TheSneeze wrote on 02/12/22 at 10:24:22:Whacking with a hammer!? Ever hear of Brinnell damage?
Not in when I was 17.....I was fixing the mower the way I was instructed to. It wasn't a two handed sledge hammer affair - just hold the spindle in your left hand and hit the bottom of the spindle with the hammer in your right hand. I worked at that place for about 3 years.....we never had one fail....just worn out bearings as folks would not grease them often enough.
The shaft was about about 1" diameter, and we would hit the bottom of the spindle where the big flat area was that the mower blade would mount. The wack we gave it was very likely no worse than the wack it would get when you mow over something like a baseball or stone.