Rich Waugh
Platinum Member
A couple of days ago I was doing some brush hog work in the upper mango orchard and I noticed that my front end seemed a bit loose. That is, the steering was sloppy and that made me more than just a little bit nervous since I was where I had to do some side-hill traversing. Not a good place to have arbitrary steering, no! I decided to call it a day and look into the steering issue.
I brought the tractor back to the shop and lifted the front with the loader and checked out the steering components. The problem was obvious - the tie rod was bent (again) and the tie rod ends were sloppy enough to have almost 1/4" of play in each one. My knowledge of tractor front end geometry and components is somewhere near zero, so I called Ronald at RanchHand Supply to find out about getting new ball joints and to ask him if there was something I was doing wrong to cause the problem.
I was surprised to learn from Ronald that those tie rod ends were actually adjustable! I looked them over and, sure enough, I could see what to do and did it, snugging them right up to spec. Straightened the tie rod and dropped another tube inside it for reinforcement (no solid bar the right size on hand), and re-set the toe in to spec. Well, more or less to spec since it ain't easy to do by myself. Good enough for a rig that never sees anything but dirt and grass under its wheels, I 'm sure.
If you look at the tie rod ends you'll see that there is a round flat end opposite the tapered shaft that goes into the drag link/steering arm. That flat end is really a plug cap and has a slot running across it and a cotter pin in it. Pull the cotter pin out and use a big screwdriver to unscrew the plug. Inside you'll find first a spring and then a ball half-socket. You should also find a lot of grease, naturally.
I screwed the plug in against the spring until there was no room left to move it, and then backed it off as near as possible to a half turn, wherever the cotter would go back in. Pretty much like adjusting a wheel bearing on a car - tighten until too tight and then back off just a bit. Now my steering is very positive with no sloppy play in it.
Apparently those tie rod ends came from the factory set too loose and I didn't know enough to set them when I assembled the tractor initially. Having run them loose for 75 or 80 hours of fairly rough treatment did tear up the rubber seals pretty badly so I'll need to replace them before long, but for now they're good enough. I'll just pump them full of grease every time I use the tractor to keep shoving the dirt back out and hope for the best.
I'm passing this along in case anyone doesn't know about these adjustable tie rod ends and may have theirs sloppy like mine. Though I took mine off and pulled them apart for cleaning and examining for excessive wear, they can actually be adjusted without removing them. The tractor now has steering that is much more stable and might even stay that way for a good while. I felt much more confident finishing up the mowing with a tractor that steered exactly where I aimed it with no slop.
My sincere thanks to Ronald for helping out in his usual friendly way, and I hope this helps out someone else.
Rich Waugh
I brought the tractor back to the shop and lifted the front with the loader and checked out the steering components. The problem was obvious - the tie rod was bent (again) and the tie rod ends were sloppy enough to have almost 1/4" of play in each one. My knowledge of tractor front end geometry and components is somewhere near zero, so I called Ronald at RanchHand Supply to find out about getting new ball joints and to ask him if there was something I was doing wrong to cause the problem.
I was surprised to learn from Ronald that those tie rod ends were actually adjustable! I looked them over and, sure enough, I could see what to do and did it, snugging them right up to spec. Straightened the tie rod and dropped another tube inside it for reinforcement (no solid bar the right size on hand), and re-set the toe in to spec. Well, more or less to spec since it ain't easy to do by myself. Good enough for a rig that never sees anything but dirt and grass under its wheels, I 'm sure.
If you look at the tie rod ends you'll see that there is a round flat end opposite the tapered shaft that goes into the drag link/steering arm. That flat end is really a plug cap and has a slot running across it and a cotter pin in it. Pull the cotter pin out and use a big screwdriver to unscrew the plug. Inside you'll find first a spring and then a ball half-socket. You should also find a lot of grease, naturally.
I screwed the plug in against the spring until there was no room left to move it, and then backed it off as near as possible to a half turn, wherever the cotter would go back in. Pretty much like adjusting a wheel bearing on a car - tighten until too tight and then back off just a bit. Now my steering is very positive with no sloppy play in it.
Apparently those tie rod ends came from the factory set too loose and I didn't know enough to set them when I assembled the tractor initially. Having run them loose for 75 or 80 hours of fairly rough treatment did tear up the rubber seals pretty badly so I'll need to replace them before long, but for now they're good enough. I'll just pump them full of grease every time I use the tractor to keep shoving the dirt back out and hope for the best.
I'm passing this along in case anyone doesn't know about these adjustable tie rod ends and may have theirs sloppy like mine. Though I took mine off and pulled them apart for cleaning and examining for excessive wear, they can actually be adjusted without removing them. The tractor now has steering that is much more stable and might even stay that way for a good while. I felt much more confident finishing up the mowing with a tractor that steered exactly where I aimed it with no slop.
My sincere thanks to Ronald for helping out in his usual friendly way, and I hope this helps out someone else.
Rich Waugh