I recently stopped taking CRT's. Too much of a pain in the butt for me plus I've hurt myself twice lifting those big Trinitron screens in and out of vehicles. And YES, I was lifting with my legs. Also, my local Goodwill stopped taking the gutted screens, so I don't take them anymore no matter how much copper may be inside one.



Anyway, whenever I got a stuck yoke, I took a utility knife and cut the foam spacers and gave it a good twist. It always came off.