720 power steering

[Kenny J]

I'm rebuilding the power steering on my 720 and have a question about the lower bearing in the quill.
It seems to me that the o-ring in the upper part of the quill that goes against the spindle should seal the oil from getting to the bearing. I have the SM2050 manual and it does'nt say anything about packing the bearing with grease. Does the quill fill with oil and the cork seal does the job of sealing it from leaking?

 

[F-I-T]

It"s sort of covered in your operators manual, in the grease fitting section, but basically it is this. Pack the bearing in the best wheel bearing grease you can get, maybe even something synthetic that won"t oxidize, because it will not see the light of day or lubrioation ever again. The reason is, if you examine the quill closely, you"ll see a grease fitting that only dumps grease into the large cavity, and it would take 8 or ten tubes, in my opinion, to ever get the grease to that bearing via the zerk. That said, it only turns about 160 degrees, and the force is in thrust, so just a pack of good quality grease and it will likely out live you.

 

[Kenny J]

I saw the grease fitting, and yes, it would take a ton of grease to get to the bearing. I will pack it with good grease.

Thanks for your response, I really appreciate it.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Dear F-I-T,
I am curious as to where you acquired your amazing knowledge of two-cylinder tractors. You have become the new Clooney. That is meant to be a compliment. Thanks!

 

[F-I-T]

Tom,

Thanks for mighty high praise, which I appreciate, but is undeserved. There was only on CLooney, and I wish he would come back round.

I have worked on a lot of the old ones, starting at a pretty young age, and I continue to learn every day. I like to read about the experiences everyone else has had, because you can almost always glean some information to use on your next project, even it was to find out how not to do something. Since I travel so much, I keep my two cylinder parts books with me, several electronic tech manuals for my own stuff, and of course Duane Larson's wonderful Field Service Bulletin set. There is really a lot of reading material on these old Deeres, and of course, there is always the archives here. On this particular subject, I think a ot of us discussed this quite a bit back on here around 2002 or 03.

Everyone has to do something for the first time, but few have done one thing the first time. There is a lot of experienced help out there.

Also, if you break enough stuff and you are forced to repair it yourself, you can get pretty good at it in a hurry. Like they say, experience comes from bad judgement....