Well I went out there and took the wheel off again, and stuck a big metal wedge in the groove around the outside of the drum, and got to work on it with a hammer.. she budged out about a quarter inch all the way around, but didn't wanna come any farther than that.
About that time the 30MPH wind started a blowin' and I decided that maybe today wouldn't be the day to fool with it, so I smacked the drum back down with the hammer, and put the wheel back on.. much to my delight, the wheel didn't feel "stuck" anymore.
So I lowered it back down and took a spin around the yard and she's free as a bird.. I guess all the bangin' I did on it knocked whatever was sticking loose.
On a less windy day, i'm going to see about going back at it.. I can handle the cold, it's that darn wind that bothers me.. it's like chineese water torture!
