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I'm trying to remove the forks from my 1960 Dominator. I've tried spreading the lower yoke at the split using a bolt and a hardened steel plate. I've also used a large demolition flat blade screwdriver wedged into the split. I've been using a copper hammer, plastic hammer, wood blocks, etc. on the top bolt screwed into the tube. I've tried hammering the top yoke up, down, etc. I've supported the top yoke with a 2x4. I've use penetrating oil and a heat gun while trying these things. I've tried a strap wrench to twist the stanchions.

I cannot budge these tubes from the taper on the top yokes.

Any ideas to try next?

I'm thinking a hydraulic press at this point.

All ideas welcome.

Thanks,

Kevin

More heat, both stanchions and yokes are steel so the expansion rates are the same so heat one and not the other using acetylene to get that to expand quicker.

All that sounds like the time honored methods. I'm assuming the wheel and fender are off.
How nice are the top fork bolts? Because in your more extreme case, it sounds like you need a 5LB steel sledge and a piece of smooth 1/4" aluminum to protect the surfaces of your top bolts. Why a steel BFH? Because the wood blocks or plastic hammer both soften the shock of the hammer blows. You need that shock to help loosen the taper.
so, I would do the wedge thing on your lower clamp. Then screw the top bolt in so there is only a small gap between the top clamp and the underside of the bolt head, and then hit it squarely with the hammer, protecting the bolt head with your piece of 1/4" aluminum. The weight does a lot of the work for you.
Sounds brutal, I know, but if you're lucky it just might come loose all by itself because it knows what's coming if it doesn't.

If you've got an old Commando fork tube top nut, the extra length means you can have a full length of thread
engaged for a good whack down on top.
You might meet a bit of resistance from the damper rod threads (which aren't the same)....

Good luck ! They aren't usually stuck so firmly ..

P.S. If you remove the threaded top nut off the steering stem, you should be able to tap the top yoke upwards,
(evenly on both sides, together) this may jarr it loose ?

I like the Commando top bolt/cap idea. Gonna try to find a steel beam to wedge underneath the top yoke and try the aluminum plates on both the underside of the yoke and the top of the cap.

Yep, everything else is stripped down to parade rest. No fenders, wheels etc.

Thanks for all the words of encouragement. I'll get back to it in a few days.

Kevin

Kevin, loosening a taper fit can sometimes be achieved by backing up (i.e. holding a large, say 4lb, hammer against one side of the taper) and giving the other side of the taper a good whack with another large hammer. This often works when changing tie rod ends, etc., on cars.