Bruce--Tip 31

Bruce, in Tip 31 you say something about a piece of wire with a j-hook on the end. Not sure what that's about. There's a missing word or character in that line also.

I have an early-model 8N with the square pipe plug. I've removed the plug and am considering replacing it with a zerk and filling the housing with cornhead grease as others have suggested. My question is, with a zerk, where will any over-fill come out? Am I likely to damage anything (blow a gasket/seal, etc.) if I get too much cornhead grease by way of the zerk? Or, am I better off leaving well enough alone and just replacing the pipe plug?

What's in there now, from whoever owned it before me, is really thick stuff. Looks like heavy-duty bearing grease with the consistency of NGLI #2 or Vaseline. Do I need to disassemble and clean out the thick grease before using cornhead grease?

Thanks for the help.

Before I answer your main question, pls understand that my opinion is not universally shared around here. We have Cornhead grease advocates and we have gear oil advocates. I'm a gear oil advocate & I'll tell you why. Yes, my opinion may incite a points vs EI debate!

" Not sure what that's about. "

For some N's, that's the easiest way to add lube to the steering.

" I've removed the plug and am considering replacing it with a zerk and filling the housing with cornhead grease as others have suggested."

Well, I wouldn't The gears are designed for oil, not grease. Check this link out:

http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=nboard&th=907455

" Or, am I better off leaving well enough alone and just replacing the pipe plug? "

Check out the pic for my solution. I removed the pipe plug, drilled through the dash support & installed a fitting for oil.

" Do I need to disassemble and clean out the thick grease"

I would do that and replace the seals. And then use 90w gear oil.

Let me reiterate: if you use oil, you need to replace the seals.

The reason Ford went to grease is that it was cheaper than replacing seals.

But, in my opinion, it's not cheaper than replacing steering gears.

75 Tips

If he has an early style steering box this doesn't apply. All the early style 8N steering boxes had that pipe plug for filling and that's the only place they could be filled. The first several thousand of later style 8N steering boxes also had a plug, but it ended up hidden behind the support bracket like your picture. No need to drill the support to get a fitting in there as all the later style steering boxes can be filled through the upper bolt on the right side. That bolt is also above the level of the upper bearing, unlike the early ones. That's why Ford never worried about the plug that was blocked by the bracket and soon eliminated it.

Yea, I put my filler in because I already had the dash
off for painting. The filler tube is easier to use than removing the
bolt and sticking plastic tubing on a bottle
of gear oil. But I sure wouldn't remove the
dash just to do that if I had the box with
the bolt.

(quoted from post at 18:51:14 09/19/16)
If he has an early style steering box this doesn't apply.

Click to expand...

Bruce and John, thanks for the replies.

My 8N has the pipe plug on the right side, not behind. Not sure what year my 8N is because I've never been able to read the S/N. Just early, with front distributor.

Looks like I need to do the job right and disassemble and clean the steering gear. Since the tractor is new to me, I don't have any cold weather experience, and the gear is filled with grease, it may be a problem pushing snow this winter.

Thanks for your ideas. Bruce, thanks for the post on corn head grease.

Caleb

Try this...
Zerk Fitting

There is a fellow on fleabay that sells a screw in with a zerk fitting installed in the center of the bolt. Works great for use with the grease gun. Just don't put too much in it like me...it will slowly work up and come out the steering column and every time you use the tractor, your hands will get grease on them. A little goes a long way. I'm way down in the deep south so the grease works OK for me.