960 Valve Cover Removal

I posted a while back about oil leaking from my valve cover and smoking when it hit the manifold. People here said it was pretty easy to replace the gasket, and that the cover would roll out without having to remove the gas tank.

I finally got around to this project today. First discovery... maybe I could have just tightened the 2 nuts a bit to solve the problem (what somebody originally suggested, but a gasket was cheap and I thought why not put a new one in?). I was surprised at how loose the nuts were.

Anyway... I have the nuts off and I can see how the cover would roll off to the right side of the tractor, but I have 2 hoses (power steering?) towards the front of the tractor that are preventing me from rolling the cover off to put the new gasket on.

So, my question(s) are:
1.) Should I be able to roll this cover off despite the power steering hoses?
2.) It looks like I could disconnect the power steering hose (one seems to be more in the way than the other) to let the valve cover roll free, but I don't want to do anything that will mess up my power steering (which works real good right now). Is there any pressure in the hose with the tractor turned off? If I disconnect the hose, will I lose a bunch of power steering fluid? Is it just a really bad idea to disconnect this hose?
3.) I guess my third question is... will I get a quick enough answer that I can proceed with this project today, or will I have to wait for another day? :lol:

Thanks for any advice guys!

I guess you have a trike. Theres no pressure when not running. I dont know which hose is in your way, if its the return you can just pinch it off with a pair of flat vise grips on the end you take loose and cap the tube. Sometimes you can finagle them out by trying different moves on it. they are easier to take off without the studs in. you can always loosen the tank bolts and lift it a little.

Take a 13/16" wrench and loosen the pressure Power Steering banjo fitting a little to push the fitting and hose up a little bit and the valve cover will come out, bring the back out ahead of the front and you will be fine.

It should clear the pump, I've had my vc off an 850 with Ps that needed some valvetrain work.

Had to remove the top hose for the power steering to get it free, but it seemed to work. New gasket is in; power steering still seems to work fine; hoping that the original problem of oil leaking on the hot manifold is solved.

The old gasket seemed to be in decent shape, but was missing a piece about 1" - 2" long, leaving a gap. Honestly, I don't know where it went. Couldn't find an extra piece laying around anywhere!?!?