Plumbing – How to remove a tub drain with no spokes

It looks like you might be able to do this pretty easily.

To remove the stopper, simply unscrew the top of the handle of the drain stopper, then unscrew the underlying screw in the shaft to pull out the drain cover completely. Then, you'll have the cradle-thing that holds the stopper. You might be able to leave that in place (I grew up in a house that had the stoppers taken out but the "cradles" left in place, and two women with long hair would share the bath. We took turns cleaning out the drain) and place the mesh catcher over it. See this video for a demo (It should be region-free.)

You'll probably want to put down putty or some sort of long screw from the drain to the "cradle" in order to keep it in place.

All you need is a thick wire that can be bent into a U-shape at one end. Place the cover back into the outlet hole, insert the U-shaped wire into the outlet pipe and try to grab the outlet pipe to hold it in place. Lift the outlet pipe and slowly screw the top cover to the outlet. Tighten the top cover to the outlet pipe with a pair of pliers.