I had my QA42 bolted up to my 122 and it worked fine.

His is a qa 42 a Jeff.

So I have noticed I have a serious amount of play in my steering wheel, I can turn it half way before it catches, where should I start?

You should start with your eyes. :bigeyes::bigeyes:

Turn the wheel while watching the tie rods, the crank arm on the top of the left spindle, axle and basically anything that steers the tractor. Look at the bellcrank on the bottom of the steering gearbox. Does all those components move with the wheel, or is there a delay? Where is the "loose" spot?

We are here to help, but we can't see your tractor from here. You need to go look at and at least try to address the issue before coming and asking "what do I do?".

Three things most common that cause play in the steering.

1. The gear box should be adjusted to remove slack by tightening the lever bolt that runs through it, then tighten the jam nut to hold the lever plate snug against the box. (large nut on the right side of the gear box while sitting in the driver's seat).

On the lever plate (left side, where the steering link attaches) loosen the jam nut and turn the center stud in to snug it against the spiral cam inside. This is the follower stud and rides back and forth in a worm gear inside. Then tighten the follower stud jam nut. Be sure you don't bind up the steering wheel, so test that as you adjust the stud in.

2. Second place is the axle channel. The axle is often loose in the channel, either due to play/wear in the central pivot pin, which can be driven out and replaced, or by expansion of the channel itself that allows the axle to move too much in the channel. Remove the axle and squeeze the channel closed with a 4 inch by 3/4 inch bolt, washers and a nut. Or, put some shims between the axle pivot point and the channel sides.

3, Finally, the tie rod ends, and the axle pivot points (pitman arm?) at the left front wheel get loose and need to be tightened up. A little more complicated but you can drill out the loose pin hole and replace with either a larger pin or ream it for a tapered pin.

Just look around at what is moving when you turn the steering wheel and you'll see where you need to fix it.

Thanks for the reply Sawdust, ik on our 96 Ford F-150 there is one big nut that you can tighten to remove play in the steering. I wasn't sure if these had the same type of system or where to look first. I figured it was easier to ask first before running out in the 4 degree weather and freezing my butt off since the tractor is only sitting under a car port.

Yep! What Sawdust and Jonathan said.

It's a simple system so start with the steering wheel and see where the movement isn't when you begin to turn it. Start with the steering box and work towards the wheel.

The tie rod ends are consumable (these are about 40-50 yrs old now) and are easy to replace and available cheaply.

Whats the size of the belt that runs from the starter?

Handy Belt chart
 

The reference sub forum is great:

http://www.cubcadet.info/Manuels/Bel..._1947-2004.pdf

That'll get you info on most any belt

That will do, I should print out a manual for my 127. Wish I had ink in the printer.