How to get a stuck washing machine spider off
Washing machine spiders often fuse tightly to the drum shaft due to corrosion and mineral buildup, making them extremely difficult to hammer off without the right pulling tools. Striking the metal directly or using a block of wood often fails because the force is absorbed or misaligned, leaving people stuck mid-repair and unable to replace worn bearings.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1hitting it with a hammer using a block of wood
- 2supporting the outer drum above the floor so the inner drum has room to drop
- 3Pulling diagnostic codes and checking the control board
- 4Checking water temperature settings and valve supply lines
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“i have hit it hard hammer using a block of wood in between but it doesnt seem to move. what am i doing wrong ?”source ↗
“When running any wash/rinse cycle, it will sometimes get stuck the "wash" light solid green and nothing else.”source ↗
“I'd hate to spend $100 on having someone come out for something I can do myself, but I haven't found any articles, videos, forum posts, etc. that have a similar issue.”source ↗
Where this came up
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