MH50 manual steering really hard to turn steerubg wheel

My MH50 1957 steers really hard, pretty good effort to turn the steering wheel, does not have power steering. If you lift the front wheels off the ground everything is free, front spindles turn easy, grease comes out both top and bottom on both sides. Nothing seems to be wrong in the steering box. Is it in the central rocker pin in the main front center, when the weight of the tractor pushes up on it, it binds up? I would like to convert it to power steering but it seems like quite a chore. I am 76 years old now and have bad back pain and short of breath and the tractor is in good shape, I rebuilt the motor and it runs like a top and I need it to do all tasks on my farm, skid, plow snow, many tasks and besides using it for nostalgia purpose it is all I need and don't need to spend mega bucks for a newer machine but it is really hard for me to crank the wheel and it should be pleasant to use anyway, not a chore.

Try disconnecting the drag link from the box forward so that you can better pinpoint the problem point.

have you checked tire pressures??

Hard to turn when moving?or when stopped? Big difference. Power steering on every vehicle makes us forget that the
vehicle has to be moving to turn the wheels with no power steering.

Adding PS is a major job...

I think you will find it in the spindles. Hard almost impossible to turn with the weight of tractor on but when you take the weight off that leads to one place. And that is the thrust bearing in the bottom of the spindle. They will get worn and not let the bearings either ball or roller roll or if the bearings are still good filed up with dried up grease mixed with dirt and also keep those bearings from rolling. Repair is simple just take the wheel off with front end lifted and remove the steering arm and drop the spindal and I will guess that the bearing will fall apart when you drop the spindal. If bearing is still goo just clean and regrease, if bad you need a new thrust bearing. Even if grease comes out the bottom does not mean the thrust bearing is taking the greas as it can be bypassing the grease. And I dought that the tractor ever has had them replaced and that also would indicate bad thrust bearings. I had that with my Ford and new bearings took care of the problem and is now due for that again. One other thing that could do that is the front axle being bent at the center pin so the wheels are leaning in at the top instead of out. On the Ford I had to replace that as well as that center part of the axle got bent from the loader on the tractor. You are just 3 years older than me but same health problems. It could also be the sleeve bearings on the vertical part of spindal bad and that would let the spindal push sideways and bind so then you would just need 6 new bearings instead of just 2. And I am just a guessing that all 6 should be less than a hundred dollars.