Does anyone know a way of removing these with out damaging the retaining collar. 1 roblem is that I dont have a large press at hand.

 

You can't reuse the old retaining collar. It has to be pressed on with a minimum amount of pressure ( the exact number eludes me now ). Also, I don't think theres anyway to pull it off with known tools. I tried using a large bearing puller but got nowhere real fast. You have to cut it off. Use a dremel or a cold chisel just be careful not to score the axle too much or the new bearing and collar won't go on very easily. Try to avoid using heat as this can warp the axles.

You can put a new collar and bearings on with out a press. I did it last year using some soft iron pipe that had the almost prefect inside diameter to fit over axle outside diameter at the point where the bearings and collar sit. Basically you use this to hammer the new collar home. I was able to find this kind of pipe at the local hardware store. Not sure whats available to you down in south africa.