Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): old ariens snowblower, wheel drive car, impeller shaft

Question
So after getting it all apart I found I never needed to get the bearings out in the first place.  Because The roll pin for the ring gear on the auger shaft was snapped, I was able to take that straing out and weasel the ring gear out behind it, but I figured I need to get the impeller shaft out in order to put the fixed auger shaft back in first.  So I punched out the impeller shaft out and destroyed the 2 bearings chiseling them off.  But the bearing were so tight that I had no idea how I would get the assembled auger shaft behind it.  I thought if the bearings would just be tightened into place like on the front wheel of a rear wheel drive car, it would be fine, but thats not how it works.  Then a dude who was letting me use his shop pointed out I could put the impeller shaft in place, place the ring gear behind it, put the auger shaft in place and install the roll pin for the ring gear THROUGH THE DRAIN PUG IN THE GEAR BOX!!!!!!  I then saw the light and now consider myself an expert on old ariens gearboxes.  Now I know.  Thank you very much for all your help and insight, wasn't sure I was gonna make it through this one!

Answer
Glad to hear you got it back together.  Those old gear boxes are pretty durable but getting those bearings out can be a real bear.  Our shops standard policy it to order new bearings ahead of time if you need to get inside the gear box.  We usually use a die grinder and grind the race to weaken it then use a chisel to finish breaking the race.  I would keep on eye on the gear box lubricant just in case some seeps out...it's difficult to tell if oil is leaking when blowing deep snow.

It was nice for you friend to help out...you may owe him a beverage or two.

Eric