QuestionGreetings from TN John! I have an ongoing, frustrating problem and wondered if you had encountered it before. I have a John Deere 145 with 91 hours on it (purchased in 2006). At least twice each year I have to replace the steering pinion gear and steering sector. Apparently the pinion gear is made of metal so soft it wears down the gear until I can no longer steer. A local JD guy finally admitted they order these by the dozens. Granted I do have 10 trees to steer around on my 1 acre but this is ridiculous! Have you ever seen this problem or have any suggestions? I thought about trying to get a metal shop to make a gear out of tougher materials. I do keep lithium grease on the steering gears to make them last longer. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Answer Hate to say, we even have a Lowes nearby, but I have never worked
on one of those tractors, so I may not be the best one for your question.
I did look at the blowup of the steering, and it looks like trouble. In general, when gears get chewed up, it is due to worn out bushings/bearings, are you replacing these as well?
Are these bushings plastic? When the front is jacked up, do the
wheels turn easily, bushings on the axle OK? Wheel bearings?
I poked around on the web and did not see a lot of chatter about
this problem being common.
Look at the whole front end, there may be factors adding to your
problem.
For a blowup, go to JDParts online.
