New 314-8 owner. Tips?

[lynnmor 7,789]

The idea of lifting the front to grease is a good one, there are 3 fittings involved.  At each end of the axle and the one for the pivot in the middle.  Often the middle one will not accept grease unless it is lifted.  I actually grease the end ones and the mower deck wheels every time I mow, but I have a huge amount to mow.  There are no bushings in the axle, so if that gets worn it is a major repair job.

[Lane Ranger 11,394]

 

 

My brther and I have three 314's   -(and soon a fourth)   two hydros and two 8 speeds.  They are nice tractors to operate just about anything you can attach to them.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2019 by Lane Ranger

[csvt99 173]

 I'm going to start new posts to ask about specific questions now as I start tearing into. Thanks for all your help!

 

[csvt99 173]

4 hours ago, lynnmor said:

The idea of lifting the front to grease is a good one, there are 3 fittings involved.  At each end of the axle and the one for the pivot in the middle.  Often the middle one will not accept grease unless it is lifted.  I actually grease the end ones and the mower deck wheels every time I mow, but I have a huge amount to mow.  There are no bushings in the axle, so if that gets worn it is a major repair job.

Lynnmor, how do you suggest jacking the front without damaging anything? There is a greaser right in the middle of the front axle.

[peter lena 9,233]

i have a small toyota jack that  is a great fit on the horse, buy the way is your screw in belt adjustment, at the end of its travel? i ask this because that is a very unstable area for belt support, causing extreme belt bounce. i always fit a  1" shorter belt , keeping it on the adjustment sweet spot for no vibration shake . a regular floor jack with a wooden block will also work, pete

[lynnmor 7,789]

I take off the mule drive and use a small bottle jack on the round thing in the front mount.  Never had a problem with bending although others warned against it.

[Sarge 3,465]

I use a very small diameter 1-ton bottle jack that has a screw top adjuster - it will fit up in there to hit the end of the frame with the mule drive popped off temporarily. If you put a floor jack under the center of that mule drive against the two arms where the adjustment screw ends you will bend that cross tube above it - I've seen way too many of those cross tubes bent and have had to make new ones with a very specific sized tubing that isn't exactly cheap for its size. Once the tube is bent, it is very difficult to get the latch to work correctly - that tube has a rod inside of it that allows it to pivot. You have to cut all the old parts off each end, replace the tube and clock those parts onto the new one correctly and weld it. Not a really bad job, but annoying to say the least. 

 

On the left-hand side of the tractor (from sitting in the seat) there is also a spot on the end of the frame that will allow you to jack it up by the frame without damaging any parts. The frame will twist slightly as you lift it but will not hurt anything. It can be tough to get a grease gun squarely onto that zerk in the center of the axle, but worth the effort to keep it properly greased. As others have said, check the retainer tab and make sure it is not broken. If it is, that is an easy enough repair and you'll likely have to replace the 3/4" pin as well since they are generally pretty worn.

 

The axle center pin, as well as both steering spindles, are a steel against cast iron pivot point - once worn, none of those parts are easy to fix unless you have the equipment and knowledge to install bushings/bearings. If you want to see what some of that work involves, read this thread -

 

https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/66850-front-axle-upgrades-and-rebuilds/

 

The Toyota screw jacks are a jewel if you can hit up a salvage yard and find one. They are not all that big, but have great lifting power and can easily be rebuilt. Best styles are from Land Cruisers, but the pickups and higher classed SUV's are nearly as good (4Runner, Sequoia, Prado).

 

Sarge

[csvt99 173]

Ok all I have is a small floor jack but I think my dad has a bottle jack I can use provided he can find it. 

 

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for when it comes to the retainer tab behind the axle pivot. Is this the right spot?

[wallfish 18,060]

retainer tab

 

 

[csvt99 173]

So I take it mine is not broken? 

[Sarge 3,465]

It may or may not be broken - almost looks like its broken in the picture from the ring showing around the pin's weld from the factory. Just remove that bolt and see if the tab is solidly attached to the center pin. It is not a bad idea to remove the pin on occasion and check for wear - a good yearly maintenance practice with these heavily stressed parts. There is a lot of weight on that set of front steering components - so to keep things from costing you money later the simple maintenance routines on a yearly basis goes a long way. 

