I have seen people fighting the axle on the differential end but mine is stuck on the hub end. I removed the center bolt,sprayed penetrating oil. Pried with a 6 foot bar,hammered with sledge hammer prayed to a higher power used all my magic four letter words but nothing is working. I'm not reusing the axles but wanted to keep them in the differential.
This is on my parts car. If I can't get them to budge, do the cv joints under the boots come apart easily? If not, I may just cut the axles in half.

Do you have the car supported by the frame or by the rear trailing arm? The wheels have to be off the ground and hanging for the axle to come out.

Also please let us know what car you are working on.

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In his info he shows an 83 300SD.
In the 123 manual they show something like a Gear Puller that bolts to the hub and you turn a central screw and push the Axle stub out of the Hub.

Heating but not overheating with a Propane Torch helps allow the penatrating oil to wick inside.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Ounce the Car is Jacked up as the other member said you might have to get a nice Brass punch of the correct size and use something like a short handled 3-4 pound hammer on it after heating it and oiling it.

You also might be able to modify or crate something that will do the same job as the real tool below.

Here is that tool to push the Axle out and depending on the parts you use with it to do other functions.

http://www.startekinfo.de/etools/content/tool.jsp?toolno=116%20589%2024%2061%2000

Here is a pic of it attached:

Attached Thumbnails

 

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I have the car on jack stands and the diff. on the ground, pulled towards the rear. There is plenty of room for the axle to slide out. That puller makes since. It just seems funny that everyone else never mentioned having problems.
The parts car is an '85 380SE, so you can see why I want the diff.
I'm going to see if the U joints have clips and take them apart. The car is going to the junk yard tomorrow.(hopefully)

The differential needs to be bolted up to the car. With it bolted up and the wheels floating it's the longest the axle can be. This way you have enough space to compress the axle to get the spline out of the hub.

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With the diff on the ground, you're probably putting some strain on the splines

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

There is one Thread that I read where the Axle was stuck in the Hub. They were able to beat it out with the Brass Punch and Hammer.

As it stand the ways to do the job are limited.

Another way I can think of is similar to the prying you were doing. They seel Hardened steel wedges in various thicknesses and lengths (I do not think a regular Auto Parts would have them but maybe NAPA would). You would put one on each side spaced 180 degrees apart.
Tap on one side and then tap on the other. However, the potentil to damage something is there.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel