Power Steering Added To Ford 8N Loader Tractor

Power Steering Added To Ford 8N Loader Tractor TRACTORS Antiques 20-5-30 Robert Rufi, Monroe, Wis.: "Moving 1,000-lb. big round bales with my early 1950's vintage Ford 8N loader tractor equipped with old Superior front end loader used to be a lot of work. The tractor had manual steering and the weight of the bales on the front end made it next to impossible to steer. "I solved the problem by installing power steering on the tractor. I used two junked 3-in. cylinders, one off an old IH 503 combine and the other off an old IH 403 combine. These cylinders have control valves built right into them, making them ideal for using in the power steering unit I patterned after that used on a Ford Jubilee. The cylinders anchor on each side of the tractor on radius arms down by the operator's feet. The opposite end had a ball swivel that I drilled out so it would fit over the tractor's tie rod end. I installed a flow control valve on the hydraulic pump driven off the crankshaft that supplies pressure for the steering and loader cylinders. "The system works like a charm. You can almost spin the steering wheel with one finger, even when there's a bale on the loader."

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