Thanks everyone.
Update, and yes I've taken my time with it.
I got the spanner wrench from
amazon for $12-15 and it's supposed to be universal. It definitely worked easily.
I certainly beat the heck out of it with a 1lb hammer (don't have a sledge). I tried driving the shaft out from the inside by using an iron pipe as a spacer and beating on that.
That didn't help much, it just dinged the enamel in a few spots or shattered the brittle plastic tub.
I remember spraying generic PB blaster all over the bottom of the shaft without success. I don't remember if I sprayed from the inside down the shaft.
I think what did it was I poured gasoline all over the top and inside of the shaft. I only used gasoline because it was nearby, I'm sure other solvents would work also. I actually regretted doing it as I realized I wouldn't be able to try a torch to loosen things up next.
Anyhow the metal tub lifted out of the basket. I think there was just a lot of frozen corrosion.
I've dismantled a washer before that had a plastic basket. I used the basket as a planting container for a large tree. Check into prices for 20-30 gallon tree containers and you'll see why. That's what I wanted to do with this one, but I don't know if I'll use it since it's metal. A burn barrel sounds good, but not in my neighborhood. Or you can just use it to throw smaller pieces of scrap into. Since it's already so perforated with holes it shouldn't be a problem to fashion some handles wherever you want.
Thanks all,
junkelly
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