Steering wheel stuck on 102
 

Ok guys I have been trying to get my steering wheel off my 102. PO welded the top of the shaft for some reason. The box itself seems tight but,theres always a but, I can see the gasket is broke and hanging out. I have been soaking it down with kroil and pb, Iam using the 5/8 bolt and knee trick,while beating it the steering wheel plastic is breaking off I'm down to the steel on the hub and spokes. Am I doing damage to the gears in the box??? This has me worried also now the shaft is moving front to back side to side about a 1/4 inch. Looks like these steering boxes aren't cheap. I hope I can salvage it. What do the cub guru's think

You can probably get as many answers to this question as there are people here.

If the plastic is already broken away, you can heat the the center of the wheel with a torch.

If you are hammering on the top of the shaft, be careful, I knocked the bottom out of the aluminum housing one time doing that.

This summer, my Brother told me that the bushing was worn out in the 105 and he couldn't get the wheel off. I suggested that he loosen the nut spray some penetrating oil on it and keep on mowing. About 3 or 4 mows later the wheel was loose and he replaced the bushing. I realize this isn't an option for everyone.

I also suggest taking the nut off and spraying it with pb the driving it around, its about the only way to guarantee no damage to the wheel or column.

I'm thinking about sawzalling off the steering wheel. Is that hub really hard metal??? Driving it around is not an option it's in many pieces and split in half.

Yes, I highly doubt you can cut the wheel off without damaging the column.

Was I supposed to have the two mounting bolts out on the gear box before beating the snot out of the 5/8 bolt??? :angry:

I've done it with and without the bolts in, without the bolts seems to lesson the chance of damaging the column.

Use an air hammer with slight up pressure on the hub. It is the closest thing to magic. Great on flywheels.

It this point being the plastic is broke,break off the rest around the center hub,then put the nut on and use a 2 or 3 jaw puller on it ,easy peasy poppsy offsy.

On my 1450 I loosened the nut so 1/2 of the threads were over the top of the shaft. Next I threaded a bolt of the same diameter and pitch on the exposed nut so that it was contacting the shaft. I sat on the seat with my knees under the wheel putting pressure up. With the pressure on the wheel I hit the bolt with a hammer jarring the wheel loose.

I left out that I soaked the wheel/shaft interface for days with Kroil. It came off pretty easy. This tractor had sat outside for years too.

Yea Bob95065 thats the post I read and tried 5/8 bolt and nut pb and kroil for two days trick. Might have hit it to hard or wheel just brittle cause it started cracking. Now its in pieces,the plastic coating anyway. I have a replacement wheel coming from another member so I dont care about the wheel just saving the shaft.
Lew my puller won't grab that hub it's to small. The hub without the plastic is as small as a silver dollar.

I went out to get a 3 jaw or a harbor fr. puller, but h.f. is 16 mi. and I didn't want to go that far . So my local auto store salesman said I should try his slide puller. you pay a 100 dollar deposit and get it back when you bring it back. It's a no brainer unless you guys think upward shock pressure shouldn't be used. Please let me know what you think .......


Hank

I use a puller like this that I got at Sears.

Its off
 

Yay... Three days of kroil and pb , I used a 3 jaw puller for 2 days after a day of beating a 5/8 bolt and breaking the plastic off. Finally this morning I got the torch out and heated it up real good till the plastic was on fire 4" away from the flame. Turned the bolt on the puller and low and behold a loud creeeaaak and it moved. I used a pickle fork to pull it the rest of the way off. :beer2: Now to see if I can save the shaft and box. Hope I didn't melt something in the top of the shaft Under the welded washer the Po cut in half and gobbed in there cause he didnt or couldn't get the wheel off

Thanks guys for all your input

Hank

Had you used an air hammer on it you would have gotten in off in 10 minutes. It just vibrates the hub till it falls off.

Glad you finally got it off, they can be pretty nasty sometimes. The last steering wheel I took off I resorted to hanging the tractor from the steering wheel off the rafters in my workshop and spraying the threads with pb every hour, it took about 4 hrs for it to finally let go and man did you that tractor make a lot of noise when it fell.:biggrin2:

Don't put one back on without anti seize lube or grease and not until your done with everything else. I took the steering wheel off my 1650 once and the nut was loose so it came right off just lifting it. So I thought i'll just set it back on till I'm ready to work on it. The *%#* thing was stuck like yours. I didn't even have the nut on it. Those tapers really stick.

i made this...was pretty easy to make and havent come across a wheel it wouldnt pull off yet...even walked up to a cub in a boneyard, no cap, been sitting for at least 10yrs and with no penetrating lube and popped right off...feels like somethings gonna break and then "BANG" the sucker is loose...let me know if you need more pics or info...works on alot of tractors...my dad used it on his ford NAA after weeks of pb and banging on it and swearing...just pops em right off...

I haven't had one yet that the air hammer method wouldn't take off but I like this design. Did you ever put the dimensions or plans in the tool section? Bolts size and all thread look deceiving? Are they 3/8? 1/2?

You can also use an automotive steering wheel pullers if you make what amounts to a wood bearing splitter. It distrbutes the pressure over more of the wheel hub than a jaw type puller.

Air hammer is the only way to get them off. Quick, easy, no damage. The later machines with the hollow tube are a little harder.... but still works.

i agree, but for the hollow tube ones just drop a 5/16" bolt down and throw the puller on it...thanks Alvy, no i havent posted the dimensions of it...all 1/2" hardware, well except the ones unddr that hold the plate together..those are 5/16"....this thing leaves no damage either,because the plate grabs fight under the "heavy hub"

You guys say only the later models had a hollow shaft. The 102 i'm working on was made in 66. Did they have hollow shafts then, cause this shaft is hollow.

Yeah, I don't know what that means either... IIRC the 3 turn columns had a solid shaft, but ALL of my Cubs from my Originals to my 1650 have a hollow center shaft.

I changed the steering column on my 1650. The old ones no. is IH-400884-R91 witch is hollow. The one I put in is a 703-1085 out of a ccc which is a solid shaft.