Removing stuck seastair casters

[Bill Root]

I spent the better part of a day trying to get the stuck casters off the MARQUIT seastairs. These casters have a 0.801" solid steel shaft with a slot around the circumference near the top. There is a steel ring in that slot that is designed to create tension in the receiver to hold the casters in place. I soaked the casters in PB Blaster, rapped on them with a hammer and even tried heat on the shaft receivers. Like Angela mentioned in her post, I got nothing, not even a slight movement. I decided to cut them off.

First step was to cut a slot in the bearing race to let the ball bearings fall out. That allowed me to get a sawzall blade into the slot between the bearing races to cut the 3/4" solid steel shaft. I actually managed to cut through all four caster shafts using only two sawzall metal-cutting blades from ACE Hardware.

Once I had cut through the shafts and remopved the casters I still had the cut off shafts stuck in their female receivers. I thought I could soak them in PB Blaster, heat them and then use an easyout to remove them. NO SUCH LUCK! Even after soaking for a day and using heat I was bending the receivers before I got any movement from the shafts. I gave up before I did any damage to the step, removed it and took it to my local machine shop where they bored out all four shafts for $80. Better than ruining a step. I found new steel casters at Sailorman in Ft. Lauderdale.

The moral of this story is: If you leave your seastairs attaced to your boat all thentime, or if, like me, you simply lay them on the dock when you leave the boat, be sure to remove the casters at least every two months and grease both the shafts and the receivers.

[Glory]

your going to need to use s torch.

JM

[Angela]

your going to need to use s torch.

JM

Tried that - torch with MAP gas...no joy. Like Bill said, at some point, after you've tried everything, they have to be bored out by a machine shop.

[Glory]

Map Is not hot enough, you will need use an acetylene torch.

JM

[Bill Root]

Wouldn't an acetylene torch damage or destroy the aluminum receivers the caster shafts fit into?

[Glory]

Not if your carefull.

JM

[boatguy123@aol.com]

I spent the better part of a day trying to get the stuck casters off the MARQUIT seastairs. These casters have a 0.801" solid steel shaft with a slot around the circumference near the top. There is a steel ring in that slot that is designed to create tension in the receiver to hold the casters in place. I soaked the casters in PB Blaster, rapped on them with a hammer and even tried heat on the shaft receivers. Like Angela mentioned in her post, I got nothing, not even a slight movement. I decided to cut them off.

First step was to cut a slot in the bearing race to let the ball bearings fall out. That allowed me to get a sawzall blade into the slot between the bearing races to cut the 3/4" solid steel shaft. I actually managed to cut through all four caster shafts using only two sawzall metal-cutting blades from ACE Hardware.

Once I had cut through the shafts and remopved the casters I still had the cut off shafts stuck in their female receivers. I thought I could soak them in PB Blaster, heat them and then use an easyout to remove them. NO SUCH LUCK! Even after soaking for a day and using heat I was bending the receivers before I got any movement from the shafts. I gave up before I did any damage to the step, removed it and took it to my local machine shop where they bored out all four shafts for $80. Better than ruining a step. I found new steel casters at Sailorman in Ft. Lauderdale.

The moral of this story is: If you leave your seastairs attaced to your boat all thentime, or if, like me, you simply lay them on the dock when you leave the boat, be sure to remove the casters at least every two months and grease both the shafts and the receivers.

i too had a prob with casters. i socked em for days. ended up drilling the top sides and knocking them out with a drift punch. 1/4 in i think. hey they weren't new anyway..

[Bill Root]

I did buy the stainless casters for the new ladder.

[Artzco]

Many of you may already know about Boat Owners Warehouse (BOW) and they stock some Marquipt items. They do stock S/S casters with a discount. Here is the link:

http://www.boatownerswarehouse.com/b...fm/2,6026.html

[casterwheels]

you can buy stainless steel casters wheels next time. Compare common steel casters, stainless caster have much long use life, And they also won't rust, So even if wheels wear out you can remove break wheels easy