Hotstick repair - removing the yoke

I need to remove the yoke from my Hotstick and have tried using a hammer and punch to drive out the two pins holding it in place but they won't budge. What am I doing wrong?

The pins are stainless, the yoke is aluminum. It is seized.

You could try drilling them out, but it won't be easy because the pins are hardened. Be careful of damaging the fiberglass, it is pretty easy to split the end of the stick.

Pretty sure when I did mine, I drilled them out and then went oversized and just used machine screws and nuts when I put the yoke back in. Wrapped the end with electrical tape to cover the nuts.

sm

Thanks, srm, that solution sounds reasonable.