John Deere 120

Does anybody have experience with steering on JD120
built in 1970? On this one, steering wheel turns
one way and wheels turn. If you turn the other way,
the wheel seems to unscrew up toward you with no
pressure on the mechanics below. Can those be
repaired? Or am I looking at the $485 that Deere
wants for replacement?

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There is probably something wrong with the bearings in your steering gear. being its the shaft moving around, Its probably a serious failure.

I think parts are still available for them. I know I got the cam follower from JD about 4 years ago. If not, check with some Cub Cadet parts suppliers, they used a very similar steering gear.
If it was me, I would probably look for a replacement on Ebay.
Remember, they need to be greased regularly.

If this is a Ross gear, there is a large nut in the bottom end retained by a cotter pin. If the pin is lost the nut can back off or even fall out. Tightening the nut will remove the lost motion.

Thanks for the input, guys.
Just haven't had time to get my hands on the JD this week.

I work for a deere dealer and recently got new bearings for a deere steering box that I rebuilt. Yes I believe they are built by "Ross". If the worm gear or other significant parts are damaged you may be looking at expensive repair or replacement. If the shaft seems to screw up and out, that tells me the top bearing is likely fallen apart. You will need to remove the steering wheel from the steering column/shaft, then remove the steering box likely from underneath the tractor. This can be a bit of a job. Accessibility can be challenging. Then if you remove the lower plug and bearing you should be able to pull the shaft out. Clean all the pieces and you should be able to see whats failed. The replacement bearings are not much money, but I'm not sure about other parts being available or how much they cost. Note that Cub Cadet, Massey Ferguson used similar Ross built steering boxes in some of their models. Some had a different ratio, or bolted up somewhat differently tho, so finding a proper match requires attention to detail. I put a Deere one in a massey and had to shorten the length of the steering column and that required some cutting and rewelding etc but works very well in the end. Also the ratio is different so it requires an extra half turn on the wheel to turn sharp. Turns easier tho. Hope this helps.