Vintage Incomplete Crane 1903 Pat Heavy Duty Gear Puller, Missing Screw

Description

This is a very early Crane gear puller, made by the Crane Puller Co of Arlington Mass. A Boston mechanic named Newton Crane, in the late 19th C, realized there could be a better way of removing gears from shafts than by hammering them off or trying to use an arbor press, and devised a portable modification of the press which could be fastened directly to the gear to be removed, which was patented in 1903, and while incomplete, this is one of the earliest examples, missing the forcing screw, and with part of one of the arms sliced off, see photos.  The early Crane pullers had blunted ends on the frame, which were later modified to be more pointed. Very heavily built, a piece of mechanical history. The frame and one arm are in good condition, one arm modified at the gripping jaw, and the screw is missing. Arms held on by poorly fitting bolts which are not original, could be replaced with pins of the correct size. Ships medium flat rate box at .00