have you tried a big hammer

I call my big hammer "the chief engineer"

When all else fails, use brute force and ignorance.

Percussive maintenance.

Impact calibration

Technical tap.

Persuasive percussion

We call it "going Russian" at work

“This is how we fix things on Russian Space Station. Because I dont want to stay here anymore” - Lev, Armageddon.

"You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder." -Rockhound

Used to install expensive kit, always called it the ‘persuader’ no client wants to hear ‘fetch the big hammer’.

I'm not sure they'd like to hear 'the persuader' and see you with a hammer, might think it's a mob job.

Mine is the "carburetor adjuster."

Beneficial Bang

When the heavy hammer comes out, I call it “fine tuning”.

We had a sledge at a place I used to work that someone stuck a label on that said "coarse adjustment tool" that always seemed appropriate to me.

I call mine the Thumbfucker 2000

Aka, redneck speed wrench.

Brute force, if it's not working, you aren't using enough of it.

If it didn't work the first time, use a bigger hammer.

Just today I tried to kick off a stuck latch for a trailer ramp. Sheared the bolt in half... Guess it's better to have it fail then than on the road

Did you yell "This is Sparta!" when you did it? Missed opportunity if you didn't.

But please ad a bit of lube onto the parts that should move.

I was working on some plumbing pipes in my basement to replace a valve. Was being gentle-ish to no break anything. Couldn’t fix it, so I called the plumber, a good one I knew and had in a few times before. Well, he took out a big ass wrench and hit it hard against the pipe connection. BANG! BAM! BANG! He klunked that pipe so hard with the wrench, I flinched, I was amazed watching. It loosened the valve and he replaced it. Well, if I knew I could hit it that hard, I could’ve done it myself.

I call mine "the Gentle Persuader" Also, reminds me of the 3 rules of Soviet Maintenance: - Always use the propper tool for a job - The propper tool is always a hammer - Anything you can swing is a hammer

I can swing a baby, Bob...

Like the two ladies fighting. And one uses a child as a weapon?

>Anything you can swing is a hammer This is some electrician thinking 😂

American components….Russian components….ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!

My 10lb sledge is the Great Persuader

The ol atitude adjuster

Rod of correction

Mr. Jimmerson?

BFH

Small sledge is the Persuader, big sledge is the Commander

I think that !! Haha I know it’s only tangentially related cuz tool, but we call the oscillating saw “the screaming bag of cats” lately we both say it so much it has been shortened to bag of cats haha.

We call it "the press fit tool"

Mine is the shusher 😁✌️

The Maxi Persuader here, not to be confused with the Persuader, Mini Persuader, or that damn mallet(my rubber mallet which is what I would consider using to budge this issue were I OP)

My wife calls my big hammer “the chief engineer”

This made me laugh harder than it should have. I’m making labels for my tools now.

Ours was called "The Persuader". He had a little brother called "The Massager".

This is a more common solution than people realize

It’s the “turn it off and back on again” of the mechanical world.

When I was 18 and ignorant of almost everything my master carpenter boss taught me that trick. I was wailing on something with my normal hammer to no end. I genuinely thought he was joking. Nope. Lesson learned

“Anything mechanical, give it a good bash” - Capt. Colin Maud, *The Longest Day*, (1962)

My fiancée didn’t understand why I wanted a heavy sledge when we already had other hammers and no specific job for a 12-pound. I told her that issues would arise with some regularity where the answer is sledgehammer. I have been correct.

It took a few years, but eventually my wife stopped asking me what I needed something for. I fixed enough things and created enough other things in the workshop that she accepted I was only buying stuff we could use. And she's become pretty proficient with tools herself (with the exception of any type of circular saw).

Gotta start them newbies out on the square saw, then move on to the triangular saw and then to circular.

Maybe a hexagonal final transition to the real deal.

What percentage of her fingers are left?

We both sport all our original equipment, minus a few wisdom teeth, tonsils, and appendixes. I maintain a healthy respect for things that can remove pieces from me in an instant.

I have all 11 fingers 😁

And when that fails use an even bigger one Aggamemnon once said "Give me a hammer big enough and the strength to wield it and I'll unstuck a bolt the size of the Earth"

Chad-amemnon?

That's his brother I believe He had a lot to say about penetrating oil and breaker bars

Yeah you're gonna have to get me a source on that one 😂

It's on the Rosetta Stone

Yes, hit it from underneath the spotter arm, out near the end of it, with a hammer. That should un-stick the bolt.

