I've been watching the threads concerning the weaknesses in the steering of these tractors. I certainly can sympathize, having spent one hellacious gob of money buying a nearly new power steering assembly for my 350. I sold the old unit to a friend that wanted to rebuild it for his 300 utility. He was able to replace most of the worn parts with ones from his old manual box and about $250 worth of seals and gaskets. The interesting thing is - his old manual box was tight and just like new inside, even though it was older and the tractor beat up as bad as mine was. THe first big difference was in the previous owners maintenance. (He bought it from my uncle, so I've know and driven that tractor for a lot of years) My uncle changed all the fluids once a year, including the gear oil in the steering box. The previous owner of my 350 only changed the engine oil once in a blue moon if he remembered. (The other fluids ran out almost as fast as they were poured in, so he assumed that topping them off was as good as a change.) I think the REAL culprit in the steering problems is loader use. Mine had a worn out and beat to crap loader on it, his 300 didn't. I think loader use rips these up more than normal. I've removed my loader and won't put it back on. I'm also keeping close track of the gear oil and other maintenance items, and we'll have to see how long it lasts. I do wonder if a set of steering stabilizer shocks from a pickup would help smooth the sharp snaps that put a lot of stress on the steering boxes.
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