# Pulling a tractor steering wheel



## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

I HAVE to pull the steering wheel off my tractor, a seal is blown and fluid pours out of the column when ever I run the tractor. As you might have guessed I am having problems. 

1) The wheel does not have holes in it to use a standard steering wheel puller 1a) I don't have one anyway.

2) The wheel is plastic coated so I can't apply heat the the shaft. 2a) I can't hook a gear puller to the bottom of the wheel, see #1.

I have sort of got around both problems by taking a steel plate and cutting a grove in it to fit around the shaft under the wheel. I bought a cheap 2 jaw gear puller only to discover there are even more problems. When I apply pressure the puller it would start to lean and eventually pop off. I also discovered the puller just isn't up to the job.

So here's my wondering. . . how could I rig up a puller using a small hydraulic jack? Problems I see with that. I have to rig up something to set or attach to the shaft for the base of the jack to sit/push on. My welder is out of action so welding something together is not an option.

Second problem is rigging something which to attach the top of the jack to the plate under the wheel. I'm thinking a length of chain but getting it to not slip off the jack could be a problem.

Any suggestion?


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

It might help if we knew what model tractor etc.... I fixed a Kioti last year with a faulty steering valve, never had to take the steering wheel off.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

My DB 990 did this until I refilled the upper shaft with grease through the factory supplied zerk. Grease held the seal in place.......... which I'll admit was odd.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

watcher said:


> My welder is out of action so welding something together is not an option.


First thing is to get welding capability back. Most valuable tool on homestead or farm. I've welded up various custom pullers for just about anything. Friend had 6ft brush hog that needed new bottom seal. Dang thing broke my old heavy duty puller and I was not happy as it was one of Dad's tools from farm days. I welded couple big nuts (biggest TSC had) to the hub I was pulling, used couple pieces 3/8 steel turned on edge with couple spacers welded between them and three bolts. Pulled it easily and cost two or three bucks. The nuts I just left welded to hub in case ever had to do it again. If I were in the heavy equipment repair biz and used it frequently would have bought new heavy duty puller, but for occasional need, bolts and scrap iron work fine.

By way the Chinese steering wheel pullers work fine and are just few bucks. Worth having on hand if you ever work on cars. Or pretty easy to weld one out of scrap and bolts to save trip to town. The Chinese jaw type gear pullers are junk except for very light duty use.

Your notched plate probably fine, you just need way to press against shaft. Its just depends on what you have to work with. Since no welder you will need to drill and bolt some sort of rigid frame to the plate for jack to push against. set up second plate with bolts, then hole in center for another bolt to push against shaft. Chain would allow too much side movement unless you could attach three or four lengths of chain to plate under steering wheel then have another plate they are attached to for jack to push against. Still better to use something rigid.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

lonelytree said:


> It might help if we knew what model tractor etc.... I fixed a Kioti last year with a faulty steering valve, never had to take the steering wheel off.


Its a Kioti LK3504. It was my understanding I had to pull the wheel. How do you replace the seal w/o it?


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## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

You don't need a puller you can do it by hand. What you do is to pull on the steering wheel and hit it in the center with a large hammer. Be sure to have a nut on the coulomb for this to keep from spreading it out. Once you have it loose take the nut off and pull it off. This will take two people to do but is the easiest way to do it.


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

watcher said:


> Its a Kioti LK3504. It was my understanding I had to pull the wheel. How do you replace the seal w/o it?


If it started leaking right after hitting an object with the front tires it could be worse than a seal. The worm gears on these have a C-clip on the bottom of the steering shaft. When it gets the rebound from hitting something, it forces the c-clip out of the end of the housing. This breaks the end out of the housing and it is expensive. Follow the steering shaft down and see if there are a few bolts holding the housing into the flywheel housing area of the tractor. There was a side cover on the one we fixed and you may be able to see where it is leaking before tearing it down.

