Alfalfa, Definitely remove the seal that is toward the lockut.Will help make the bearing last longer if you grease every 10hrs. like operators manual tells you.Also,don't strain your milk by lifting shaft into place.There is a length of pipe above that lH mainshaft.Wrap a small piece of(8-10") 3_16"chain around it and use a 5_16" bolt to hold chain together.Then use a come-a-long to do the work for you.Don't forget to loctite the bearing and the nut. Hope this helps, Hyper Harvest II