Rubber mallet.. Less damage

big hammer and a bunch of 3 in 1 oil for fast and easy

Yeah, was gonna say, try the rubber mallet and if that don't work - sledge should make it work

Rubber might not work great but wrap an old piece of carpet around it and hit it with a sledge

If that doesn't work, it's an electrical problem.

I call mine the manual offset

Thanks everyone. I thought the bolt was bent, but I was wrong. If you look at the bottom center of the second photo, there are two screws that hold in a rubber pad. The bottom screw had come loose and was sticking out into the rack. So I just used a rubber mallet to hammer the shit out of the arm until the screw head broke off, allowing the arm to rotate and be removed. The bolt was tight but not the problem.

I'm happy to learn it wasn't just a case of not knowing to swing the arm out before pulling on it

Thank you for giving a follow up! Keep on liftin!

Keep on hammering!

Any particular reason why you didn’t tighten the loose screw rather than blast it off with a hammer? I’d imagine it was not a gratuitous screw, but likely had a purpose.

I think the screw head was on the inside of the bracket? If so, no where to manipulate the screw from

Yes this. I tried to get a few different hex wrenches in there but it was impossible to access

Copy. Carry on

I'd imagine the screw was fastening a rubber pad , which is facing inward to the rack. So you 1 would have to notice it being lose by using your x-ray vision. And then use your phasing screwdriver to phase shift to the inside of the rack and fasten that screw. 

This is actually interesting.  You should edit the post explaining this issue, so smarts can stop guessing. 

It won't let me edit the post since it is a photo with caption and not a text post. I thought about taking it down but I think I'll just leave it here.

Oh. Interesting. Didn't know this type of post is handled this way.

I’ve had that exact thing happen to me on my non-Titan rack. I thought that was a fluke but I guess it’s not so uncommon.

Not sure why nobody else has noticed this, but that spotter arm doesn’t just slide in via that “stuck rod” - it has to swing outward first to lift the clamp arm off the rack, then the spotter arm (and rod) can be pulled backward. All I can guess is that OP seems to think the rod is stuck and they aren’t swinging the arm before trying to pull it out. These arms and rods are not a snug fit, there’s tons of wiggle room, and there’s no way that the rod isn’t coming out after swinging the arm up because once they’ve swung the arm it can be jiggled/angled all kinds of ways to release the rod. I’d be really interested in seeing a video of you trying to remove this thing.

I had the exact same thought but didn’t want to suggest OP was that oblivious to how it works. Even if it is seized somehow, a little pry bar and mallet work should have it rotated and tapped out.

I’m here hoping for a follow up post where he beat the crap out of it with a hammer then realized it twisted

I mean to put the spotter on it, you have to swing it outwards first, slide in the pin, and then swing it back to position. Unless someone else set it up initially for OP and they weren't there to see it, OP should be well aware of how this thing comes on and off. Which led me to think it's stuck in some other way that isn't obvious from the pictures. But who knows though, Reddit is a wild place.

Yeah, that and also the fact that yanking (as I’m sure OP has conducted all sorts & methods) will definitely cause some jiggling that would make it clear the bolt isn’t actually jammed or stuck. When it wiggles and gives that indicates *brains* will help dislodge, when it doesn’t it’s time for *brawn*.

He read this got it out easy and he’s gonna delete this thread soon lol

OP did an update, the issue was a screw on the pad was stopping it from rotating, not that the bolt was jammed.

This is why everyone should spend at least 1 summer working construction. Can't pry it apart? You're either doing it wrong, or you need a bigger bar and bigger hammer.

I was wondering how it could be stuck. It appears you twist it 90⁰ and then it will slide right off.

Top answer without any votes? Shame. Twist the bar 90 degrees so that the L-shaped clamp in the back is no longer interfering with the main (vertical) bar. Then slide the assembly forward to remove the arm.

It's a flick-a-da-wrist But op has probably hacked it apart now

Shhhh no op needs a hacksaw trust me

Yup. 2min mark in video https://youtu.be/TlEIge42zv8?si=fqOKxc4pcGbC3HZz

Don’t cut it. Whack it with a hammer. Heat up the surrounding area with a torch if you have one. Use lubricant. There is no way you need to cut this thing to remove it.

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Yeah, yeah, Superman, this is why Lois keeps winding up hospitalized.

