Loader without power steering

[jachamar]

How hard is driving a tractor around 60 HP,with loader & no power steering?. I found 3 without. Some people told me It was ok and another said no way

Any input ,advice ,experienced It will be appreciated

 

[brin]

I am sure you will get many opinions but having driven tractors with loaders for many years even if you don't mind the difficulty steering you should always keep in mind that if you are bush hogging or moving with any speed especiallly around trees or other obstacles you may need to make a quick turn to avoid hitting something and without power steering you will not be able to manuever near as fast..Without power steering it can get old and tiresome real fast.

 

[mostly_gas]

I have a Ford 1700 w/FEL and no power steering. Smaller than what you are asking about but gives a great upper body workout

 

[Steve_Miller]

If your front tire ever catches something (ie..pothole, stump) please don't have the death grip on the steering wheel or good bye thumbs. Experience on a small Kubota taught me this one.

Steve

 

[jachamar]

Thank you everybody for the replies.
Steve Miller ,you scared the **** out of me.

I guess I need to keep looking

PS Mostly gas ,you can send me a picture about your "new" biceps

 

[deepNdirt]

for most folks Power steering is a must, although a none power steering tractor is not totally undriveable as some might have you to believe,
I have a cuts with no power steering and would steer very easy before i installed the FEL, I was also warned that it would be difficult to drive without PS But really all it takes is just a small amount of forward or rearward movement before you start to turn the wheel, and once i'm on the move i cannot noticed the difference,
I guess its kind of like learning to drive a car that was built before power steering was installed, which this was the case with me,I drove cars without PS for many years and got used to the way they handled and did not know anything better than, then when I did get my first car with power steering I hated it, the car felt uncontrollable like I could not feel the curves in the road, I of course got used to it and finally enjoy driving a power steer assisted car along with other luxuries the car had to offer.....
but we are talking of tractors here, So I guess what I'm saying is for those of us that have never had power steering on our tractors we really don't know any other feel, and for those who have always driven tractors with power steering, well I'm sure it could become quite a task if you don't have the upper body build for it,
I did one time have an opportunity to use a large JD with Power steering I borrowed it from a neighbor and drove it home about 3/4 mile, it was squirrelly on the roadway, But tractors aren't exactly made for the roadways, now are they!

 

[timswi]

Had an 8N with a FEL...That was miserable...But to be honest that loader was obviously an after thought on that thing. Had to be moving to even think about turning.

 

[JoeinTX]

Years ago I drove an old Case 730 Comfort King (bit of an oxymoron) with a front end loader that a neighbor owned. I helped often during hay season so I spent a good deal of time on it hauling/stacking round bales with the FEL.

It was no picnic, but, I didn't break any arms or fingers either. I grew up on tractors sans power steering so it didn't bother that much and you learn when to steer and when not to. Going out across a rough field, especially with any weight on the front end, and you really just kind of "herd" the tractor steering with open palm and gloves on and allow the wheel to jerk back and forth as it wants to.

No power steering wouldn't automatically scare me away from a good tractor especially if the price/condition are good and I'm not going to be doing just a whole lot of loader work with it. Part time, here and there, meh..........

 

[kf4uda]

In years past I have spent several hours running a 861 Ford (48hp) with a loader and no PS. It is pretty tuff but doable. I was much younger then and didn't know any different. I would try to find one with PS if any way possible. There are add-on PS kits out there for some of the older tractors. If you can get a good enough deal on one that your looking at you might add PS to it.

Just a thought

 

[Steve_Miller]

Thank you everybody for the replies.
Steve Miller ,you scared the **** out of me.

I guess I need to keep looking

PS Mostly gas ,you can send me a picture about your "new" biceps

Like another poster said, you learn to steer with your palms.

Steve