Can steering slop be fixed?

[handirifle]

On my MF1010, there seems to be quite a bit of slop in the steering. I looked at it underneath, and the slop is NOT in the tie rods or ends. The wheel moves back and forth quite a bit (15-20 deg?) and nothing is moving outside the gearbox.

Now I figure there's some gears inside, but is something that is (1) adjustable, and (2) fairly easy to get to?

Still saving for the owners manual, by the way. Going for the factory 1,000+ page, one.

 

[sweettractors]

On my MF1010, there seems to be quite a bit of slop in the steering. I looked at it underneath, and the slop is NOT in the tie rods or ends. The wheel moves back and forth quite a bit (15-20 deg?) and nothing is moving outside the gearbox.

Now I figure there's some gears inside, but is something that is (1) adjustable, and (2) fairly easy to get to?

Still saving for the owners manual, by the way. Going for the factory 1,000+ page, one.

I have never been inside one of those, however, most older tractors had ways to shim the gears closer together to take out the slack. I would assume there should be a way? Ken Sweet

 

[Egon]

I have never been inside one of those, however, most older tractors had ways to shim the gears closer together to take out the slack. I would assume there should be a way?

The steering wheel moves but the pitman arm does not?

As stated above look for a bolt with a set screw on it or a plug on the case that holds the adjustment screw.

 

[handirifle]

The steering wheel moves but the pitman arm does not?
As stated above look for a bolt with a set screw on it or a plug on the case that holds the adjustment screw.

That is correct. I will have a closer look for some sort of adjustment. Hopefully it's external.

Thanks.

 

[lambs]

It could just be play between the steering pinion and the quadrant gear. I don't see any adjustment to it in the I&T manual. There's also a universal joint inside the unit that could be worn.

The steering arm under the tractor looks like it clamps on in some instances, I assume early models. You might want to check that to make sure it is tight. The clamp bolt should be tightened to 57-68 ft. lbs. of torque. If it actually is a nut threaded to the end of the steering arm shaft, torque is 72-87 ft. lbs. They were made both ways.

If you have power steering, you might want to check that for slop too. With 4 wheel drive and a loader, you could well have a power steering model.

I'd bet my money on the universal though.

 

[handirifle]

It could just be play between the steering pinion and the quadrant gear. I don't see any adjustment to it in the I&T manual. There's also a universal joint inside the unit that could be worn.

The steering arm under the tractor looks like it clamps on in some instances, I assume early models. You might want to check that to make sure it is tight. The clamp bolt should be tightened to 57-68 ft. lbs. of torque. If it actually is a nut threaded to the end of the steering arm shaft, torque is 72-87 ft. lbs. They were made both ways. Mine is clamped on, I'm pretty sure

If you have power steering (I wish, if this is power I cannot IMAGINE what steering would be like without it), you might want to check that for slop too. With 4 wheel drive and a loader, you could well have a power steering model.

I'd bet my money on the universal though.

Is the universal inside the gearbox? The steering shaft appears to go through the gearbox, and comes out the bottom.

 

[lambs]

I think the universal is just above the gear box. The shaft turns a quadrant gear that is attached to the top of the steering shaft, which does go through the gear box. I doubt the gear is worn out all that much, but anything could happen. Seems to me the universal might be pretty easy to check though.

Check you email inbox.

 

[lambs]

If you've got too much weight on your front wheels, it will definitely be hard to steer, and it could be hard on the wheel bearings. You could add some weight to the 3pt hitch to offset some of the front weight on the loader.

I had a weight rack welded up to bolt on the front end of my 1010 so I could add some front end weights to offset a 250 pound aerator on my 3pt hitch. 3 MF compact tractor suitcase weights take care of it easily. I would think you could do something similar for the rear, using MF weights as needed to ballast the loader on the front.

You might want to service those front wheel bearings either way just to make sure they are well packed with grease.

 

[handirifle]

If you've got too much weight on your front wheels, it will definitely be hard to steer, and it could be hard on the wheel bearings. You could add some weight to the 3pt hitch to offset some of the front weight on the loader.

I had a weight rack welded up to bolt on the front end of my 1010 so I could add some front end weights to offset a 250 pound aerator on my 3pt hitch. 3 MF compact tractor suitcase weights take care of it easily. I would think you could do something similar for the rear, using MF weights as needed to ballast the loader on the front.

You might want to service those front wheel bearings either way just to make sure they are well packed with grease.

Will eventually have to service this thing from one end to the other, but can't right now. I do have a 4' Gannon box on the back end so it's not weight free back there. Not sure what it weighs, it's the kind that roatates from blade to the rippers.