Frozen Steering Wheel

Can you get it into your shop and let it warm up there?

With the tractor not running does the steering wheel turn? Undo the the lines at the cylinder and turn the steering wheel.If it turns, the pump up front on the engine is out or there could be blockage in one of the cylinder ports.If it does not turn it is in the steering unit under the tank.It could be off another brand of tractor so it might help if you identify the make of the pump and the steering unit.

I have seen people put things in the lines to restrict flow and thus rate of turn and movement of the cylinder.

It makes a mess, but you can either disconnect lines and see if there is fluid flow when it is running after you check for blockages as mentioned above.Put the disconnected lines in a container when you do this and have rags ready!!!! A tee with a high pressure gauge is best for less mess.

Good luck and email me if you reach a roadblock.

Today was a bit warmer, so I decided to see if the steering worked. I started the engine and let it warm up, then got on the tractor and turned the wheel. Well, rather than being frozen, this time the wheel turned freely without turning the wheels at all, just as though it was completely disconnected! This had happened once before, so I decided to play with the wheel for awhile, turning it slowly one direction, then the other. It doesn't seem to have a detent position, by the way, meaning I can start this process with the steering wheel in any position. After a while the front wheels began to respond, and in a few more minutes things were back to normal. Then I drove it around the property for about half an hour. None of this had ever occurred in the months of warm(er) weather we had up until the first of December. All of it seems cold-weather related. Maybe it's two separate problems, both triggered by the sub-freezing temps. I can see that maybe the frozen wheel is what Steven said it is, a frozen steering box, while the apparent lack of flow is cold fluid or something, maybe a fluid too heavy for this climate, as Majorman suggests, though the tractor has a local pedigree. The system is tight, and has no leaks at all. The power steering hydraulics are the one fluid system on this machine that doesn't drip!

Should I just live with this and figure that on the coldest days of winter my SM stays under wraps?

Steven, your question intrigues me. I didn't think about the steering "box" due to the fact that it's power steering, but there seems to be a mechanism of some sort that receives the steering column prior to its terminating in the valve. I can easily imagine that this "box" is the culprit. What sort of job is it to pull that apart and clean it out?

Thanks to both of you gentlemen for your input.

Steven B