F-M/Woodmanse 45 pitman removal: what am I missing?

[DennisT]

So I'm slowly working to free up my recent NOS Fairbanks 45 mill. Interesting pitman attachments. Lock screws hold the upper ends to the cross pin. Lower pitman ends are surprising. They each have their own short pins. The pins seem permanently pressed to the arm ends. NO cotter pins, nuts, etc. to hold them to the big gear. I'd like to coax the gear set to rotate slightly to raise the lower pitman connections clear of main case. Then it looks to me like I have to tap the lower ends out slowly while I, at the same time, move the upper ends out. (upper ends are, "free," after loosening set screw) Fairbanks must have a lot of faith in those lower arms to stay in place with nothing to secure them except the rigidity of the full pitman arm.
Am I missing something here?? Something to make disassembly a little easier? Am I seeing this right?

[windybob]

It's been quite a while since I took mine apart, trying to remember. What i would do is to remove the crosshead pin that holds the pitmans to the sliding crosshead. Then unscrew the case plugs in line with the bullgears. If you can take out any setscrews that hold the bullgear axle in place, then you can tap over the shaft to one side, remover that gear, then do the opposite for the other bullgear. If I remember, the bearings are those long kind..uh...I can't ever remember the names of those. Hold on let me research here a little....A cylinder type bearing. I think I have a picture. Anyway, mine were totally rusted solid, and getting things apart was a nightmare. I had to cut all the shafts 2 or 3 times to get things apart. I do have some pics of my 45 all apart, and in the process.

Tried and failed to get a bearing picture. here's another picture. If you notice, the pinions are held in by pins. Drive or drill those out.

Fairbanks 45 pinions .jpeg

[DennisT]

Thanks. At this point, any tips are good. Main bearings I understand to be Hyatt rollers. Seems most of us have now decided this thing I have is truly NOS; never run. I wonder if Fairbanks/Woodmanse packed these Hyatts with a lot of assembly lube that's stiff, but still there.......... Ha Ha.
Merry Christmas, Dennis

[windybob]

Hyatt! That's the name I can never remember.

[DennisT]

I used to hear, "slow and steady wins the race." I hope so. I've got the slow part down. So I continued brushing, rubbing, oiling parts until I finally saw a parting line at the top pitman arm mounts. AhHa. So the cross pin reveals itself. For kicks, not having a brass drift handy, I took a 3/4" socket and tapped it firmly on one end with modest raps with hammer. It moved. Worked it a little more, whole pin came out. Now I could swing the pitman arms up and down until freed up, and they wiggled out of the big gear. WhooHoo! I also removed the brake arm and brake shoe. (See pics) There is still some paint color on the shoe from factory. Nothing outstanding about the brake shoe photo, however, if someone has a badly worn one and does not know what the original shoe thickness is, this ought to help. Also here is a pic of the upper pitman arm cross pin. Both shoe and pin have not yet been cleaned up at all except for wiping down with paper towel.
Now I should be able to heat up and begin tapping the sliding saddle/carrier and see if it will come off. After that, it's guide bars and oil pump tube.

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Dennis good things come in time ! When I first started in my passion of collecting and restoring windmills a wise old windmiller told me when it comes to restoring your mills you can't be in a hurry and he was right.

[mtblah]

Dennis , looking good .