Frozen Steering Wheel In Extreme Cold

JackovSpades · Feb 27, 2015

For the longest time I tried to find the answer to this problem online. I inherited a 1972 White 1270 with a property we bought a few years ago. Every winter the steering wheel would freeze solid in extreme cold. Luckily I found David Perry a 79 year-old vintage tractor mechanic. Water over the years had got into the steering wheel column box. Removing the fill and drain nuts, he used a heat gun to melt the ice. It took an hour using heat before the water stopped dripping out. He filled the box with steering oil and the wheel has not frozen since. He believes rainwater/melting snow got in from the top of the steering column over many years, and ours had the steering wheel centre cap missing. I'm sure there are other reasons why a steering wheel could be unmoveable in the cold, but here is one solution.

showcrop · Feb 27, 2015

This comes up on these forums every other year or so. The steering box is just one of many housings, on all types of old machines, that will accumulate moisture. it can enter through a bad seal or boot, but it is coming in somewhere all the time because all of these housings are vented. Whenever you have warm moist air coming in displacing cooler air, which is a common occurrence in most of the country, You will get condensation forming not only on the outside but also inside these housings. The cure is to either use the machines frequently enough and long enough to get them hot enough to drive the moisture out, or, drain a little oil from the bottom of each at least once a year.

rrlund · Feb 27, 2015

My 73 Oliver 1365 does the same thing. It doesn't freeze hard,just takes some force to break it loose. Mine acts like it's the bearing in the top of the column that has some moisture in it. I've had the plug out of the box before and the oil doesn't look milky. I had a heck of a time with the 1550 when I first got it. That one had moisture in the bearing in the top of the column.

Geo-TH,In · Feb 27, 2015

I keep all my tractors under roof. I found water
get in tranny of Jubilee shortly after I bought it.
Also found water in hydraulic oil. Control levers
would freeze in winter. Problem gone after I
changed oils and keep them out of the elements.

I want to cry when I see people leave tractors out
in the rain. Gas caps have a tiny vent hole. Then
people wonder why gas tanks are full of rust. Carb
has rust too.

showcrop · Feb 27, 2015

Don't cry unless it's a shiny one. Henry didn't expect all of his tractors to be sheded any more than Honda expects all of their cars to get into a garage most nights.

Geo-TH,In · Feb 28, 2015

Did henry expect his tractors to be running 75
years later? If he did he would have made them with
vents. Look at all the rust under the lift covers.

Frozen Steering Wheel In Extreme Cold

JackovSpades

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showcrop

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rrlund

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Geo-TH,In

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showcrop

Well-known Member

Geo-TH,In

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