420 3 point woes

[DiggerLarry]

I recently aquired a 420C with a 3 point. Everything 3 point related was removed from the crawler except the rockshaft. I did get all the removed parts so I'm in good shape there. However, the rock shaft is frozen solid in the housing. I haven't put a lot of pressure on it but did slip one of the lift arms on and wedged a bar in it and could not get the shaft to move.

Anybody have any ideas on how to free this up? Heating such a large casting would seem to be a difficult task. I thought about hooking the loader bucket under the lift arm and lifing up but...... I sure don't want to break anything, like a lift arm.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

[Lavoy]

Larry,
There are no bushings in the housing, so if it is rusty, the shaft is rusted to the housing. I would not lift on it, no sense taking the risk.
Pull the fill plug and dump as much penetrating stuff as you can in there and gently hit on one of the lift arms once in a while to see if the vibration will loosen it up. Heating will help a lot, and may not take as much as you think, only the outside few inches of the housing is actually tight on the shaft.
Lavoy

[DiggerLarry]

Thanks Lavoy, I'll try that. The crawler isn't rusty at all but inside the housing, maybe it is. The guy said the 3 pt was taken off 20 years ago so, it likely hasn't moved in that time.