Which games are you refering to?
I know on older Ballys like Fathom, Flash Gordon etc they are typicly all heat cracked already and tap out with little to no effort, honestly about every older pf like them they almost push out without even tapping them.
Williams such as the original black knight seem to pop out real easy as well.
Is this problem more unique to newer games such as WPC?
I noticed when i pop mine out the wood dowel method seemed more problematic i now use nut drivers on the 5/8" 3/4" &1" inserts and it works alot nicer for me at least it seems and puts the stress on the edges instead of the center of the inserts and i havnt seen any further cracking and realy havnt had aly wood damage around the edges of the wood anymore.
But i also dont heat the inserts either, In theory if you heat them the inserts should expand and the glue will soften rebonding the 2 surfaces and helping them bind. it seems since i stopped using heat they come out easier.