1986 312-A

[dobeleo 7]

Hi Gang,

I got the old girl all apart, and am trying to seperate the steering wheel from the column. I looks like it is pinned together, not sure if is a roll pin or what. Can I drill this out? any suggestions on seperating them?

Will post some pics today, making progress!

Thanks for your suggestions!

Dan

[rickv1957 70]

Them pins can be a pain as they wont drill,a good soaking with wd40 will help,Rick

[bmuone 15]

Dan I have been trying for three days to get the steering wheel off a 211-4. After numbers soaking with PB Blaster I finally got the roll pin out using a small socket and a hammer. The steering wheel....well that's yet to be removed. Just keep on soakin and hammerin.

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

The trick seems to be having a good heavy bench vise to back up the heavy blows given to drive out the roll pin. If the shaft moves at all during your hits on the shaft, the impact is lost when the shaft moves. The pin doesn't receive enough impact to move thru the shaft.

Remove the steering column / shroud from the tractor and lay - not grip - the steering shaft on top of the vise jaws. OPEN THE VISE JAWS JUST FAR ENOUGH TO CRADLE THE STEERING SHAFT - not grip it. Lay the shaft on the vice so the steering wheel is just off the vise jaws and whack away.

A roll pin punch - to keep the punch centered on the pin - is great to have. If you have regular flat face punches, make sure the punch is the same size as the roll pin. A smaller punch will embed into the center of the roll pin and expand it. This will only further frustrate the removal of the pin.

My life changed for the better when I picked up a heavy duty 8" vise.

[C-Series14 15]

As Iron said, roll pin punch or punch the same size as pin, PB Blaster-soak-pb Blaster-etc..., vise, and a 12 ton press helps! I have been sucessful on the last 2 steering wheel removals using all of the above.

[dobeleo 7]

Thanks, I will keep spraying it with PB Blaster!

[PPGman 5]

Iron is right on the money here with his vise. I tried for several hrs to get mine off, soaked it, hammered it, ect, than i realized that the column was moving and not letting the blows, hammer that little sucker out. Try setting it up on a vise. I had mine out in a few mins when i got it to the vise. :D

[Butch 194]

The roll pin was easy. Now getting the wheel off the shaft was a whole different story. NONE of the rust busters or lubes did anything even after I drilled a bunch of holes along the shaft and steering wheel to have less contact. It took a machinists 20 ton press to pop it free. After wasting a couple days trying myself it was well worth the money.

I personally think Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster and others are over rated. I have used them all and wound up having to use presses or heat with big hammers.

Butch

S. Jersey

[Horse'n Around 22]

Sometimes I think that we ask a lot of penetrating oils. They really do a great job but when you think about it, for instance something that has a tight press fit to begin with then add years of exposure to the elements and some corrosion, rust or paint or a mixture of all the above, it keeps all the liquid from making its way past the offending stuff and makes life miserable.I have been thinking about removing the steering wheel from my 702 and Im dreading it, the roll pin is easy to move so Im encouraged by that, but on the other hand Butch said his roll pin was easy but the rest was tough. Well see, at least I have a friend that has a machine shop and witl all the presses so if I run into trouble I will give him a visit.

John

[Duff 206]

Just an afterthought here, but maybe a good tip for some of our newer folks.....whenever I reassemble anything on these tractors, unless there's a need for a friction fit I apply a liberal dose of Neverseize. Related to this, on almost all of my bolts I've added lock washers, again unless there was a compelling reason not to do so, assuming that the Neverseize would reduce the friction that might otherwise keep the bolt in tight. JMHO....

Duff :D