B275 Steering Q's

There is a broken off 'spinner' on the steering wheel--unless someone put it on there as a joke I would imagine that once upon a time you could actually use it. I can pull full strength with both hands WHILE MOVING and just barely turn the steering.

The weird thing was that when the diesel quit the other day (due to blocked fuel line as it turned out) we towed it back to the shop with the Jubilee (The Farmall A kept getting stuck, long story). What was strange was that while it was being pulled (and NOT pulled with the chain pointing upwards to remove weight--straight forward with maybe a downward slope) was that the tractor actually felt substantially EASIER to steer! The chain was hooked in a "U" grabbing on both sides of the front axle, with another chain going from the center to the Jubilee.

Further investigation of the steering has yielded the following:

The front axle clamp bolts (for width adjustment) are not tight and have not been in decades. There is a pin thru a hole that has kept it all in line but without the clamps tight the hole is now oblonged in the tube and the whole axle can rotate on its center front and rear quite a ways--could this have a detrimental affect on the steering?

Tie rod joints etc. all seem reasonably tight and in good shape overall. I am having difficulty getting grease into the spindle legs, the fittings almost seem to be tapped above solid steel, with no place for the grease to travel.

I thought the steering box was wiped out, but it appears the whole box and column is physically loose. I can grab the column or the pitman arm and move the whole works about 1/4" back and forth. I can't do much about this as it seems I need to remove the whole loader frame to remove the tank to access it--this will be happening in coming months though...

With ALL weight removed (jacked up off other areas) the steering operates smoothly.

I have driven other loader tractors without power steering and while they are heavy, this one takes the cake.

Speaking of powersteering, I would like to add it to mine if I can locate the parts... so if any of you who are searching wreckers please keep an eye out for me I'd appreciate it, there are no wreckers around here. I believe the B250, B275, and B414 are all the same.

In the meantime, what should I do with this mess? Advice?

I was considering fabricating something... I hadn't looked at big trucks yet but did find that 1958-64 Chevys, 63-82 Corvette, 60's Mustangs/Cougars/Falcons etc all used the same design. Unfortunately, all are prized pieces themselves and (so far anyways) I have not been able to locate a complete set for a reasonable price. I'll keep looking, as well as looking into the Mahindra parts.

Those models you mention, are they all square axles? I was under the impression that the cylinder connected on the linkage on the left hand side--is it actually on the front? Is that why I would need to swap axles?

Those models you mention, are they all square axles? I was under the impression that the cylinder connected on the linkage on the left hand side--is it actually on the front? Is that why I would need to swap axles?

I have not actually measured the alignment yet (and with all the rain and sitting in the field I don't want to bring it up the fresh gravel! My old man would kill me!) nor have I confirmed tire sizes--I did notice that one was a Goodyear and the other was another brand, but both were fairly new looking. For the loader work I should probably inflate the fronts harder anyways.

To me, it seems between the loose axle and loose steering box that there is a lot of free travel in the steering which may be putting the balljoints under extreme travel and stresses under the right circumstances... and this may be indeed where the binding is coming from.

I pulled all the front zerks out that weren't taking grease and cleaned them out. They are all ok now, but the spindles themselves seemed weird. While the zerks were out I used a scratch awl to poke around in the hole where they had been--there did not appear to be any sort of hole of groove for the grease to travel in. The grease fitting basically opens into a blank piece of steel. Could the spindles be mixed left to right or something? There should be a groove but even moving the steering from lock to lock I cannot locate one thru the holes.

I ended up ordering a manual thru this website--they list a 300+ page book in 12 sections--sounds an awful lot like the binder I was bidding on on ebay. Maybe its a reproduction of it? Their descriptions are quite vague. Including shipping it was still cheaper than what I bid on ebay (it came to $59 here). I have my fingers crossed that it is a useful book.

Good news, though. I have seen a red tractor hood-high in the weeds about 3 blocks from my house for many many years without moving. Recently, it was dragged by another tractor (on flat tires) closer to the road so they could put in a new vineyard. Sure enough, now that I can get a little closer to it (and see the side profile instead of the rear) it is indeed a B275 diesel. I am in the process of trying to find out who actually owns the farm. I'm still about 35 feet away but can still read the faded decals... it appears to have been joined by a Ford 600--probably the tractor that pulled it there. Wish me luck.

The 275 steering box is rather primitve, inside is a "finger" that follows the worm drive on the column, and this in turn moves the arm that comes out of the box.
Once the finger and/or worm is worn, thats it, there is no adjustment of clearance or anything.

Now, we also have a 276 (and a 414 to be rebuilt too but thats another story) in bits that we bought for spares.

The 276 steering box is far far superior. The ratio is different, so the steering is much lighter, and on the outside of the box is a screw that is used to take up and slack caused by wear in the worm or finger.
Now, the steering column comes out from the box at a different angle, so the 275 bodywork will not fit. In order to fit this column we had to change the diesel tank, the battery tray, and all the bodywork. We also modified the dashboard to fit the oil pressire guage and ammeter from the 275 in place of the warning lights that didn"t work anyway.
If you want your tractor to be original, or show condition obviously this is not an option, but for us, this is going to be a working tractor, for muking out etc, so functionality is more important.
Incidentally its not moving anywhere at the moment having had 2 injection pumps "die" in as many days...bizarre

Anyway, hopefully this may be of some use to you?

Chris