B7200 - power steering?

[thill]

Greetings, All.
My name is Tony, and I'm completely new to tractors.

Living in a rural area, I decided I needed a tractor to help around the property. I went to an auction and purchased a Kubota B7200 tractor with a front end loader, PTO finish mower, hydrostatic trans, 4WD, and big turf tires on the back.

I've had the mower for about 3 months, and it's been great, with no issues. Today it was very cold (18 degrees + wind) but I needed to move some stuff, so I started her up and got to work. First thing I noticed was that steering was unusually stiff, but I just put a little more grunt into it, and all seemed fine. But somewhere along the line I noticed that there was oil or hydraulic fluid coming from around the base of the steering wheel shaft.

This raises some questions:
1. Does this tractor have hydraulic steering?
2. Steering has always felt like manual. IF hydro steering - is it broken?
3. Is a little leaking normal when it's crazy-cold outside? Or is a seal

And one last thing.... This machine turns much farther to the right than to the left. Is this normal? If not, how is this adjusted?

Thanks for the help and for this forum.

 

[Dave_eng]

Tony
Welcome

First go to this site and download free Operators and Workshop manuals for your tractor.

http://kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/in...s/&AutoIndex=bd54cbbf700b5a914be70516829d2738

I do not think your tractor has power steering but anything is possible when a loader is installed.

You need to be giving your tractors hydraulics time to warm up before using the machine. I have attached a chart for more modern machines but it will give you an idea for yours,

Each front wheel will have a steering stop which is adjustable. You need to see if the steering is hitting the stops on each side or if not perhaps the issue revolves around bent linkage or steering box issues.

Dave

 

[GreensvilleJay]

oil should NEVER come out of a tractor ! It sounds like a shaft seal has been damaged(old,brittle,cold, not a good combination)
ALL hydro units NEED to be properly warmed up as the oil needs to warm up, thin out and flow easily, same as a car with autotranny, you can't start it up at 10*F and go...you NEED to wait a few minutes.

keep a close eye on the leak, put paper underneath to see if it gets worse. Plan on repairing it though....read the manual,check out parts and proceedures. You may need to order more than the one seal.

 

[thill]

Dave and Jay,
Thank you so much for the link to the manual, the warm up guide, the experiences and common sense advice!

I look at my post and realize that it looks like I just jumped on and started riding, but I had started it at a pretty fast idle, and let it run for 10-15 minutes before I even got on it.

I did this because it was SO cold, and I had to move some stuff to "clear a path" for the tractor, but now I know that I need to do this EVERY time during the winter. I would NOT have known that, so thank you both for that good advice, and even a minimum time table.

I have not climbed under the tractor to look yet, but it almost feels like the center point of the steering rack has been moved to the right somehow. Right turning seems almost extreme, where left turns are very shallow.

I'll download the manual, look up the steering section, and see what I can find. It's supposed to get up to 44 or so today, which is much better than yesterday, where everything was crispy-cold all day. But on the bright side, at least there wasn't any mud!

Then I can look at the steering shaft issue. The leak was only maybe a teaspoon, and it seemed to go away later in the day, but that tells me that the seals are getting old and dried out.

The out of center steering, plus the fact that the steering feels manual, yet there is fluid coming out by the wheel, makes me think there are big steering issues at hand. This is probably going to hurt! ($$$)

 

[Dave_eng]

Thill
Check your private messages

Dave

 

[freewheel3]

Tony, raise the front end off the ground with the wheels pointing straight ahead. Turn each direction to full stop, counting the revolutions of the steering wheel each way. Also note if the angle of the wheels is consistent when you hit the stops. If the number is different from one direction to the other, this will tell you if the sector gear has jumped in the steering box.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Your going to have to post some pictures of your setup.

The B7200HST D did not come with any option for power steering, so if it has power steering it's aftermarket and most likely DIY, pictures will tell us a lot.

There are three types of power steering:
One is Mechanical steering with power
Second is power assist to a mechanical steering box.
Third is Hydrostatic steering, which uses a different steering controller and run a hydraulic cylinder the controls the cylinder.

With what your explaining you might have Hydrostatic, with a cylinder, if the wrong cylinder was used then then it would steer faster / or more of a direction one way or the other.

 

[Donystoy]

When I purchased my B7200HST-D in 1985 the dealer offered me the option of dealer installed OEM Kubota power steering. At the time I did not go for it but did purchase it a couple of years later as a kit from the dealer and installed it myself while I was building a subframe for my backhoe. The kit came with the valve and cylinder assembly, hoses, new knuckle arm for the left side and an additional hydraulic block for where the pressure hose is connected to. All genuine Kubota parts. This kit was just shy of $1000. Not sure why it would not be offered in the US. Next time I am at the dealer I will ask if any repair parts are available for it just in case I need some in the future.
I have pictures of it on the tractor but get upload errors when trying to post them. No problem downloading pictures from my canon camera but not from my smartphone even though both are jpg. Will take pictures next week with my canon and try again.

 

[Firefox]

Just sold(last year) my 7200hst-d with pwr steering that was dealer install when it was new (85-86).Worked great for the 11 yrs I owned it . Had a cylinder on the side to the steering knuckle. Pulled the fuel tank once(wiring issues behind the dash),and was surprised at all hyd lines in there,along with 1/2 shovel of dirt. Lift capacity was about 450 # with forks sticking out of bucket with easy steering and no counter weight on the back.h

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

What your both are talking about I do believe is not truly power steering and just power assist, but I could be wrong.

 

[Donystoy]

Sounds like what Firefox had was different than what is on my tractor as mine uses the original manual steering box and has no hoses behind the dash. Mine is similar to what the early Ford Mustangs etc. had except that the cylinder and valve assembly is all one unit minimizing the need for extra hoses. Also a very easy installation. I like the system as it gives me literally one finger steering and greatly lessens the strain on the steering box.
Will take more pictures with my regular camera next weekend when I am at the tractors location and once again try to post them as stated earlier.

 

[Donystoy]

Pictures I found that I was able to attach. Same valve/actuator assembly as I have. My return hose goes under the left floor board and attaches under the seat while the pressure line snakes under the tractor to the other side and connects to the new hydraulic block. This block went under the existing hydraulic block and both were attached to the tractor with the supplied longer bolts. Still trying to find the instructions that came with the kit.
A shame that this kit is not still available as most folks that I know with these tractors would like to have power steering especially with loader work and turf tires. When I installed it on my tractor it was after digging out a basement where I had to do considerable maneuvering in a small area and my shoulders were 30 years younger than they are now.

 

[ASTER]

Pictures I found that I was able to attach. Same valve/actuator assembly as I have. My return hose goes under the left floor board and attaches under the seat while the pressure line snakes under the tractor to the other side and connects to the new hydraulic block. This block went under the existing hydraulic block and both were attached to the tractor with the supplied longer bolts. Still trying to find the instructions that came with the kit.
A shame that this kit is not still available as most folks that I know with these tractors would like to have power steering especially with loader work and turf tires. When I installed it on my tractor it was after digging out a basement where I had to do considerable maneuvering in a small area and my shoulders were 30 years younger than they are now.

wonder what you call that, hydraulic cylinder power asst? i know that one that hoye tractor ps kit, used a boat kit an the rebranded it there kit....