JD185 wheel removal

[cart99]

I'm embarrassed to ask this question, but hey it's the only way you learn right?

I have a JD 185 lawn tractor, and I need to remove the front wheels to have the tires replaced. I pulled the plastic cap off the hub, but can't figure out how to actually remove the wheel. What's the trick? Are the rears attached the same way?

Thanks in advance.

 

[joe_padavano]

Once you pull off the plastic cap, you should see a snap ring holding the wheel on the spindle. You may need to wipe off all the grease to see it. You'll need a snap ring pliers to remove and reinstall the snap ring. Once the ring is off, the wheel should pull off the spinde.

The rears are held on the same way, however there's a keyway on the rear since these are the drive wheels. The problem is that since there are no bearings on the rears, they often seize to the axle. I've had limited success in using a wedge between the inside of the wheel center and the transaxle housing to loosen the rear wheels, but be careful since it doesn't take much force to damage the aluminum transaxle housing. Failing that, you need to remove and disassemble the transaxle. This will let pull the axle shaft from the differential and take it to a shop that can press the seized wheel from the shaft. If you do get the rear wheels to slide off, be sure not to loose the key that will probably fall to the ground. Also, I like to coat the axle shaft with anti-seize compound before reinstalling the rear wheels.

Joe Padavano