Added power steering to my kubota

Fatjay

Member
The steering shaft broke on my kubota b8200 when I took it out to clear snow a couple months ago. I've spent some time since then converting my tractor to power steering. There were no universal kits available so I had to start from the ground up.

My hydraulic block had a dedicated supply and return line for power steering already, so that part was easy. The rest I had to do on my own. It was a learning process, so now that I'm more familiar, my next conversion should be much easier.

I picked up a 5 port power steering block/column from a john deere 318. They were by far the most readily available and cheapest, at ~$150. I picked up a 14" hydraulic cylinder with 8" throw from surplus center. The rest was just hoses, which my local hydraluic shop made for me in various lengths.

I took the old system out, which had the standard arm that went back and forth. Gas tank off gave me plenty of room to work.

The hydraulic flow is a bit higher than it was on the deere I guess, because it only takes a half turn of the steering wheel to go all the way left or right. Still, it's effortless one finger steering.

From now on if a tractor's steering gives me any issues I'm converting to power steering. Enough of the aching elbows from working a wheel around manually.

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Good job on the P.S. Kabota does really nice, neat, tidy wiring harnesses do they not? :roll:
 
Nice! You literally brought that tractor back from the dead!

If you ever tire of the "quick" steering, get a larger diameter cylinder.

It is the DIAMETER/displacement of the cylinder that determines how many turns of the wheel it takes to steer "lock-to-lock", NOT the hydraulic flow rate of the tractor.

The original application used a much larger diameter hydraulic cylinder.
 
(quoted from post at 11:27:35 04/18/17) Good job on the P.S. Kabota does really nice, neat, tidy wiring harnesses do they not? :roll:

Their basket case of wiring in there probably looked good at one time but over the years it's been hacked to pieces pretty good. Also doesn't help that I added in a remote starter to it.
 
(quoted from post at 11:32:40 04/18/17) Nice! You literally brought that tractor back from the dead!

If you ever tire of the "quick" steering, get a larger diameter cylinder.

It is the DIAMETER/displacement of the cylinder that determines how many turns of the wheel it takes to steer "lock-to-lock", NOT the hydraulic flow rate of the tractor.

The original application used a much larger diameter hydraulic cylinder.

I thought about going with a larger diameter cylinder after seeing how quickly it steers. I think it should be fine for now though. Once I hit lock I can continue to turn the wheel and it just bypasses to the overflow so hopefully not putting any unnecessary strain on the system.
 
(quoted from post at 09:32:40 04/18/17) Nice! You literally brought that tractor back from the dead!

If you ever tire of the "quick" steering, get a larger diameter cylinder.

It is the DIAMETER/displacement of the cylinder that determines how many turns of the wheel it takes to steer "lock-to-lock", NOT the hydraulic flow rate of the tractor.

The original application used a much larger diameter hydraulic cylinder.


I understand what you meant by that BUT I submit that the flow will affect the speed of the cylinder if the size of the cylinder remains the same. If the flow remains the same and the steering wheel is going to lock in a half turn then the cylinder needs to be either longer(more turns to lock) or larger in diameter(slower to lock). If the tractor's hydraulic flow remains constant then the only other variable is the amount of fluid required to extend/retract the cylinder which is directly proportional to the diameter/length of the cylinder. :)
 

I am surprised at the price. A replacement steering motor for pretty much any "old" tractor is a lot of money. Did it take long to get the cab off?
 
(quoted from post at 19:45:51 04/18/17)
I am surprised at the price. A replacement steering motor for pretty much any "old" tractor is a lot of money. Did it take long to get the cab off?
The cab lifts right off with 2 people and weighs about 100lb, I intentionally designed it to be easily removable.

All the kits I saw were pretty expensive, and barely available, and required modification. I get it, there's only so many of one type of tractor, you can only be so universal.

The steering column was $150.
The hoses were ~100.
The fittings were ~50.
The cylinder was $20.
The headache of putting it together is the reason the kits are so expensive.
 

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