Circlip removal

Has anybody out there ever found a way to remove the circlips in the ends of the laygear? I have tried many things but so far no luck. I need to replace the needle bearings and I haven't found a way to get them out. There are no holes for snap-ring pliers and they seem to be almost cut square so there is nothing to get a grip on to pry them out any Suggestions would be appreciated. meanwhile I think I'll drink

Littlecars,

While I've never done this to a layshaft I have done something very similar on my outboard motor. The main bearing assembly in the lower unit is held in with a spring clip just like those on the layshaft. What I did was make some very pointed awls out of drill stock and put one as close to the end of the spring clip against the shoulder and gave it a good whack to make a small dimple for the point to grab the clip. Pulled it down till the end cleared the shoulder and used the otherto get between the clip and the shoulder and then while holding the second punch moved the other over some and repeated the process. Once you get it cleared of the shoulder about 1/4 of it's circumference you can then just keep walking the rest out. This is how I did it on the outboard motor. Hope this helps.

Well I did get the suckers to come out but I had to use a small cutoff wheel in a Dremel tool to cut a small grove into the top of the snap ring to ge a grip on it after that it was easy thanks for the suggestion.