SK486 Stiff Steering

[Al C. 1,428]

I’ve owned a SK486 for the past seven years.  Some of you may be familiar with it.  I purchased it from Brent Robbie “Bowtie” just before he passed away.  It has 1,300 hours on it and is in nearly new condition - never been restored.  Brent took the best care of it.  Here’s the problem.  The steering is so stiff that the wheel can barely be turned if the tractor is not moving.  Even moving, the steering is very stiff.  It has always been this way.   I’ve greased everything, replaced the fan gear joint, put thrust washers on the spindles, nothing seems to improve the problem.  I’m running Carlisle turf tires.  Is there anything more I can do, short of changing the tires, to make steering easier?

[Tonytoro416 1,034]

This problem was the reason I ventured away from the JD garden tractors prior to the 318.  I still have a JD 210 that I mowed grass with and it killed your arms.  I did the same as you going through and putting new parts where I thought would help.  It still steers hard to this day. Be interested to hear some of these guys suggestions 

[953 nut 55,215]

Is the steering stiff with the front end jacked up? Is the fan-gear shimmed back against the shaft gear?

 

 

[ri702bill 8,318]

I added a bronze sleeve bearing to the top of the lower steering block; also added a second grease fitting to the lower portion. I undercut the lower steering shaft to accept a sleeve bearing - also I cut 6 small reliefs in the steering wheel shaft to hold grease - all this made a HUGE improvement to reduce steering effort.

Do you raise the front of the tractor off the ground and let the wheels hang when you grease the spindles?? It is the only way the grease will get to the upper and lower sections....

 

[Racinbob 11,075]

When I got my 76 back it steered harder than I remembered. I also noticed that when I would drive on pavement it puller to the right because the right front was had toe out. The tie rod had been replaced and it was never adjusted properly. I realigned it and not only did it stop pulling it steered easier. Still not as easy as my others but easier. I'm thinking I need to tweak it more. Somewhere I read that it should have a slight toe in for the best steering. Just a thought. BTW, I have the same tires on it. 

[Al C. 1,428]

Yes.  When I lift the front end of the SK486 off the ground, it steers effortlessly.  Implication?  I will try lifting it off the ground when I grease the front end.  I’ve never done this.  

Edited January 27, 2023 by Al C.

[squonk 41,097]

19 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

When I got my 76 back it steered harder than I remembered. I also noticed that when I would drive on pavement it puller to the right because the right front was had toe out. The tie rod had been replaced and it was never adjusted properly. I realigned it and not only did it stop pulling it steered easier. Still not as easy as my others but easier. I'm thinking I need to tweak it more. Somewhere I read that it should have a slight toe in for the best steering. Just a thought. BTW, I have the same tires on it. 

When there is toe out. The wheels will be fighting each other trying to go 2 directions at once. The tractor moving forward will make it worse as any play in the linkage will increase toe out. With toe in the forward movement and linkage play will force the wheels out and with the correct adjustment they end up going the same direction.

[ri702bill 8,318]

36 minutes ago, squonk said:

When there is toe out. The wheels will be fighting each other trying to go 2 directions at once. The tractor moving forward will make it worse as any play in the linkage will increase toe out. With toe in the forward movement and linkage play will force the wheels out and with the correct adjustment they end up going the same direction.

Exactly what Mike said. Front end and alignments were my specialty when I worked in the trade years ago... Wheel Horse tractors have the tierods behind the front axle - that is known as "rear steering" - that is why you set it to have a slight amount of toe-in when stationary - the forward motion of the tractor pulls the wheels outward, compressing the steering linkage joints.(The exact opposite is true of newer front drive cars with the rack & pinion in front of the wheels...)

[oliver2-44 9,743]

As a last resort you could install thrust bearings on the front spindles like the WH 520 uses.  This would require the bottom of the front axle spindle area to be machined off a little to make room for the bearings.  

https://wheelhorsepartsandmore.com/product/thrust-bearing-kit-wheel-horse-520/

[lynnmor 7,305]

Did you try putting more wind in the tires?

[pacer 3,169]

IIRC every tractor I've ever bought had horrible 'toe out', which, as described above will cause really stiff steering. And, most of the horses have the solid tie rods, which, of course cant be adjusted. One of the first things I do is to get heim joints and make up adjustable rods to get the toe set with slight 'toe in' Will make a huge difference!!

[Lee1977 6,658]

2 ply tires always steer hard unless they are pumped up tight.  The fan gear needs to have a little play, by that I mean there will be some loose motion in the steering wheel. Have you replaced the wheel bearings?

My C-120 the steering improved greatly when I installed 6 ply tires on the front. As said above heims joints on the tie rod also help, and a good quality set will last. I have had a set on my C-120 for 34 years and they are still tight.

The original tie rods were falling apart at 12 years. Did I mention I hate 2 ply tires. If you have 2 ply tires pump them up until they round up in the center, they look like hell, but they will steer better.

[Bill D 1,920]

Install adjustable tie rods.  Set toe slightly in.  Should solve your problem.  

[wallfish 16,995]

If you have any paint in any of the holes it will stick.

Spindles too