I have had a 400 farmall for about 15 years. Never had good power steering. Always have to be moving to be able to turn steering wheel. I just put new o-rings in between the hydraulic blocks because the old girl was leaking so bad. Thought the steering might have improved but I was wrong again...
It does have a lot of small branches. This tells me it hasent been dead for too long. If the smallest limbs were inch and a half I would worry some too. Grab that Stihl and go look like a man. Conquer!!!!!!
If you have all new metal and looking for much work being done then buy a wire welder if you want. But sounds like you dont want to break the bank. Watch craigslist and pick up a good ac-dc machine. An ideal-arc 250 Lincoln would fit you nicely. Thats what I have. Lincoln is the smoothest. Trust me.
I have a wood splitter that I built and I mounted it on top of a pickup rearend. I have a Kohler 14 hp. engine with a 16 gallon per minute pump. Is there a pump that will turn slow enough that I could mount it on the rear end punkin and use it to move the splitter around with? Thought it might...