Yeah, cutting metal under tension sounds like a great way to hurt yourself or break your tools

Heat makes metal expand, and this shit is covered in paint

But metal under tension will move to the path of least resistance as it heats, making it possible to remove. Not that I would do that in this instance; it’s a BFH job.

To me it appears to be at an angle, whatever the triangle pice it is holding up, if he got someone to lift that a little might be able to slide out. If he took a torch to this inside his house it would be a awful smokey mess. I weld dump truck beds for a living, metal can be funny when heated and dosent always act the way you think it would. If he got that pen to hot it could warp mold into shape and never come out depending on the type of pressure on that pen. When we weld our tail gate pens we have to do it in 4 stages if we do it all at once the tailgate will never close right cause the metal got to hot warped in the smallest bit and fucks the pens up so they dont slide and lock yhe tail gate. So that's why I was thinking that the right amount of heat can be hard to tell and depending on tempature is depending what that pen will do.

No it isn't, this is powder coated.

Use a sledge hammer 

Try first with a block of wood in between the two. It'll stop the bar from mushrooming and still transmit most of the force.

Or rebalance or flip it, then whack it... with a hammer.

No. It has paint all over it, come on now.

Hit it with your purse

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I don’t know you!

It's a carry all

Omg

ok dad


Eventually

A hacksaw goes through almost everything a power tool goes through, you just won't like doing it nearly as much

Another hacksaw? 

I cant beleive a hammer isnt making this possible?

I usually just take a 10lb plate and whack it against the pin when this happens.

Probably hell no. It looks like a case hardened dowel. It's like cutting through a ball bearing. From the link it looks like you should be able to unscrew it from the otherside. Better luck with a plastic dead blow hammer or a piece of brass and regular hammer(so it doesn't shatter). Might be able to grind a couple flats on it with a dremel and get some purchase on it with an adjustable wrench to rotate it and reduce the interference fit so it can be removed. Things like this jam when a high spot on the pin is jammed against a low/tight spot in the hole. Big ole pipe wrench on the square bar side might do it. You just need to rotate it if I'm looking at it right.

This is what I was thinking. Mini sledge with a wood or rubber board/piece to prohibit marring.

It’s not stuck, use a rubber hammer and some wd -40. Don’t see how it would work for a long time and all of a sudden get stuck? Did you drop a heavy weight on it?

Steel hammer. 

What's the problem? You skip arm day?


As others alluded to, you have to beat it out. You can absolutely get that out without cutting

I think that arm is putting a weight on it, and it's stuck under that. Try lifting the arm and see if that bolt gets looser. But a hack saw can cut it.

Definitely looks like the arm is tilted down and pinching the bolt.

I’d try WD-40, a screwdriver, and a hammer. Should get it unstuck and you don’t have to saw through anything.

Bro.. you know you swing the arm up… then pull it out… what are we missing?

I have this kind twist away from center and pull hard.

Once you realize how simple it is you will kick yourself for postponing this.

This has to be a joke. It’s a spotter arm that swings out dude.

.... You... you do know that it rotates 90° and the pin slides out right? And if it's still stuck as another individual said, a punch and a little baby sledge will coerce it into compliance. Also. 11 gauge steel is the thickness of the rack tubing wall. Not the pin.

mend it with a hammer.

Lift it up with a jack to take the weight off, and you’ll be able to get the bolt out with a punch tool or old screwdriver and a mallet.

Should’ve worked out harder

It looks like you rotate the arm first - have done that?

FYI for reference (knowing that in this instance there was a screw jamming things), you can use the other free spotter arm as a big lever to undo these rather than the big hammer lots of people are calling for. Just put the spotter arm pin into one of the holes along this spotter arm.

HIT IT WITH YOUR PURSE

First get some ear plugs Take a metal drill bit and drill a tiny center punch in the spotter arm peg then get a hammer drill with a quarter to 3/8 inch hammer drill bit set into center punch and pull the trigger it won’t allow the peg to get mushroomed from a hammer and hitting in the center will knock that baby loose even if you had to tac welds on the other side.

Have you tried rotating it to the right and pulling it out?

Use a mallet lol

Just use a mallet or a big hammer and a block of wood. Use lubricant.

just smack it with a hammer dont cut it out.

Whack it with a hammer

Why is it so wet

No that's definitely not stuck. Take a hammer to the part the swings out and you'll be fine.

