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Massey Harris & Massey Ferguson Tractors Discussion Forum
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too much play in steering/ 12 volt conversion for

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tractorman

10-03-2003 22:28:48




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I have a massey harris 44 special and am working on restoring it. i got to the front end and realized that the stearing was really bad and the bushings are gone in the gear box. would this contribute to the terrible steering? and if anyone knows how to convert the massey harris 44 special to 12 volt please contact me. thanx




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Gavin M

10-04-2003 12:02:01




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 Re: too much play in steering/ 12 volt conversion in reply to tractorman, 10-03-2003 22:28:48  
There are many causes for poor steering. On my 44 RC with adjustable high arch front end, just about everything was/is worn out. See some of my other posts for more info. For the steering box itself, my worm gear was not bad, but the bearing preload was backed way off. I polished the cones & shaft with some 1500 grit sandpaper. The sector gear was OK except for a chipped tooth. I carefully measured the tooth profile with a caliper, then welded up the tooth. A caution on this, though; the sector gear (& worm) are high carbon steel and if you don't know how to weld them you can wreck the gear. After welding it up I chucked up a dremel grinding stone in my drill press, set it to the highest speed, then used my cross-slide vise to reprofile the tooth. I finished it up by assembling the steeing box with a little lapping compound on the welded tooth, then working it until the gear action was perfectly smooth. All of the bushings in the frontend can be matched up except the sector bushings in the pedestal. As yours are bad (mine were OK), what I would do is find bushings with the same OD, then press them in. Take the pedestal to a good machine shop & get them to bore them to close to the finished dimension. At that point I would hone the bushings to an exact fit with a cylinder hone, 220 grit stones & lots of cutting oil. The upper factory bushing has a spiral groove to get oil to the lower bushing. You can talk to the machine shop about the feasability of duplicating this -an alternative would be to have it knurled instead of honing it. I wouldn't use grease as it will channel, particularily in cold weather. Instead, use a 75W-90 synthetic gear oil with a tube of molebdenum disulfide additive. Adjust the backlash & bearing preload as per the MH manual. If you need new seals, the lower one is readily available from National. Use a 22mm x 47mm x 7mm metric seal for the worm shaft. If this is hard to locate let me know & I can get you one.

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off the land

10-04-2003 14:38:35




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 Re: Re: too much play in steering/ 12 volt convers in reply to Gavin M, 10-04-2003 12:02:01  
Is your Special a Row crop, Standard(30" rears), or adjustable tube wide front end? Gavin has given you some precise detail already. Even if you
rebuild the steering box, years of binding will have stressed the four 3/8" cap bolts that secure
the box to the base housing. You must stare at the
box, while someone turns the steering wheel. If the box moves(shifts), ever-so-slightly, it will
get worse, with use. Easiest fix is on the wide
front end:use 4" Grade 8 bolts, adding lock washer & hex nut to each(room enough). On NFE, you
need to drill deeper, tap threads(more gamble).
Added detail, can be covered,once you post the
type front axle you are working on. Good luck.

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tractorman

10-04-2003 19:19:27




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 Re: Re: Re: too much play in steering/ 12 volt con in reply to off the land, 10-04-2003 14:38:35  
the front axil is the standard and not the row crop style. I also did some more work to it and found that the bearings were worn out. (infact there were only pieces left) But now my trouble is that i can't get the worm gear out to change the bearings. is there any hints or tricks to doing so? if so please reply Thanx



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off the land

10-05-2003 14:36:18




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: too much play in steering/ 12 volt in reply to tractorman, 10-04-2003 19:19:27  
I'd expect all these broken, worn parts to just
fall outof the steering box. The end cover should
have 4- 5/16" cap bolts securing it, a circular
thrust washer,between the cover and bearing cup cone. The adjustment, all being in the cover.
This lower steering shaft, with spline has the worm pressed onto it. The sleeve that the worm stays in, is the back lash, which can wear from non-lube, causing difficulty sliding the shaft out. Try straightening sleeve damage, then shaft
removal. This Saginaw part(sleeve), is a tough
find, new, but used, is the same on most MH's. We
can deal with that later, perhaps yours is ok...
Good luck.

