap the vise-grips back away from the shaft by hitting on some convenient part. Somehow the tapping gets the key out easily, when it resists all efforts to pull and twist. I've not had one yet that didn't come out with the vise-grips plus tapping method. Somebody really clever could weld a rod and a slider onto a pair of vise-grips and make a vise-grip slide hammer. That would be the bee's knees.
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