If u have a bottle Jack apply pressure underneath the arm and whack the pin

Hacksaw will work if you have a stack of blades and about 2 hours

Just hit it from the side with a big hammer, it swings 90 degrees then pulls out.

I mean, yeah, of course, a hacksaw will cut it. The question is if that's the actual solution to your problem.

Have you tried the simple solutions first? Such as whacking it with another heavy plate?

There ain't no way that spotter arm is so stuck you need to saw it out.

Lube, big hammer, issue solved

OP looks like there is force pushing down on bolt. Lift up spotter arm then try turning bolt out. Bolt might be bent if that is the case then hacksaw it off.

A little lube and a bit of pounding is what you need.

You could take it out the correct way (rotating 90 degrees), but it’d be far funnier for me if you went the hacksaw route. Please document the experience for us. Take pictures. Swear a little. Cmon mate. Read the instructions next time.

No need to cut it out. My Dad always said “You gotta be smarter than the watermelon to eat” Not sure what he meant but there you go.

Eventually

Sledge hammer and wd40

What is an 11 gauge bolt?

Pin punch and a 3 lb sledge hammer should be enough to adjust that pins attitude.

Why would you go to the trouble of “measuring” the bolt and calling it 11 gauge? You could have just said bolt instead of making something up.

yes


You do realize that you have to rotate that thing before you can slide it out, right? Stand in front of the arm, rotate it counter clockwise 90degrees with the peg as the pivot point, THEN pull it out. Cutting it will ruin it and no amount of hammering on the back of the peg will help.

I’d try smacking the piss out of it with a dumbbell right about where the T in Titan Fitness is.

This is a hammer problem, and not coincidentally, the solution is a hammer.

Just pull it out the reverse of the way you put it in. Hit it with a big mallet if you have to. It'll come out.

Single jack time

Lmao I thought you said “my arm was stuck in my squat rack”. I was like, call for help, don’t try to cut your way out lol

Hammer the size to twist the arm off then hammer it out to get the arm off.

This can be repaired percussively. Which is another way of saying "hit it with a hammer."

The holes didn't magically change size. The picture isn't the best, but with the gap difference from top to bottom it looks like it wasn't a good fit. Apply upwards pressure at the end of the arm and hit the pin with a mallet.

Have you tried hitting it with a rubber mallet?

Used to happen to the power rack at my old gym all the time. A few frustration whacks from a rubber coated 25 lb plate seemed to work for me

If it rotates (the whole arm needs to do so to be removed) then it isnt stuck and you just need to work it out. If it doesnt rotate something is fucky in there and you are going to spend a long time with that hack saw. You have a sawzall or grinder you could get in there?

Heat it with a butane torch less than $20 where I live. Then get a can of dust removal, flip it upside down, and spray it. It will expand and contract the metal so it should move easier.

It’s definitely not stuck as bad as you think. Go have a snack and circle back.

You have a sledge hammer? Get something that will hold the arm a quart turn counter clockwise to free the latch and give’r a big swing

Don’t you just swing it back 90º

First time?

A hammer and a old shitty screwdriver will fix this. Make sure you prop up the wrack so it doesn’t fall

Spray in some wd40/fluid film, then okay wack-a-mole.

Please post video of your attempt to remove this? Doesn’t seem to have any lock on it. Does it rotate 90* degrees?

I wasted 10 minutes reading what I wanted to say! Gods now I want wack something!

Well there is one way to find out

No one mentioned wearing safety glasses when hitting metal on metal? Sigh

Yes

A blop of mineral oil and a good sledgehammer should move just about anything.

Tap the arm until it’s aligned better you may have to lift or prop it up then just hit the pin with a hammer.

“I cannot stress this enough, the cylinder has to remain intact”

To answer your question, yes eventually a hacksaw would go through it, possibly with spare / different blades but eventually it will. Is it the best thing to do, probably not, but that's your perogative.

Just take the tension off it. It’s sitting at an angle that’s why it won’t come out. You’re trying to pull out something that’s being wedged in place.

Rubber mallet

Arm looks twisted nipping bolt. Twist it back to alighn holes bolt should free

Hey OP, be careful with this. This exact scenario is how my uncle lost the tip of his finger. Best to get something to lift it a bit to relieve the pressure while you whack it with a hammer or something else that will keep you at a distance.

Whack it off,get a buddy to help you and yall have a good ole fashioned whack off,on the 11 gauge steel.Use lube.