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tractorman

10-05-2003 21:13:16




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: too much play in steering/ 12 in reply to off the land, 10-05-2003 14:36:18  
I got the end cap off of the cassing that has the 1 1/4 head bolt and looked on the inside and saw a piece that is holding the worm gear from sliding out. it is about 1/4 inch thick and goes around the inside of the casing and also holds the bearing on the inside of it.It has four square notches taken out of it that are on the outer edge. I have tried to turn that and can't seem to get it to move. Also on the square cap that covers that there is same kind of a washer thing that has litle squares taken out of it to mesh with the ones that are in the other piece. but if i were to put the cap on and try turn the inside piece out it can't go any were because the cap is up tight to it. it is a confusing description but i hope you undersatand and can help. thanx

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off the land

10-06-2003 11:01:14




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: too much play in steering/ in reply to tractorman, 10-05-2003 21:13:16  
You may have a missing original piece, thus,repair
was done with substitute part(s). When the 4 cap bolts are off the box,do you find a concave 1/8"
thick round disc, with a hole drilled in the center?This is the thrust plate washer, without it
you can not set adjustment. The bearing cup(race)
is behind the disc. Try to preserve that sleeve,
around the worm,don't compromise this part, to get
the pieces out. You should be able to knock that cup/race free, with a punch & hammer. I will go look at a box, to view your problem. Good luck.

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off the land

10-06-2003 14:02:02




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: too much play in steer in reply to off the land, 10-06-2003 11:01:14  
The back lash sleeve, which the worm gear stays in
has four notches in the end, which mesh with the four notches in the end cover. Do you have the 2"
concave disc(1/8"thick), with 3/8"center hole? Again, this is your thrust plate, to adjust your
gears. Apart, you should be able to drive that 1/4" bearing cone(race), out of the back lash
sleeve, by placing the box on end,tapping the steering shaft(flat end). This will make the worm
push the race out. Careful, of the sleeve, this
is valuable. Is the box rusted, inside? If not,
the race should slide out of the sleeve. If rusty,
spray with PB-Blaster, try moving the race in, a
bit, to loosen, using a punch & hammer. Any move,
then, stop, drive the race out, by tapping on the flat end of the shaft. O K? Good luck.

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tractorman

10-08-2003 12:51:28




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: too much play in s in reply to off the land, 10-06-2003 14:02:02  
I started to take a good look at it and found that i have a bad case of rust. the only rust penetrating sprays i have are WD-40 and Super Penetrent. do you think that these sprays work to break it loose? i will keep trying to work on it and hope things work out.

Do you have an E-mail that i would be able to ask you more questions through?

Thanks



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off the land

10-09-2003 11:01:40




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: too much play in reply to tractorman, 10-08-2003 12:51:28  
If this "Standard" is lame, but runs strong, why
not drop the engine assembly/clutch/radiator, into
a stuck engine 44RC Special? How far north of the
border are you? Yahoo e mail states you are not
with them, correct? The e mail was returned. Any
penetrating oil has to help, just don't get to excited with the hammer. You still need help, we
are here. Progress?



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tractorman

10-09-2003 20:32:20




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: too much p in reply to off the land, 10-09-2003 11:01:40  
I have not had much time to work on it but have taken the advice and will use it. I am signed up with yahoo but it seems like it aint working, doesn't it. So maybe you could try my netscape address at [email protected] if possible.



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Dave_Id

10-04-2003 09:50:30




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 Re: too much play in steering/ 12 volt conversion in reply to tractorman, 10-03-2003 22:28:48  
If the steering box is like a 101 Senior, then after those bushings are replaced, there is a way to tighten up the steering by removing shims. It is totally adjustable. Much better design than Farmalls for sure.



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marlowe

10-04-2003 05:59:41




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 Re: too much play in steering/ 12 volt conversion in reply to tractorman, 10-03-2003 22:28:48  
if the bushing are gone that use will make it steer hard the other thing is the lower bearing and the main thing is no oil in steering box or no grease in the lower bearing. i put a grease zerk in the cover of the steering box that way i can grease it. as to the 12 volt change WHY?this tractor is 50+ years old and has started for all those years if for some reason it's not doing it now you have some thing wrong. and the first thing check is battery cable size. you need 0 size at least and you can't get them at wal-mart . use the right size cables and i bet it will work just fine.neglect is the reason not the 6v

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tractorman

10-04-2003 19:25:35




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 Re: Re: too much play in steering/ 12 volt convers in reply to marlowe, 10-04-2003 05:59:41  
thanx for the info on the gear box. But with the conversion to 12v, i just find it easier to work with and find acesories for it. but i will think about it and decide whether or not i will keep it 6 volt.



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