Lister D crankshaft

Hi, I'm restoring another lister D and have come up against a snag, someone has fully welded a twin v-belt pulley onto the crankshaft. What I was wondering, should I cut the crankshaft so that I can remove the flywheel or cut the pulley into bits and hopefully clean up the crankshaft?
I do have other flywheels, but want to use this one as the numbers match and it's original to this engine. If I cut the crankshaft it will be about 2 or so inches shorter!
Why do folks take such drastic measures instead of doing a proper job?
Any ideas would be much appreciated!
Julian.

68jcb, I would be trying to cut the pully into sections, that way you will be able to access the repair needed to restore the shaft to original, if it's too far damaged then you have the option of shortening the shaft. It may sound a bit brutal to weld the pully to the shaft, but as a lad off the land, there may have been circumstances that gave the user no option, getting the job done may have been worth more than the engine. I have a replacement shaft for my D that is about 2" shorter than the shaft I'm replacing, but I think it came from the factory that way as the shaft is centre drilled on the end.

Lister D crankshafts appear on eBay from time to time, one there now for £9.

I've managed to get the pulley off and found that the gib key has been welded in, great!!!
It also looks as though the diameter of the shaft  has been reduced by about 3-4mm. The keyway has also been filled with weld. My only hope of getting the flywheel off, is to drill the key out as much as possible , doesn't matter if I do anymore damage to the shaft, I've got another one!

I'd cut the shaft as close to the flywheel as possible, would be easier to drill it that way, could then drill the key with a bit bigger bit as you can drill more in the crank, if you get what I mean...

Thank you! I'll give it ago at the weekend when I've got a bit more time!