It always amazed me how often the standard was for old tractors to have no fenders. I'm thinking of the I-H, Farmalls, and John Deere A's & B's of the 40' and 50's.
Nothing to hang onto, especially on a sidehill, except the steering wheel. The Farmall's were the worst (IMHO) as their springy seat would almost launch you. At least Deer's "battery box" seat had a hand grab rail around it.
Only thing to hang on to was steering wheel, yet everything required taking hands off steering wheel (hand throttle, shifting lever, even hand clutch for the Johnny Poppers).[snip]