We have owned a
M59 for about two years now and for the most part light duty work out on the family ranch. Last time when going to park the tractor i noticed that i was having to turn the wheel many times to get it to turn. by the time i got it back to cover i had almost no steering at all had to turn using the dual brakes. With the tractor off the wheel will just free spin not turning front wheels when running same thing even with it reving to 2500-2600 rpm. the only way i can get any movement is by lifting the front wheels off the ground with front bucket. All other hydraulics seem to be working fine. (backhoe, front bucket and front remote hookup we use for a grapple) I order the Service manual but it dose not have much information in the steering section. (section 7) Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Wes
I guess we really ought to check the simple things first.
1. make sure that your hydraulic oil is up to the proper level or at least close. It's checked via a dipstick back under the rear cover by the PTO. Mine is always hard to see the where the oil level is on that dipstick - it's clear oil on a shiny dipstick. So I blued the bottom third of the dipstick over the kitchen oven burner. That makes the oil stand out a little better.
Low hydraulic oil can certainly cause all of those symptoms even if the rest of the hydraulics work normally.
For instance, since the
M59 steering circuit and steering pump are separate from the tractor's other hydraulics, the steering pump oil pick up point might be at a different level in the common shared oil reservoir.
2. Most of the steering components hook together with splined shafts so they can't really slip. Looking at the exploded diagrams in the parts book, it looks as though it would be possible for the steering wheel and steering shaft to lift out of the universal joint that connects that shaft to the steering control box. See pages G101 - G105 in the parts book. Pg # 120 & 122.
I think if that joint had slipped out you would notice that the steering wheel was able to be lifted up & felt wobbly.
It would be nice if the problem was something so simple. But I believe you also said that the steering would work when you lifted up the front end with the bucket? If so, you might want to repeat that and get some more information. Because if indeed the hydrostatic steering is simply too weak to move the wheels - and if the oil is up and the filters good - then it will be time to insert the pressure gauge into the line to the front steering cylinder so that you can do some more diagnosis.
If worst comes to worst and you do have to take it to the shop, you might want to check that the shop has a hydraulic flowmeter. I used to have a shop and not all shops have that tool - in fact a surprising amount of shops don't. But it is the one sure way of telling if you are dealing with a repair shop that understands hydraulics or not. If they don't have a flowmeter, consider going to a different shop. A tractor shop trying to do hydraulic work without a flowmeter is sort of like an electrical shop without a VOM.... or a machine shop without a mic. Go somewhere else.
rScotty
