Removing Rusty Ball Mount from Receiver of Trailer Hitch

[Don52]

My customer had trouble removing the rusty ball mount from the receiver of his hitch so that he could install a rear plow on the hitch of his snow plow truck. He currently has 55 costumers so the rear hitch will help to pull the snow from the driveways. It turns out that rust has a greater volume than steel so the ball mount was now a tight press fit in the receiver. To remove the ball mount I Mig welded a 1-3/8" bar to the bottom of the ball mount so that my customer could beat on it with a sledge hammer while I heated it with the oxyacetylene torch. It was so tight that all of this persuasion was necessary to remove it.

Don

[bigtow30t]

I have done similar a few times, it's a *****. It doesn't take long for it to happen either (at least in a northern state that uses salt).
But the times I have done this it was a waste of time. The receiver tube had rusted so bad that it was so thin, I told them to get a whole new hitch. Told them I wouldn't use it to tow anything. Did they I don't know, I hope they did.

[Don52]

I have done similar a few times, it's a *****. It doesn't take long for it to happen either (at least in a northern state that uses salt).
But the times I have done this it was a waste of time. The receiver tube had rusted so bad that it was so thin, I told them to get a whole new hitch. Told them I wouldn't use it to tow anything. Did they I don't know, I hope they did.

Well I hope that there is enough wall thickness left on the receiver tube that it will hold up. It is a bolt on hitch so it is relatively easy to replace if necessary.

USMCPOP on the Weld Talk forum suggested using a product called "Fluid Film" on the square shaft of the ball mount and the receiver socket before installation to reduce corrosion. I checked out the following link and it sounds like good stuff. It is specified by John Deere for use on their equipment and it is available from Auto Zone and O'Reilly's as well as many other industrial supply companies. Although I had never heard about it before USMCPOP's suggestion, I plan on picking up a can or two to try it out.

http://www.fluid-film.com/

Don

[USMCPOP]

Fluid Film is lanolin-based (wool wax or wool grease). I have yet to see a rusty sheep.

[pgk]

Iv'e used Fluid Film on my 3 point snowblowers drive chain for years, works as advertised. Keep it indoors or in a heated area in the winter or it won't spray worth a darn.

Pete