Super 55 steering help

I bought a super 55 last summer and it has become my go to tractor. However the steering is not power steering. It is hard to steer! I'm not sure where to start correcting this. Know it will steer hard but this is nuts. I have to stand at times with both hands wrench the steering wheel just to get it to turn. Not sure if this is normal but it makes a great tractor bad. Any ideas what to start looking at to resolve this? I've looked into power steering but no loader to operate the pump. Have also looked at power steering generator as well. At this point I'm ready to solve what I have now so any help would be great.

Probably in your steering box most of the tractors I buy have very little or no grease/oil
in the box.My Super 55 steers real easy for not having power steering

So is there a zirk there to add or do I tear it down?

Are you running a loader on the front?
If not, it shouldn't be as you describe. My 1955 had a loader on it when I bought it and was near impossible to steer. I took the loader off, and it was still very difficult to steer. You can loosen the adjusters on each side of the box, which may improve things.... but my bet is that the box is worn out and someone cranked the adjusters down to help eliminate the slop when steering straight ahead. This always makes the resistance when turning from lock to lock so great that the box becomes impossible to use. Jack the front wheels off the ground if you decide to mess with the adjusters.
You can buy a rebuilt or new box, as I did for my S55, but they are not cheap. I have the old box if you need a donor for parts, although it's pretty much worn out.

No zerk. Filler plug located on the left side behind the throttle (vertical) linkage. Hard to reach without removing the instrument panel. Use cornhead grease.

There is a plug I just fill steering boxes full of Corn Head Grease,check the shafts where they come out to see how loose they are.Also your front spindles could be binding up.

This thing of mine's the same way and I had it apart. It's full of grease. The bearings were bad in the shaft on mine. I ordered new ones,then found out somebody had turned the shaft down so one end wouldn't take the original bearing anymore. They turned it so a tapered wheel bearing type would fit it. I had to shim it to get the slop out and it just seems to keep getting worse.
The 1957 and 58 "Improved Super" had a different gear ratio and was supposed to steer easier because of it. That's what mine is and it still steers super hard.
I wonder if somebody has turned the shaft down on yours and messed things up in there?

Ok sorry but I don't know what cornhead grease is. Is it something I can get local like TSC or the like?

Another thing to check is to jack up the front end and check the condition of the bushings and thrust bearings that support both spindles. In fact you may be ahead to just remove one and see how much wear is there.

I don't know if work was done on it or not but what may say something is the steering wheel. The wheel is off a White tractor.

Ed. Check the toe, the front tires should have about a 1/4" toe in, if they are toeing out that can make it steer hard. Chuck

I don't know if TSC has corn head grease or not. Our local John Deere store has it.

Super55's are known for steering box problems although they can be corrected easily. Often the bearings on the steering shaft become rusted from water intrusion down the housing/shaft from the steering wheel. Once the bearings become rusted the steering effort increases significantly and ultimately the bearing at the bottom of the shaft disintegrates.
The steering on my S55 became progressively harder and then virtually locked up when the lower bearing completely failed. Rebuilding the box with new bearings was easy and now it steers like new.

Is there a manual to tell how to rebuild it I can get my hands on? Like to try I have do something. Were do I geta rebuild kit?

You can get a service manual off ebay most of the time.

As usual, you got this one right. If he jacks it up, and it steers easy, he needs to repair/replace the bushings and thrust bearings on the spindles. Easiest things first!

The hardest part of the process is getting the box off of the tractor. Rebuilding it is pretty simple, it is just a recirculating ball unit similar to most cars of that era. I took some photos of my box when it was apart, they (4 photos) can be found on the yesterday's tractor home page, go down to "parts & pieces" on the left, search there for "oliver steering" and you will find them under "MikeS55d" at the bottom of the search results list (it was a long time ago that I posted them). The link below is one of them. You can see the shaft with the lower bearing in the center of the picture. You can just see the bearing cup that is in the bottom of the box housing, the lowest point and where the water always goes.

I am not aware of a "how to" rebuild manual, I just looked at the parts diagram before I started. When you take the box apart do it somewhere that will contain any of the recirculating ball bearings that may fall out. Bearings and seals are available from most Oliver specialists. IIRC, the bottom bearing is the same as a Ford 8N which uses a similar, but not the same, steering box.



https://photos.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery_pic.cgi?pic=http;//photos.yesterdaystractors.com/gallery/pieces/v2887.jpg&firstrec=11&Parameter=oliver%20steering&w=pieces&cc=0&s=

I own a true '57 12v key start S55. It is a family tractor with 1500 original hours and has never set out. It has spent the last 55 years mostly only mowing. It steers super easy, so easy I am glad it is not power. I did go through the gear box for grins when the upper column bearing parted ways, but it was fine otherwise. I did, and would recommend, fill with JD corn head grease. I would jack it up and disconnect the tie rods at the spindles and see how easy the spindles turn, I bet there may be a bushing galled.

I recently replaced the box on my early Super 55. I believe the ford 8N has the same box, with the exception of the steering wheel shaft OD where the wheel attaches to the shaft. The one I got had these conditions and I had to use a ford steering wheel. OMG. Everything else bolts up.
It's a bit of a chore because you have to remove the instrument panel to remove the box.
I have factory rebuild instructions (a separate shop manual) which came with the box when I bought it. The seller wanted to rebuild his box, gave up and bought a new one, then the tractor died and he parted it out.