wheel pullers - reviews?

I have the Timko wheel puller, and it's worked very well.  It's quite robust and comes with pins for both small and larger axles.

It's excellent for flywheels and wheels, just change the pin.

For work gears, I picked up this Great Plains Gear Puller

Between the two, I have most bases covered.  I use an arbor press to put the stuff back together.

overlandflyer posted:

any feedback on the two different wheel pullers at the Olsen toy train parts site, or any others that can be recommended?

looks like they are for O gauge (upper) and STD gauge (lower) size wheels.

The upper one looks like a modified battery terminal puller, which can be found at any hardware store in an unmodified configuration.  One note on this one, if it is a battery terminal puller, the jaws would need to be modified, as they would be too thick to properly get between the wheel and frame if not modified.  The detail of this photo does not show how thick the jaws are.  

The lower one looks like it is adjustable to smaller wheels and is simply shown on a standard gauge engine.  This one looks to have thin jaws, but the detail of the photo is not great.

The Timco one looks good, as it looks to be made of hard steel with thin jaws that should be easy to get between the wheels and the engine frames.  I might have to look into one of these.  Gunrunnerjohn where did you get this from?

Nation Wide Lines posted:

overlandflyer posted:

any feedback on the two different wheel pullers at the Olsen toy train parts site, or any others that can be recommended?

The upper one looks like a modified battery terminal puller, ...

ah, for the days when you could pop the hood and actually see your car battery !!

GRJ, that Timko model looks nice... thanks for the input.

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for $10..98  plus tax.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping bout $8, per his instructions. Timkorepairdepot.com by money order or check only.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Where can one get the Timko puller?

Direct from Frank Timko.

Timko Repair Depot

Just send an email and say you want to buy a wheel puller.

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Oh, I don't know.  Take me for instance - if your middle name is (putting it politely) "Mr. Thrifty", it might be worth it.  

Mixed Freight posted:

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Oh, I don't know.  Take me for instance - if your middle name is (putting it politely) "Mr. Thrifty", it might be worth it.  

I personally prefer "frugal".  I agree, not a big deal at all to modify it.

Pete

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Direct from Frank Timko.

Timko Repair Depot

Just send an email and say you want to buy a wheel puller.

 

Thanks

What about the excellent wheel pullers from "PE Design"?  

I don't respond much here, but do read, and I just thought that the PE Design wheel pullers are the best made. And for a great price for the quality.

Also since I am on here for now, "Hobby Horse Products" is still in business and has those wonderful $25 frame spreading tool that make replacing a fiber pick up plate a breeze. And I recently bought 4 different colors of large spray cans of prewar paint from them that I was totally impressed by the quality (and color match) of their paint. It's not the dull finish & takes a month to dry paint like every other train paint I've tried over the decades. It's tacky in less than 5 minutes, and the 2nd or 3rd coat goes on perfect with no runs. You can get a very good thick coat (the way the originals look) without runs. And it's dry & cured in 24 hours that you can continue with your project without the 1 to 2 week delay like so many other train paints. I actually thought that Hobby Horse Products went out of business many years ago. I called the phone number and was surprised that everything is still available (and more items) from this company.

I'm sorry I don't contribute to this board more often. I just have my medical issues along with "family drama" as my parents are about to pass. (It's so sad to see what money does to some people).

Bill TCA#96-42883

It looks like a decent wheel puller, but I don't see that's it's "better" than the Timko wheel puller.  Truthfully, they look very similar is design to the Timko.

PE Design wheel puller

They do have a lot of varieties of them, that's for sure.

I have several of the above pullers.  Do not forget the Lionel ST-311 puller. When I put my hand in the puller drawer, that is usually the first one I come out with. The problem I have is I still have not found a puller that will address the problem of not being able to get the jaws under the wheel 180 degrees apart.  There are many Lionel post war units that have the wheels so close together and /or a frame design that very much limits access to the edge of the wheel for puller jaws. 

I have been looking for a good pickle fork, but have yet to find one that is small enough, yet strong enough,  to use on O gauge equipment.  I have considered trying to use the press and a pin to push the axle out of some wheels, but many of the die cast frames are so iregular that good solid level support is difficult to achieve.  I usually manage to get things apart without doing too much damage.  On occasions I still resort to a hammer and punch with the frame on a towel in my lap.  

Please keep the good ideas coming, there must be a better tool out there somewhere.  

Kukko puller I got years ago is still good, had jaws for O and for standard gauge. German made but don't see them offered anymore

Nation Wide Lines posted:

TeleDoc posted:

The bottom one, shown from Olsen’s, is nothing more than a “Faucet Puller”, available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, for a little over $10.00.  The Timko puller is one of the best, for 0 gauge, $39.95 + shipping.  The battery terminal puller has to be ground down on the jaws, to fit under the wheels, and not worth the aggravation to modify it.

Where can one get the Timko puller?

 

for those interested, the response i got from Frank.
i'm sure he would not mind me posting it.

cheers...gary

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David Johnston posted:

I have several of the above pullers.  Do not forget the Lionel ST-311 puller. When I put my hand in the puller drawer, that is usually the first one I come out with. The problem I have is I still have not found a puller that will address the problem of not being able to get the jaws under the wheel 180 degrees apart.  There are many Lionel post war units that have the wheels so close together and /or a frame design that very much limits access to the edge of the wheel for puller jaws. 

I have been looking for a good pickle fork, but have yet to find one that is small enough, yet strong enough,  to use on O gauge equipment.  I have considered trying to use the press and a pin to push the axle out of some wheels, but many of the die cast frames are so iregular that good solid level support is difficult to achieve.  I usually manage to get things apart without doing too much damage.  On occasions I still resort to a hammer and punch with the frame on a towel in my lap.  

Please keep the good ideas coming, there must be a better tool out there somewhere.  

 

Be extremely careful if prying or wedging against die-cast metal frames, pickle fork or not.  The zinc won't have near the compressive strength of many other metals.  And a pickle fork wouldn't produce a straight-line force in most instances without introducing a bending moment into the axle and/or wheel, which could also cause damage.

arrived this weekend... nice solid construction.

I received my Timko puller on Friday!  Am anticipating using it sometime this week.  It seems to be a great design.

The Timko puller works great on all types of train wheels and flywheels. Great service and fast turnaround.

Any recommendations for pulling a "pinion gear" on a motor?

The worm or pinion gears are frequently on there pretty solid.  Usually, it requires heat  to convince them to come off.  I have this one for gears, but it has a limited reach and some worms won't fit.