a_sannine Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) Happy New year simplicity family. I grabbed this beast from original owner . PO stopped using it as steering wheel locked shut on him , the way he told me it happened is he mowed with ( worked perfectly) parked it in barn . After few days he go to move it found out steering locked shut won’t move a hair . when I loaded it on trailer it was a nightmare as it won’t steer . tractor moves and runs perfectly. Deck goes up and down great . I see little leak on power steering cylinder. Any one had such a problem with his machine ? Thanks Edited December 31, 2020 by a_sannine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abu507 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 It is in the column not the cylinder. Has to be running and valve working to send to cylinder. Where I would start no expert hope helps 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhanDad Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I agree with @abu507 that the problem is the steering cylinder or maybe a line connected to it. This should be what your looking at or similar: From your comment: 2 hours ago, a_sannine said: steering locked shut won’t move a hair . It sounds mechanical. Maybe the bearing (#14) or one or more of the springs/spacers (#15)? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, abu507 said: Thanks. Bill for the parts list , it’s over a friends house who’s gonna drop at my house later this afternoon, can’t wait to start my diagnosis to see what I will find . I am gonna start by disconnecting the cylinder from steering bracket to see if any thing jammed in there and if cylinder moves in and out before I dig deeper into issue. Edited December 31, 2020 by a_sannine 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwiseman Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Actually, I know where an early Legacy is that owner says will not steer. I just passed on it as I don’t need anyway but i will be interested in your finding and fix. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talntedmrgreen Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I believe this is mechanical. I just fixed this problem on another machine I had here. The issue is in the tilt mechanism. There are two small bolts that loosen overtime and allow the mechanism to wear. Once there’s enough slop, the mechanism collapses and binds. It’s actually an extremely easily accessible part, but the price of the assembly will set you back in your seat. In researching an alternative, I found out this column is commonly used in marine applications and is available used, on eBay for much much less. You should have several options to choose from. The steering wheel shaft will be different, so you can either take the Warren parts from the Marine unit and implant them into the Tractor unit, or take the shaft out of the Tractor unit and put it in the Marine unit. This process will cost you $100 for the donor assembly versus roughly double that from Simplicity… That’s assuming it’s not on back order. I can’t tell you the new replacement unit from Simplicity is a better design. It is possible that the orbital valve failed, but that is much more common on the valve used in the Legacy XL tractors rather than the early legacy machines. And easy way to tell is by determining if you have implement lift ability. If yes, then your valve is most likely not the problem. If no, then you’re definitely going to want to find a good used one vs new if price is a consideration. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARK (LI) Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I priced the tilt steering for my Legacy which looks like the same...the price I got was over 600 dollars....it was one of the reasons I got rid of that tractor....really poor design...just not what I expected from a Simplicity.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill725 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 If it happens to be the power steering unit, you could call Quailty Hydro in North Praire, WI at 262-392-9852. I think they can rebuild it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Talntedmrgreen said: I believe this is mechanical. I just fixed this problem on another machine I had here. The issue is in the tilt mechanism. There are two small bolts that loosen overtime and allow the mechanism to wear. Once there’s enough slop, the mechanism collapses I think you put your hand right on the wound . Got the tractor like 2 hours ago ‘ first thing I did is disconnected the front steering from piston , everything moves as it should. with piston free I fired the tractor up trying to steer it is binding and moved left like 1/8 “ , so I started rocking it gently back and forth while my eye on piston , I can see piston trying to move mainly steering left , I was like something binding bad in the steering wheel. I peeled the skin and here it is a pin/ bolt walking out of the u joint and as u can see it is jammed to case , got dark on me New year eve , I called it a day , I hope that’s the problem and it’s not caused by PO trying to force steering wheel . I don’t think any thing broken in the steering mechanism. another small issue I found the hose connecting to piston has a rub mark and it is seeping little oil . tomorrow another day Edited December 31, 2020 by a_sannine 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Great info here https://www.mytractorforum.com/threads/free-simplicity-legacy.544169/ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhanDad Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Looks like it should be an easy fix - fingers crossed for you. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARK (LI) Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I also had come across this while I was trying to straighten it out 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 5 minutes ago, MARK (LI) said: I also had come across this while I was trying to straighten it out Thanks Mark I came across this info as well when I was searching . great info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARK (LI) Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I am surprised ...I don't remember you ever having a problem that you were not familiar with....about 4 or 5 months ago a new member on here had a problem with his steering and did a lengthy, informative thread on what he had to do to straighten it out....the way the Legacy is designed, it is a natural motion to grab the wheel to pull yourself into the operator station, and it puts a lot of stress on the steering components 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
720nut Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I had similar issues with the first Legacy I had and realized that the old deal with pulling yourself on with the steering wheel had to change as I had broken the tilt mechanism and was lucky enough to be able to fix it. My current Legacy works good but know someday I'll have to rebuild it also. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 I agree grabbing the steering wheel to pull your self in seat is the cause of this issue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Happy ending . All it was this bolt unscrewed it self out and got jammed. no wear what so ever on mechanism. Bolted it back with some locktite , power steering works like a charm . what a beautiful machine . time for a full tuneup washing and it’s ready to rock . Thanks to everyone . Happy new year . Edited January 1, 2021 by a_sannine 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talntedmrgreen Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Grabbing the wheel is definitely a bad habit and causes the tilt adjustment to break, but it is not the cause of the knuckle failure. The best I can tell on the ones I have seen fail, is that the two bolts holding the knuckle halves together tend to loosen up and back out. It seems like this time it was fortunate that this was caught early and can be easily fixed. The last one I had, the owner continued to use it for what looks like a very long time and because of the soft metal components, It self-destructed. The metal dust and shavings on top of the column mounting plate were almost 1/ quarter inch deep. I kept the mechanism as I plan to rebuild it when I find cheap used parts from a marine application. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 I was looking on eBay they are cheap like $30 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmilinSam Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Heres a picture of one previous owners solution to a busted tilt steering mechanism... Faceplate bearing with spacers all secured to the dash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) You got to do what you got to do to make it work . I was lucky Edited January 1, 2021 by a_sannine 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_sannine Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 A full tuneup to include carb rebuilt with original Kohler kit . this beast is ready for some serious mowing . 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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