D17 oil leak plus

I recently purchased a 1957 gas D17 that that drips oil in front of the engine. Is it safe to assume that it has a front seal leak? If so what is involved to fix that?

Secondly the factory power steering kind of comes and goes. Easy at times then become harder to turn. What could be the issue here?

It has a wide front if that matters.

Lastly what to people to do make it easier to mount the tractor?

Your help would be much appreciated.
(sorry for all the questions)

On our 17 and 19 tractors we made them easier to mount by adding a step under the platforms. We bent some 1/4"x 2 flat iron to a "U" shape and added some ears to the top and bolted it to the platform using the holes all ready there. Do you know how to check the fluid level in your power steering? Its behind the grill and should be just over the top of the gear. Given you have fluid run the tractor a while and pull the vent/dipstick and look for foaming, if full of air the likely culprit is the shaft seal on the pump which sucks air instead of leaking oil when it goes bad. Ifthe fluid is fine the next thing to check is the shaft going into the steering box which must be able to move in and out a small mount for the steering valve to work. The coupling gets rusted tight and if worn bad under the steering wheel the weight of teh shaft and wheel and your arms wont let the valve move and it must be shimmed back. If all that checks out you might have a sticky check valve but thats at stretch. The was also some problems with the assist rack but that makes them steer hard one direction only. Fixing the oil seal is not light work. It will require removing the sheetmetal, radiator and if I remember correctly loosening and moving the the bolster forward for room to remove the pulley.

Butch, Thanks for the reply.

I know where to check the fluid but this D17 has a just a cap not a dipstick. Maybe the original one was lost at some point. Also the vertical tube has a breather type filler in the tube so I cannot see down inside the tube. Should I pull the filler material out of the tube to look for the fluid level? That's assuming I can pull it out.

For the front seal leak. my tractor has a front mounted hydraulic pump with reservoir used to run a hydraulic loader nicely done 3 point with three spool hydraulic valve so it looks to be a major undertaking for me. I'll need to find help for that.

Other than these issue it runs real nice though and a joy to use once I'm in the seat...

Hi Dave, I miss spoke, or rather miss typed on the dipstick, there isnt one. If your tractor hasnt been fooled with you should have a vent/fill plug as circled in the pic. You unscrew it from the casting and the fluid should be just over the top of the gear. If you cant see in the hole stick your index finger in and it should reach the oil. The picture also shows the amount of room you have to deal with the seal after you remove sheetmetal and radiator. I dont think there is room unless you move the bolster also.

Hi Butch,

A picture is worth 1000 words...

Yes that is the tube I was mentioning but I pulled the top cover off. I didn't realize the tube was threaded. I'm going out to look at my tractor now.

Much thanks here....

Dave