OK, what now? (L1802DT steering box removal, hydraulic shenanigans)

mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
So, had a tree come down 15 minutes after my son had left for work (thank god). Unfortunately, the poor old tractor wasn't so lucky. Probably going to have to fix it myself because it ain't covered by insurance. The question I have is: does anyone know how to get the steering column out?
 

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TheOldHokie

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windyridgefarm.us
So, had a tree come down 15 minutes after my son had left for work (thank god). Unfortunately, the poor old tractor wasn't so lucky. Probably going to have to fix it myself because it ain't covered by insurance. The question I have is: does anyone know how to get the steering column out?
Ouch!!! That canopy is toast but otherwise it looks relatively minor. I don't know that machine - is a greay market model? The steering column on many of this vinatge simply bolts to the top of the transmission. Sheetmetal has to come off to get it out.

We have tress coming down like rain right now and I was in the woods with teh dog yesteray. Wind was blowing pretty good and I thought "this is probably not a good place to be right now".

Good luck,

Dan
 

Russell King

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Jun 17, 2012
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It looks a lot like my L185 but bigger.

The steering column is bolted to the top of the transmission and also goes through the fuel tank for some support. You will need to take the dash and cowl off and probably the fuel tank also. The wiring harness should have connectors on the left side by the starter that help get the dash/cowl off in one piece. There are two bolts on each side about where the orange cowl stops. Probably if you look upwards from below you can see them.
 

mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
Ouch!!! That canopy is toast but otherwise it looks relatively minor. I don't know that machine - is a greay market model? The steering column on many of this vinatge simply bolts to the top of the transmission. Sheetmetal has to come off to get it out.

We have tress coming down like rain right now and I was in the woods with teh dog yesteray. Wind was blowing pretty good and I thought "this is probably not a good place to be right now".

Good luck,

Dan
Yeah, grey market so Kubota won't even acknowledge that it exists. Stupid really, I'd buy parts from them if they even gave me the time of day. Fukkers.

I'll remake the frame for the canopy, the plastic molding is in one piece, if a bit twisted at the moment.

Discovering how to get the steering column out. It looks like the whole steering box has to come out, which means disconnecting it from the linkages.
 

mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
It looks a lot like my L185 but bigger.

The steering column is bolted to the top of the transmission and also goes through the fuel tank for some support. You will need to take the dash and cowl off and probably the fuel tank also. The wiring harness should have connectors on the left side by the starter that help get the dash/cowl off in one piece. There are two bolts on each side about where the orange cowl stops. Probably if you look upwards from below you can see them.
Thanks, Russell. I've managed to get the cowling loose, have to disconnect the harness to get it out. It looks like I may not have to remove the tank, although I won't know for sure until I get the cowling off.

I'm just a bit sketcy at the moment on how clean I have to get the area around the steering box. Don't want an open hole with water and leaves and such falling in.
 

mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
Thanks, Russell. I've managed to get the cowling loose, have to disconnect the harness to get it out. It looks like I may not have to remove the tank, although I won't know for sure until I get the cowling off.

I'm just a bit sketcy at the moment on how clean I have to get the area around the steering box. Don't want an open hole with water and leaves and such falling in.
Heh. Nope, the tank does have to come out. Getting to the 14mm bolts that hold it to the chassis is challenging enough, but then the steering box won't come out unless you take the pitman arm off.
 

Russell King

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L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
Jun 17, 2012
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Austin, Texas
I have never taken the steering box out but yes it would have to be disconnected from the steering linkage. The arm can be removed or there is a ball joint at the end of the arm that can be disconnected.

If you remove the arm you may want to mark the position on the shaft and on the housing so you can replace it in the same position
 

mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
I have never taken the steering box out but yes it would have to be disconnected from the steering linkage. The arm can be removed or there is a ball joint at the end of the arm that can be disconnected.

If you remove the arm you may want to mark the position on the shaft and on the housing so you can replace it in the same position
The ball joint is easy enough to get off, but I couldn't get the pitman arm off for love or money.
 

mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
Well, steering box and column are out, straightened (mostly) and back in. Replaced the control block mount and changed the control block over for the FEL, and that's all working nicely. I now have seperate levers for the arm and bucket - should be much more intuitive to use, although I can't run both at the same time (which is probably why the original control block is a joystick type)

What ISN'T working (again) is the 3 point. I've tried everything I can think of, but it just won't raise. It was up when the tree hit it, and I didn't lower it until yesterday. Now it won't go back up. Actually, that's not quite true - it will go up a couple of cm (slowly), but that's it.

