1968 MF 135 Diesel Manual Steering Box Repair/ Replacement

[Errol_W]

I have a 1968 MF 135 with a Perkins Diesel. The steering sector gears have been broken and welded too many times to try it again. My question is will the manual steering box that I can purchase in the aftermarket work on my tractor? The internals of the aftermarket steering box are different than mine but I am hopeful that as a replacement unit it will work.

 

[ptfarmer]

I have one of those new style steering boxes on my 135. The aftermarket manual steering boxes you see are actually used on the 230, 235's, and similar tractors.

 

[493]

I have one on a 2135 gas- it required modifying the instrument panel attachment due to height differences. Be sure to tighten the arms fully to eliminate play.

 

[Errol_W]

thanks for the quick responses. I will get a new box ordered up.

 

[ptfarmer]

Those steering boxes probably come from India, the TAFE (Tractor And Farm Equipment company in India) used to build some of the MF 200 series tractors for use in other parts of the world. When MF discontinued the 200 series TAFE bought the "patterns" to the 200 series, and they are still producing the old 200 in their own name. Even the diesel engine they use is a exact copy of the Perkins diesel. https://www.tafe.com/tractors/tafe/

 

[Jeff Swann]

I have around a 1970 135 gas and put one on b/c water leaked into my steering and I tried to steer it while it was frozen to
put some hay out and broke some stuff in there. It was an expensive mistake.

If you do the changeout, there are some little springs that go in there somehwere that make it so the gear shift will pop
into gear and kind of hold there. If you leave them out and lose them, like I did, it will go into gear but be prone to
slipping out at inopportune times. Just sayin'.

i also had to grind away part of the casting so that the steering arm on the left side of the tractor would travel far
enough. No idea if this was my fault or not, but that was my experience. I'm only sharing to help you avoid some of the
many rookie errors that I've made.