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Ken: One weakness in all those offset tractors was the ability of those steering boxes to hold oil. Many of them started leaking before they were 5 years old, and after a fix they will only hold a short while. The front end of the tractor then becomes a mess of oil. The best solution was to put grease zerk in the hole on the back of box. Initially you must pump enough grease in there to completely fill the box. Start with drain and fill plugs both out, as the grease comes out put the plugs back in. After that every time you grease because box is full, new grease must go to the gears. I have had my Super A and 130 that way for years. They stay nice and clean now, and are lubricated much better. If they are full of grease water can't get in the box. They do not steer hard in winter. With oil and water mix in the past I have seen them freeze solid. I think if you remove those plugs and start pumping grease in you will force water out. I have always started from a clean and empty gear box, so I wouldn't frown on taking it apart. I had my tractors apart fixing free play in steering, that being the real reason for having them apart. IH may have also found a cure for this problem as I notice my 140 now close to 40 years old does not leak, however I question if it has ever seen 500 hours of work. Maybe some other 140 owners could enlighten us on that one.
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