[AT] Sloppy steering on Farmall Super A

[Dean Vinson]

Hi Howard.  Is there a cover plate or something on the steering box for the
Super A, so you could remove it and look at how the worm and sector gears
move when your girlfriend turns the steering wheel?

I just a week or two ago looked at the steering on my Farmall M, which has
about 45 degrees of play in the steering wheel.  When I turn the steering
shaft and the worm starts to engage the sector gear, it literally pulls the
sector toward the back of the tractor by an eighth of an inch or so, because
there's that much slop between the sector shaft and its bushing.  That
eighth of an inch of horizontal travel equates to the 45 degrees of rotation
in the steering shaft.  Once it's been pulled against the bushing and can't
move any farther, then the sector gear will rotate and steer the tractor.

Assuming the worm and sector teeth are of comparable sizes between the A and
the M, if my 8th of an inch of bearing wear = 45 degrees of lost motion,
then I'd guess there's likely something else worn on your girl friend's
tractor in order to get all the way up to a half turn of lost motion.
Bearing wear could be part but for a full 180 degrees it sure seems like
something else must be worn also.  The sector gear itself?  How about the
rest of the steering linkage, going from the gearbox out to the front
wheels?

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
www.vinsonfarm.net



-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Howard Rawls
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 9:40 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: [AT] Sloppy steering on Farmall Super A

Hey folks, I've been lurking on this list for quite a while and now I have a
question or series of questions. Has anyone ever rebuilt the steering "box"
on a Farmall Super A ??? My girl friend has one and I promised her I would
fix it if it is practical to do so. The steering wheel has exactly 1/2 turn
of lost motion in it. The manual that she has says that the steering box is
"non-adjustable", so what are the chances that just replacing the worn
bearings or bushings would reduce the lost motion to a reasonable amount?
Are there any sources for parts?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Howard Rawls
New Bern, NC



_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at