What was the largest diameter WH steering wheel?

[ebinmaine 76,272]

I'd like one or two of whatever the largest steering wheel was. 

I know the mid 70s C Series had a 15"

 

Any larger ones later? 

[WHX?? 53,561]

Don't know what this one is ... and I ain't gonna go out to the barn & measure ...in my jammies and too cold out... 

Edited yesterday at 02:02 AM by WHX??
pic

[ri702bill 10,852]

Fifteen, as I recall. Maybe, the original Ride-Away SR, the model after the Lever Steer, had one that was bigger. 

A side note - I replaced the broken OE wheel on my C81 a few years back. Went with an aftermarket Grant wheel, similar to the one on a 420 LSE.

Three considerations in picking the new one - diameter, clearance for the lift lever, and dish offset. You still need to be able to get on & off the tractor!

 

Edited 19 hours ago by ri702bill

[ebinmaine 76,272]

1 hour ago, ri702bill said:

Fifteen, as I recall. Maybe, the original Ride-Away SR, the model after the Lever Steer, had one that was bigger. 

A side note - I replaced the broken OE wheel on my C81 a few years back. Went with an aftermarket Grant wheel, similar to the one on a 420 LSE.

 

That's one of the wheels I've been eyeing 👁 👀 

 

 

1 hour ago, ri702bill said:

Three considerations in picking the new one - diameter, clearance for the lift lever, and dish offset. 

 

 

Excellent point 👉 👈 👇 on the lift lever. 

That's how I arrived at a desired 17".

 

I'd like two initially. One as an experiment for the '74 C160-8 Tecumseh/ Briggs swapped Horse. 

That'll be gear reduced as well. 

 

The other is for the future Wally Digger Backhoe chassis. The Backhoe doesn't have/need a lift lever but it does have the loader frame over the top of the wheel AND the steering wheel is actually the seat base in Backhoe mode. The seat gets tilted forward to the steering wheel. 

That wheel must be carefully mounted and considered for size and shape. 

 

If it works out that the steering action effort is that drastically reduced then I'll get another one for the C160-8 Cinnamon Horse because that carries the Mackissic chipper shredder all the time.  

 

 

[ri702bill 10,852]

Good to know.

One area of wear & friction is where the steering shaft engages the lower steering block. The underside of the pinion gear wears into the top of the block; the gear mesh into the fan gear pushes them apart wearing both the shaft and block bore. The bottom end of the shaft received six shallow grooves to retain grease.

I address this by flycutting the worn top surface smooth & flat again, then drilling & reaming the upper bore to accept a thin-walled bronze bushing. Once installed I drill thru the wall at the grease fitting. I use a thin - .015 or so - steel shim between the cast block & the steel gear. Grease fitting... I also add one to the lower portion of the block where the lower steering shaft lives. No bushing in the lower, I added one on the shaft...The 502 I did now has one-finger steering...