Farmall H Bolster/Steering Rebuild

After seeing a lot of people ask about how to reduce the wobble in their H or M tractors, I thought I would share the pictures from rebuilding the bolster on my H.

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Step one...take the bolster off the tractor. In my opinion, it is much easier to work with if it is off the tractor. Remove the cotter key, loosen the nut on the gear and tap (sledge hammer tap) the shaft to loosen it from the gear...leave the nut on the threads, or you will be buying a 1x14 thread die like I have done in the past. Remove the shaft from the bolster and then remove the worn parts. As you can see, the shaft from the tractor was very worn because someone in the past left out a bushing when they rebuilt it. The one on the right was the very worn one, the one on the left is the one I will use.

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Sorry, didn't get a picture of the worn out bushings and seals. Punch out the old seal and then take out the upper bushing...I used a threaded rod and appropriate sized socket to pull it up and out from the bottom. To remove the lower bushing, I used a sawzall to cut two grooves about 1/2 inch apart, and then used a chisel to peel the section out. After removing that, the rest of the bushing comes out very nicely. Above the bushing is a felt retainer that may or may not come out. If it comes out, just remember to reinstall it later.

After removing all the parts, I cleaned it up in the parts washer and used the angle grinder to clean it up. You will be amazed at all the gunk and chaff that is in those old parts! I like to run a thread tap through all the holes just to have it done right. Two of the frame bolts broke off, so I had to drill and tap them out previously.

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The bottom view of the bare bolster...

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Here is a view of the bottom bushing being pulled in...note that I lined up the grease hole on the bushing...very good idea to do that right the first time! You can see that I remembered to install the felt retainer above the bushing too.

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The next two photos are of my home made puller to get the bushing installed...the large puck worked well until it got to the cashing, then I had to grind down a smaller one to match the bushing to get it in the full distance until the grease hole lined up. I like using the axle shaft bull gear retainers for pucks...very sturdy and nicely sized.

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Picture here is of the installed lower bushing...

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Next for me was to install the new seal for the steering shaft.

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The next step was to install the upper bushing...that one was easy...line it up from above and tap it in! Easiest thing I did!

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The next thing, and hardest thing in my opinion was to install the bolster shaft seal. Two pictures...the seal location, and the seal installed. I struggled, as do most people, to get that seal in. Through a combination of standing the bolster upside down, and tapping it carefully with a large socket and small puck, and punch, It went in. Since there was a large area for a seal, I bought a second one, and installed that too. May as well make sure it is good!

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The next step was to re-install the shaft. I greased up all the bearings and bushings, greased up the new felt seal, put some tape over the threads so it didn't damage the new seal, and then pushed it back up.

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I was lucky enough to have an old, full circle gear to replace the half gear that was worn out. I chose the best area of the new gear, and reinstalled the nut with cotter key.

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Of course! How could I forget? You may want to remove and clean up the starting crank assembly...The biggest challenge is getting the collar loose (careful flame helps a lot) once you have it loose, the pin comes out, and you can remove the lock ring and spring etc...clean them up, and reinstall...

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This was a lot of work, and I guess if you are just doing it to get the tractor going, you may not be as fussy cleaning etc... I am restoring my tractor to like new, so I went the full way. I hope this helps explain it to those who may wonder. If you have done this, you may have other ideas to make it work better...let us know!

Mark

very informative post. Pictures are Great should really help when I get around to doing the one on my M.

Wow, thanks, that was great.

Nicely done! You must be a teacher!! :<)
Signed, Proud father.(also a teacher)

Nicely done.

Excellent post and photos. I really need to do this with my ole h.

Did you re-use the thrust ball bearing or buy a new one? Also where does the taper cone washer go pictured near that ball bearing.

I had a newer thrust bearing so used that, it was better than
the three piece original. The taper cone spacer goes on top of
the large base...then the thrust bearing on top. The other
piece there was the seal retainer for the felt...goes in the
bolster above the large bushing.

What did you use for oil or grease when done?

I have found that JD Corn Head grease works the best. Nice and thick.

Randy

Very good write up. I am quite mechanically declined being a toolmaker and one-time Chrysler dealership wrench, but have not been into the bolster of my "H", so this was very helpful.

For those of you who may have an "H" or "M", but little access to good used parts, the worn steering shaft can be repaired by welding and turning back done to size. The price of such a job will most likely be prohibitive in areas where there are many parts tractors available, but it can be done, and is a good, permanent repair. Where I work, we repair industrial shafts on an almost daily basis by welding and turning. If the machinist knows what he is about, he can even make the repair virtually invisible.

I will use corn head grease when I reinstall it. Regular gun
grease for the lower parts.

After you went through a complete rebuild like you did there is no reason you can't use regular 90 weight gear oil. I have always done that with all my front end rebuild and never had a leak using gear oil if the seals are properly installed. Roger