JD 50 Steering problem

[klink]

Hi My John Deere 50 is a hard steering tractor, with an extra hard spot about half way through a full turn when turning left. I took off the front nose hood cover and checked the oil level in top steering gear box - it has plenty of oil in it. that's as far as I have gotten. I plan on blocking up the front end of tractor and checking the steering effort required that way. Do any of you have any experience in the repairing a 50 steering system. My 50 does not have power steering. when turning right the steering effort is less. I know old tractors steer hard, and I'm comparing the JD 50 to my Farmall H steering turning effort, which is nice. Any help is welcome.

 

[buickanddeere]

There are adjustments for clearance and free play. It's a place to start.

 

[klink]

There is very little free play in the steering wheel - there is .050" end play in front vertical pedestal steering shaft - book says should have .040" max - I took the steering wheel worm shaft out of front right angle gearbox - there is some wear on front worm bearing inner race. With the worm shaft out of g-box the front wheels turn right and left with no sticking or hard spots. Attached are two pix. if you look at end of worm shaft you will see the inner race defect. I don't know if that is the total steering problem or not.

 

[buickanddeere]

I think you found it with that grabbing bearing . I'm trying to remember if the sector gear on those will flip to a less worn area ?

 

[klink]

I'm doing parts availability - also I will drop out the pedestal shaft out and see if the main bottom bearing is defective in any way. And yes the top sector gear can be rotated 180 degrees

 

[klink]

I attached more pics to show my slow progress on removing all parts. Currently, I have all the parts ordered, that I think I need to complete the repair of hard steering. I found a worn out & torn up spacer washer under the top sector gear. Which made the end play .050" / .010" more than the .040" max spec tolerance. The main problem was is the galled machined taper on the bearing inner race of the all one piece steering shaft. So I'm buying a good used replacement.
Klink

 

[klink]

I'm currently waiting on all my parts that I have ordered. I got the vertical column shaft back together and tried to install it back into the front pedestal. When I went to install it, it would not go through the top bushing. after measuring both the shaft and bushing. I found the new top bushing to be .007" to tight. The inside diameter of the new top bushing tightened after being installed into pedestal. I don't have an 1-1/2" reamer - So I have one on order. I hope to ream out .007" - .010" inside the bushing. That should allow the shaft to fit back into the pedestal with the proper clearance. I will keep you updated as I slowly put steering back together.

 

[jenkinsph]

Would a cylinder hone work to smooth the bore of the bushing? Seems that would be less costly than the reamer. I use brake cylinder hones to smooth the bores when cleaning and repairing pins and bushings on backhoes.

 

[klink]

The reamers should be delivered any day now. I bought a cheap adjustable 8 piece set. I hope they do the job. If they don't, I will move to you idea and use a cylinder hone. Thanks for the info.

 

[klink]

I finally got the steering system back together, the steering is working better than before and there no sticking or extra hard turning area. I think the rollomatic front end makes the tractor steer harder than the traditional row crop front end.
I changed the bottom pedestal thrust bearing and the top bushing. I finally got the reamer delivered and reamed out the top bushing, then i used a Flexhone to smooth the id of top bushing.