Steering valve issues
 

The last trip to Harlan I was going up a steep hill and the engine died due to lack of fuel. The fuel pickup is in the front of the cell. So I had to back down the hill while fighting to steer. By the time I got to the bottom, the steering kept letting loose at times, like slipping. Once I got back on flat ground so I could start it, it has spots when you turn the wheel it just free spins some and catches again. It works fine and then it will free spin a quarter turn and start turning again. Any ideas on what I did. Did I break something in the orbital, blow a seal...

Sounds like you trapped air in the system. Are you saying it does this with the engine running?

It started doing this as I was fighting to steer it backwards down the hill. I was really fighting it to steer. It wasn't running. After that, it does it while it's running. It makes no noise, just turns fine then slips about 8-10" and starts steering again. Does it both ways.

Found the problem. It's the adapter stem on the orbital that the steering shaft attaches to. The splined part is actually a sleeve, and has a roll pin to hold it to the main shaft. The splined piece is pretty thin so it twisted around the roll pin. A few tack welds should do the trick.

Odd breakage. I was thinking something in the stem but couldn't imagine how the splines could slip. Glad you found it.

I sheared the roll pin that keeps the sleeve from rotating on the shaft. The roll pin ran through the bottom hole. I would've thought the shaft would be splined, and not capped with splines. I welded it up, so I shouldn't have any more issues with it.

Attachment 7661

Attachment 7662