- Joined
- Jul 5, 2003
- Messages
- 4,019
- Location
- Laag Zuthem
- First name
- Renze
Machinery:
1976 5718
1978 5718 35kmh: Work in progress
1967 3011
Last year i converted my mates Ursus C-385A (same as Zetor 8045) to orbitrol steering with a kit from Hydrauliktop Slovakia
The steering box going sour is a known issue with the Crystal. This tractor was bought brand new in 1982 and has served the farm up till 1993 as prime tractor, and then another 10 years as a second tractor. The last 20 years it has seen little use, mostly on water pump duty because it was a bitch to steer.
The original steering housing has to be removed, for which the hood and radiator have to be removed too. Then a bracket bolts into the place of the steering housing which holds the orbitrol. I replaced all U joints in the steering column at the same time, because they had suffered from being operated without power steering, even though the tractor saw limited use because of that
Once the orbitrol is in place, its time to weld the bracket to the axle, because the older axles dont have a machined protrusion to which the bracket bolts: In order to do this the best i could, i cut the bracket smaller so it wouldnt protrude so far over the axle edge, and chamfered the corners to get a gradual transition, to avoid stress concentrations on the corners.
I sawed a wedge to fill behind the bracket to work as neat as possible, and not just shit the holes full with weld: I want a professional job.
I drained the axle oil, ground the paint away and preheated the cast axle with a blow torch. Then i welded several thin beads around, to reduce the instant heat input. Then ground all welds smooth, both to make it look factory, as well as to avoid fatigue cracking on the weld root.
I see many Eastern European guys just weld that bracket like its a fence in a pig sty, but thats not how i work.
Then it was time to connect the hoses: The pressure line on the original system ran through the oil reservoir because theres the pressure relief, set at 120 bar. This one is to be bypassed because the orbitrol has a built in pressure relief set at 140 bar, which obviously has a spring that isnt fatigued so it really delivers 140 bar.
In the end, the tractor has been on frontline duty again this spring, running the feed mixer for 3 months continuously.
The steering box going sour is a known issue with the Crystal. This tractor was bought brand new in 1982 and has served the farm up till 1993 as prime tractor, and then another 10 years as a second tractor. The last 20 years it has seen little use, mostly on water pump duty because it was a bitch to steer.
The original steering housing has to be removed, for which the hood and radiator have to be removed too. Then a bracket bolts into the place of the steering housing which holds the orbitrol. I replaced all U joints in the steering column at the same time, because they had suffered from being operated without power steering, even though the tractor saw limited use because of that
Once the orbitrol is in place, its time to weld the bracket to the axle, because the older axles dont have a machined protrusion to which the bracket bolts: In order to do this the best i could, i cut the bracket smaller so it wouldnt protrude so far over the axle edge, and chamfered the corners to get a gradual transition, to avoid stress concentrations on the corners.
I sawed a wedge to fill behind the bracket to work as neat as possible, and not just shit the holes full with weld: I want a professional job.
I drained the axle oil, ground the paint away and preheated the cast axle with a blow torch. Then i welded several thin beads around, to reduce the instant heat input. Then ground all welds smooth, both to make it look factory, as well as to avoid fatigue cracking on the weld root.
I see many Eastern European guys just weld that bracket like its a fence in a pig sty, but thats not how i work.
Then it was time to connect the hoses: The pressure line on the original system ran through the oil reservoir because theres the pressure relief, set at 120 bar. This one is to be bypassed because the orbitrol has a built in pressure relief set at 140 bar, which obviously has a spring that isnt fatigued so it really delivers 140 bar.
In the end, the tractor has been on frontline duty again this spring, running the feed mixer for 3 months continuously.
