L245 hard steering

[Mudball]

I just bought a L245. The guy that sold it to me did tell me the steering was hard but he thought it might be because its been sitting and he thought it might clear up some after some use.
I bought it at a very fair price so I wouldnt mind replacing the steering gear box if I need to.
I have a steering knob on the steering wheel and its takes a lot of effort to steer this tractor.
I understand its manual steering and not power but my question is that, if the steering box was in perfect shape then I should be able to steer with one hand right ?
Thanks

 

[coachgeo]

Is this a 4wd (L245dt) or 2wd?

http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/001/2/8/1282-kubota-l245.html

 

[Mudball]

Two wheel drive

 

[coachgeo]

Yeah should not be that tight. Do you have a FEL you can lift the front off the ground with to check how easy or not the wheels turn by hand and by steering wheel? Do the front wheels have enough air in them?

 

[Mudball]

Thanks coachgeo.
Air is fine. No FEL.
No safe way to lift right now.
I tried to knock the tie rod out from the pitman arm to see how much easier the gear box turns by itself but cant get it loose without getting tool and replacement to start with would be great.
Also another test result I have so maybe someone can relate to this, is that when the tractor is sitting still and I grab the steering knob then I have to use both hands on the spinner to get the wheels to turn.

 

[Bluegill]

I had a L245 for years, was hard to turn the wheels when sitting still, but easy if rolling. Is this how yours is? You really should get a jack under it and lift the front end up.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I had to deal with an old satoh. Steering box had bad bearings due to water getting in. King pins or steering knuckles never saw grease. Knocked everything apart, cleaned and lubed everything and new bearings in steering box. Was a great improvement. My L1501 steers beautiful, better with some load on three point.

 

[Russell King]

I have a @WD L185 and it is very easy to steer. I think you will end up needing to rebuild the steering box, but I agree that you should get the front end up to see if it moves easily.

 

[Mudball]

Thanks for all the help.
Its been suggested that I lift the front up and try the steering so I will try that today.
Will update later.
Bluegill I would say its almost as hard to steer while moving as it is sitting still.

 

[Bluegill]

Thanks for all the help.
Its been suggested that I lift the front up and try the steering so I will try that today.
Will update later.
Bluegill I would say its almost as hard to steer while moving as it is sitting still.

Well, I'd guess you have a gearbox problem then.

 

[Mudball]

Thanks.
You are probably right. Now I wont be happy until I lift it and try for sure for myself.

 

[Mudball]

I lifted front and steering is the same with front wheels off the ground as it is when they are on the ground and moving...still hard to turn. I would think that it would be much easier with the wheels off the ground than what Im feeling hear.
Thanks again for all the help.
I think Im going to go ahead and get another gear box and replace the tie rod ends.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Pull the pitman arm off of the gear box or at least the drag link that goes from the pitman arm to the frontend.
You could have bad spindle bearings, it's sort of an oddity to even think about the spindles as most of us have 4wd's and the fronts on those do not have the same bearing setup, and are not prone to binding there.

 

[Mudball]

Thanks North Idaho Wolfman.
Curiosity was killing me so I was able to get a tie rod end loose.
Both wheels turn with great ease and are very smooth and free.
They are also very tight as far as bearing wear/free-play/looseness.
The steering box is the same.
I was going to order all tie rod ends to keep from any undo stress on the new steering box but now Im thinking that I wont need them.
Steering box problem for sure at this point.
Thanks again.

 

[PMK]

any updates on this? yeah, I know this is a 9 year old thread, but one of the few I've found with similar issue that I ran into yesterday. I have an L245DT that we have owned since back in the mid 1980s. It's been sitting for a couple of years as I use my L5450 for pretty much everything. Yesterday I needed the smaller one and fired up the L245DT and found the steering is completely stuck. I plan on pulling the plug to the steering box and adding oil and also the plugs to the front axles to add fluid. I seem to recall that one of the front spindles was weeping fluid due to a ball seal, and thinking that over time, that area might be the issue and stuck. Not something I had in my time schedule, especially with these 100° days upon us.