I need to remove a split cotter pin from a hole which has access from only one end. Any tips ? I figure I might be able to drill it out but I think that would be a last measure.
Is the head on the accessible side? Have you broken the legs off? How thick is the piece the pin goes through? Can you get a plier or vice grip on the head and pull it back? Is there enough room on the blind side to drive it through? What is this cotter pin holding? Will the pin just spin if you try to drill it? If you break off the head, can you pull out one leg at a time? what size cotter pin? If you break off the legs and the head, can you remove the nut and then drive the pin? Can you get an awl or something similar to get in the head and pry it out?
I was unfamiliar with the name for this type of cotter pin but it is called steel spring locking retaining slot split cotter pin. It is just a long slender tube but with a small portion of the 'tube' missing so it forms an incomplete circle, allowing it some flexibility so it sits tight inside a hole.
In my case, it holds the ratchet to a load binder. I want to remove the ratchet portion and the only thing holding the ratchet in place is this 'split cotter pin'. If the hole went right through, I could hammer the pin through but there is no exit hole on the other side.
If I remove the hooks and bolts from either end of the load binder, I can easily see the pin but to no avail. There is no head. It is not what I would have typically called a cotter pin but apparently, that's what it is. Just a long, slender tube with a slice missing down one side.
If I try to drill out, I imagine it will spin. I am wondering if one of those reverse bits for a broken bolt might work but I don't own one (yet).
You might try a Cobalt bit (used to drill high grade stainless steel). I have never tried to drill spring steel w/ a Cobalt bit - might be worth a try on a leaf spring?
Spring steel is nasty stuff to drill. IF it does not spin it will bite and chip. Any chance you can run a small screw into the center and it pull up? Drywall screws can be a real live saver for removing pins/seals if you have enough clearance.
It just came to me that I should step back and look at the bigger picture and forget the pin and just cut off the handle and ratchet. It's just the cylinder part I really need. I just thought there must be an easier way to remove the pin.
-- Edited by Cuddles on Saturday 18th of December 2021 10:26:38 AM
Why did you start a new thread? The thought train is lost. Get a good bit that will go down the center of the pin and drill all the way through the other side. Then drill from the other side with a bit the size of the original hole and use a drift to drive the pin out. Get a new split pin that goes all the way through. Easy peezy.
Warren
You're the man ! You always know. You always make it sound so simple and I always think, why didn't I think of that? So simple. Duh.
I wasn't sure how to add photos in a thread already running. I'm still adjusting to a Mac & I don't like it. I think it's a great computer, I just got too comfortable with an old pc.
