new steering gear getting chewed up

Freddie21

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 1, 2021
Threads
20
Messages
268
Hey Biggs, JD along with others, don't manufacture their own parts. They have suppliers for that.

One unit I had, I just shimmed between the shoulder bolt and the sector gear to get a nice spacing. Use thinner washers so it can be put to where you like it. Also, it there a guide bushing 1\2 or higher up the steering shaft that may be worn too?
 

the.doc

Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Threads
12
Messages
42
And from memory there are 2 of them
After that there is the problem of the steering pins in the front cross member , have they been greased ?
And of course the bushes in the wheels themselves
Wear in any or all of them puts excessive load on the fan gear
Replacing the fan gear & bushes is one of those 5 hands jobs
Finally did you lubricate the fan gear & pinion ?
Mine always get a good shot of dry Lithium Chassis grease ( CRC Product )
What I see is paint transfer from the fan gear to the pinion
Newbie here.
Thought that it might be a good idea to get some of that so I did a search for "CRC dry Lithium Chassis grease" and got no hits. Could you post maybe an item number or maybe a picture of the container? got lots of hits for lithium grease bur "dry" and "chassis" were a problem.

thanks
 

bigjake

Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Threads
2
Messages
22
They are most likely full of grease.(which is a good thing)
They will turn free after they have ran for awhile.
1/8 inch in the flat pulley will still be ok.

I quite often buy a bearing or bearing/pulley now days and it free wheel spins easy when new. That is a sign that China did not pack the bearing with grease.
I use a vaccinating needle on my grease gun and pack them kind if I cannot pop the seal out.

Install the pulleys and test.
I installed the new idler pulleys and the tractor now runs fine (so far) with no belt slippage. I cut the back hill and went up the steep side about 20 times with no hesitation at all. It did get stuck once going over an exposed tree root but the rear tire spun as it should, instead of the belt slipping.

The tractor does make a slight whining sound going up even the slightest slope, it has always done that in the 5 years that I have had it. Not sure if that is normal? It does not make that sound on level ground.

Thanks for your help and guidance guys!
 
Last edited:

Forest#2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
457
Thanks for the come back.

Good to see that you did not have to use more of your Duck tape to build up the diameter of the flat idler pulley.
You will eventually need more of that Duck tape on the steering area.

That JD machine will operate more user friendly if you will use JD Green or Yellow Duck tape or a mixture of both so as to blend and not be noticeable.
Another tip: I wear sunglasses to reduce the eye burn/strain from them JD Grn/Yeller paint, especially on a sunny day when working on them.
If they could just make the rest of them machines last as long as their paint we would have a winner keeper.

Them slopes you are mowing in straining that JD constantly.
 

bigjake

Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Threads
2
Messages
22
Thanks for the come back.

Good to see that you did not have to use more of your Duck tape to build up the diameter of the flat idler pulley.
You will eventually need more of that Duck tape on the steering area.

That JD machine will operate more user friendly if you will use JD Green or Yellow Duck tape or a mixture of both so as to blend and not be noticeable.
Another tip: I wear sunglasses to reduce the eye burn/strain from them JD Grn/Yeller paint, especially on a sunny day when working on them.
If they could just make the rest of them machines last as long as their paint we would have a winner keeper.

Them slopes you are mowing in straining that JD constantly.
Actually, it turned out that the play in the pinion gear was due to the bottom bushing having slight side to side play in the hole in the frame. Youtube shows the bushings just being popped into place, but I rotated the bushings 90 degrees to fit snugly and that elimianted the side to side play. Pinion and Sector gear now mesh perfectly. No duct tape :)
 
Top