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.