 

Sarge

[Lee1977 7,189]

Here is what the broken tab looks like. This came off a 312-8 as near as I can guess a 1988 or 1989 model.

 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Lee1977

[csvt99 173]

On 3/31/2019 at 4:50 PM, peter lena said:

i have a small toyota jack that  is a great fit on the horse, buy the way is your screw in belt adjustment, at the end of its travel? i ask this because that is a very unstable area for belt support, causing extreme belt bounce. i always fit a  1" shorter belt , keeping it on the adjustment sweet spot for no vibration shake . a regular floor jack with a wooden block will also work, pete

I can get at least another full turn so I think I should be okay. I tried my dad's ancient 3T bottle jack and I think that will work but I need to wait until I have time to remove the mower deck. 

[csvt99 173]

On 3/31/2019 at 8:29 AM, peter lena said:

 CSFT99 , how do the new guys always find the great  stuff ?  terrific find  , doing a baseline service , checking over everything and servicing it will establish what you have, not that is isin,t already like new , let me get my druel cup .  you might wipe down those painted surfaces with  WD40  , to feed the and enhance the paint. just doing that will make that horse , pop with shine. keep us in the loop , thanks pete

Pete, will the WD 40 attract dust and dirt? I always felt it did on my kubota. My farmer friend says to polish it instead, but his tractors have several hundred horse power and are green....🤔

[csvt99 173]

On 4/2/2019 at 9:13 AM, Sarge said:

It may or may not be broken - almost looks like its broken in the picture from the ring showing around the pin's weld from the factory. Just remove that bolt and see if the tab is solidly attached to the center pin. It is not a bad idea to remove the pin on occasion and check for wear - a good yearly maintenance practice with these heavily stressed parts. There is a lot of weight on that set of front steering components - so to keep things from costing you money later the simple maintenance routines on a yearly basis goes a long way. 

 

Sarge

Sarge, I wasn't able to get the pin the whole way out without removing the tie rod bracket. Is it really necessary? Also I unbolted the tab and moved it around, and included a picture below. Can you tell if it is broken? I have no idea since it seems to be functional. 

[csvt99 173]

Just now, csvt99 said:

Sarge, I wasn't able to get the pin the whole way out without removing the tie rod bracket. Is it really necessary? Also I unbolted the tab and moved it around, and included a picture below. Can you tell if it is broken? I have no idea since it seems to be functional. 

Now that I look closer at Lee1977s picture I think mine is okay, as it didn't fall off 🤔

[csvt99 173]

On 4/2/2019 at 9:18 PM, csvt99 said:

I can get at least another full turn so I think I should be okay. I tried my dad's ancient 3T bottle jack and I think that will work but I need to wait until I have time to remove the mower deck. 

It's a breeze with the mower deck removed. I attached a picture of my jack set up for future reference. 

[csvt99 173]

On 4/2/2019 at 9:18 PM, csvt99 said:

I can get at least another full turn so I think I should be okay. I tried my dad's ancient 3T bottle jack and I think that will work but I need to wait until I have time to remove the mower deck. 

It's a breeze with the mower deck removed. I attached a picture of my jack set up for future reference. 

[pfrederi 18,634]

The tab should not move relative to the pin.  From what I can see yours is broken....

[csvt99 173]

So should it be welded fast to the pin? I did take the top bolt out and that is what allowed it to swing down like that.

[pfrederi 18,634]

41 minutes ago, csvt99 said:

So should it be welded fast to the pin? I did take the top bolt out and that is what allowed it to swing down like that.

 

Yes welded ..no movement allowed between pin and tab.

 

 

[csvt99 173]

Are there any threads on how to fix the tab? I searched but couldn't find anything. Is it just a matter of removing the pin and welding the tab back on?

[csvt99 173]

3 hours ago, csvt99 said:

Are there any threads on how to fix the tab? I searched but couldn't find anything. Is it just a matter of removing the pin and welding the tab back on?

I'm going to partially answer my own question 😁. I actually found this way easier on Google than on the forum search. It's a pretty good thread that explains pretty much everything. At this point I'm going to check into getting a new one.

 

[csvt99 173]

Here are pictures of the factory pin. I will plan to pre grease and install this weekend.