Working on a tired M

belairbob

Member
Trying to make this old 1951 M shine again. Look at the welds on this steering bolster. The shaft and bearing look good and there is grease still there. I do not see any other marks or damage. What do you think caused this chunk to crack or break? On another note I noticed a hole in the exhaust manifold! On a bright note all the nuts on the manifold studs loosened easily!
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That front thrust bearing never gets replaced, falls apart and allows the steering shaft to move front to back as the tractor is turned different directions. The balls fall out of the bearing cage and can cause havoc on the gears and the front of the casting can blow out as has probably happened here. Seen it happen a couple times.
 
When I was a kid at home I was running a super h thru the woods when I accidently run up on a rock with the front wheels. In the process it ended up busting the steering casting pretty much in the same place that yours is welded. Dad welded it back together somewhat like yours is. It really steered hard after that and I can still hear my dad yelling at me everytime he got on that tractor. I finally got a reprieve when he put power steering on the tractor.
 
Hitting something like that had crossed my mind. I didn't know if it would break out the top section like that.
Now I know. Thanks!
 
When you hit a solid object with the front wheels at speed something has to give and I guess that is the weakest link. This happened when I was a kid of about 13 or so back in the late 50's or so and it took dad a long time to forget.
 
My Dad had the wheels turned and hit a rock with JD B, did the exact same thing. Bolsters are plentiful and cheap if you want to replace it.
 

Regarding the hole in the manifold. If it is a small hole, located in the bottom right hand corner of the exhaust part, but close to the tube the carburetor attaches to, that hole is supposed to be there. It is a "weep" hole to allow rainwater to escape. That hole is clogged up most of the time.
 

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