There is definitely oil going to the back end, but no pressure there. I think tomorrow I'll pull the pressure relief valve and make sure it's clean. If that's not it, I might try hooking it directly to the pump.
 

mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
OK, I need some advice from someone who understands tractor hydraulics I think. The FEL seems to work fine although it will only just lift the front wheels off the ground. The 3 point doesn't work at all since I installed the new control block. I used a male-male NIC connector to completely bypass the FEL, and the 3 point works perfectly. I suspect that I need to tweak the pressure relief valve on the control block, but I have absolutely no information on it.

Just a note on how the system is hooked up: The pump runs directly to the P port on the FEL control block. The T port and N port on the control block are connected to the 3 point. The T line appears to go to one of the bolt holes that hold the 3 point cover in place (just back to the tank I think), and the N line goes to the input of the 3 point. As I said above, if I bypass the FEL altogether and hook the line from the pump to the line going to the input of the 3 point, the 3 point works fine.

Edit:
I think I may have worked it out. I tried paralleling up pressure side of the FEL and 3point and blanking off the Neutral port. Nothing worked. The FEL and 3point were both non responsive.

The original control block is probably a closed centre valve with some sort of arrangement that diverts flow from the pump/pressure port to the neutral port when in the neutral position (makes sense that it's called the neutral port then, dunnit? Flow comes out of it when the control is in neutral). The new control block is open centre, which means that flow from the pressure port is dumped to the tank port in the neutral position, and the neutral port is basically just another tank port. I think the solution is to plumb the tank port (or the neutral port) on the control block to the input of the 3point, blank off the neutral port (or tank port) and get rid of the extra tank line.

I'll try it tomorrow.

Edit edit:
I couldn't wait until tomorrow, I went down tonight and tried it. Everything works, now to set up the FEL pressure relief valve.
 
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mrwolfe

New member

Equipment
L1802DT, slasher, carryall, hayes posthole digger, kanga blade
Sep 16, 2019
25
1
3
Lilydale, Vic, Australia
So, a bit of a rundown on how I got the steering shaft out to straighten it.

Edit:
Before you start undoing any bolts, hit them with some WD40. These are old tractors, and the bolts are likely to snap if you try to undo them dry. Experience talking here.

First thing to do is get a puller onto the steering wheel and take it off, followed by the cowling around the gear select levers. That didn't reveal much of the steering box, so I took the dash off and the orange panel underneath the steering column. To get the two panels out, I had to disconnect the compression lifter cable, the speedo cable, the fuel sender connectors, unplug the two connectors on the left side of the tank and disconnect a wire running from the glowplug indicator to the starter switch.

It became apparent that I would have to at the very least lift the fuel tank up to get access to the two bolts on the steering box closest to the firewall. There is only around an inch of clearance between the tank and the heads of the bolts, and the tank has to move to get them out. The other problem was that the tank was full of fuel, and therefore heavy. I would have to drain the tank.

The left and right side covers are in the way of both the 8 bolts holding the tank in, and the hose from the tank to the inlet of the fuel filter.

20220122_115347.jpg 20220122_120829.jpg

These are a beast to try to get off, but they have to be moved out of the way.

After much undoing, swearing and re-doing up bolts, I figured out the best way to move the side covers. There are 2 bolts on each side that hold the side covers to the firewall,

20220119_123337.jpg 20220119_123318.jpg
Just the top two on each side, though. The bottom bolt on each side holds the firewall to the chassis and doesn't need to be taken out.

... also four bolts that hold the side covers to the frame at the front of the tractor.
20220119_122807.jpg 20220119_122801.jpg

Take one bolt out of each side and loosen the other one. I'd leave the forward bolt in. You will also have to take the throttle lever off to get the right side cover to move far enough to get access to the right side tank bolts and the fuel hose.

20220122_115357.jpg

Once the 6 bolts are out and the throttle lever is off, you should be able to move the side covers far enough to the sides to get access to the tank bolts, and lift the right side cover up to get access to the fuel hose.

Once the fuel is drained and the tank is out, the steering box can be removed. Undo the 4 bolts holding it to the transmission case and disconnect the ball joint on the end of the pitman arm. You may be able to take the pitman arm off with a puller, but I couldn't get it to budge. The steering box and column can be removed by lifting it up and twisting the whole thing forwards so that he pitman arm comes out through the left side tank mount.

Installation is the reverse procedure.
 
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