[AT] Interesting Tractor

[Greg Hass]

A couple weeks ago a customer of mine (I do part-time appliance repair.) 
was showing me a tractor that a friend of hers had bought for her for $400 
at an auction sale.  One rear tire was brand-new, which itself alone was 
worth $400.  What was interesting was not the tractor itself, but the 
modifications.  It was a Massey-Harris row crop, which I would estimate at 
about 40 HP.  It had a loader on it.

The first thing I noticed was that it had power steering.  At first I 
thought it was some kind of "assisted steering" as I recognized the 
cyclinder as being from an IH 303 or 403 combine.  Upon further 
examination, it was apparent that the steering gear box, the steering wheel 
and the inch shaft that goes from the steering to the steering wheel box 
had all been removed.  The steering wheel had been replaced with a steering 
wheel motor and a different wheel that looked new.  I soon realized that 
the new-looking motor had actually come out of the same combine as the 
steering cyclinder.  This type of steering is known as hydrostatic power 
steering, which means that it is completely oil-driven as there is no 
mechanical linkage between the steering and the front wheels.  This means 
that if you blow a hydraulic hose you have no steering at all.  (IH has 
used this system for at least 35 years due to the complexity of having a 
steering shaft go around the various components of the front wheels.)  I 
believe I am correct in saying that cars and trucks are still required to 
have a direct mechanical linkage so that if you lose hydraulic pressure you 
still retain some steering.

Hydraulic pressure for the system was supplied by a Ford power steering 
pump from a 1-ton truck.  What looked odd was that (whether because of the 
loader or not) they had torched a hole in the hood and had mounted the 
power steering pump ABOVE the hood and just behind the radiator.  The 
loader on it was a very old type with a trip bucket.  Although the 
mechanism was all there, thye had converted it to a hydraulic bucket.  I 
was so interested in the power steering part that I failed to see what they 
used as a pump to run the loader.  I am sure the original tractor's pump 
was insufficient for that use.  My only thought on the system was that even 
though everything worked, it was very crudely done such as everything was 
freehand torched and nothing was ground smooth.  When I do something such 
as this I try to make it a little more professional looking.

That said, however, I try not to be judgemental about any of this as I am a 
big believer that a person has a right to do things their own way, and if 
they are happy with them it is nobdy else's business to judge how it looks 
and be critical.  Although I enjoy going to shows as much as the next guy 
and seeing equipment preserved in its original state, I also really like 
seeing people still using this equipment for actual work and if a few 
modifications are necessary to achieve this end, I am not necessarily 
against them either... especially if the tractor is not an extremely rare one.

Greg Hass