Good luck


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

lonelytree said:


> If it started leaking right after hitting an object with the front tires it could be worse than a seal. The worm gears on these have a C-clip on the bottom of the steering shaft. When it gets the rebound from hitting something, it forces the c-clip out of the end of the housing. This breaks the end out of the housing and it is expensive. Follow the steering shaft down and see if there are a few bolts holding the housing into the flywheel housing area of the tractor. There was a side cover on the one we fixed and you may be able to see where it is leaking before tearing it down.
> 
> Good luck


I can't remember when it started leaking. I'm trying to set up a photobucket account so I can give some pics. Stay tuned to see if I get that worked out.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

I hope this helps and isn't confusing. Here goes. . .


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## jhuebner (Mar 29, 2009)

Find a repair book, this is not our Fathers' JD... 

Banging on the nut did work on those... 

Sorry I've only seen something like this on an old Fordson Diesel, and they are from UK

Good luck!


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Watcher,
From the number of pics showing the outer column for the steering shaft it appears to me you are in the wrong location for getting the steering wheel off. All steering wheels that I have removed involved removing a main center nut that is in the middle of the steering wheel and under a cover, on newer tractors. You need to see if there is a cover that resembles a horn button and to determine how to remove the cover. Typically the cover pries off. Once you get the cover off and the retaining fastener removed the steering wheel is fitted onto a splined tapered shaft. You need to mark the position for reassembly. By loosening the nut but leaving it on the shaft and simultaneously tapping on the nut and pulling on the steering wheel the steering wheel should come loose. The nut being on the shaft will prevent two things, marring the shaft threads and giving you a bloody nose from the wheel coming off and hitting you in the face.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

agmantoo said:


> Watcher,
> From the number of pics showing the outer column for the steering shaft it appears to me you are in the wrong location for getting the steering wheel off.


You know if I had tried I couldn't have done anything funnier! I didn't even notice I hadn't posted even ONE picture of the steering wheel until you pointed it out. My mine was on showing the steering column in case there was a way to change the seal w/o pulling the wheel. The wheel is the standard nut on a splined shaft.




agmantoo said:


> All steering wheels that I have removed involved removing a main center nut that is in the middle of the steering wheel and under a cover, on newer tractors. You need to see if there is a cover that resembles a horn button and to determine how to remove the cover. Typically the cover pries off. Once you get the cover off and the retaining fastener removed the steering wheel is fitted onto a splined tapered shaft. You need to mark the position for reassembly. By loosening the nut but leaving it on the shaft and simultaneously tapping on the nut and pulling on the steering wheel the steering wheel should come loose. The nut being on the shaft will prevent two things, marring the shaft threads and giving you a bloody nose from the wheel coming off and hitting you in the face.


I've pulled a few steering wheels in my day, usually using the 'bang the nut' trick, but this one has me. I had a cheap puller I broke, repaired and broke again trying to get it off. I even tried tying a strap to the wheel and using a ratchet strap to pull it. All I did was almost bend the wheel.

There is very little shaft above the wheel which causes problems. Its impossible to apply heat to the shaft w/o the wheel spokes starting to smoke. Its next to impossible to get a good shot at the shaft because its recessed so deep. 

It has been on the back burner for a while because I needed time to relax before I took the sawsall to it. But during that time the car has sprung a coolant leak and the truck's brakes are acting up. Add to that we have reached the 90/90 days here (90 degrees with 90% humidity, ok at noon today its 91 degrees and with humidity of ONLY 58% giving a heat index of 101 ) and working on the tractor sitting in the sun has suddenly dropped a bit on my list.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

jhuebner said:


> Find a repair book, this is not our Fathers' JD...
> 
> Banging on the nut did work on those...
> 
> ...


Our forefathers were tougher men, they could hit their nuts with a hammer and get results. Now we need to hire experts from corporate America to do it for us.


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## Nieder Acres (Feb 17, 2009)

Some steering shafts use a woodruff key (Moon shaped) to secure the steering wheel to the shaft. Remove the steering nut as mentioned before then slide a small screw driver down the shaft to rock the woodruff key.

Good Luck


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