Massey Harris 33 Power Steering

I posted this in the M H forum and David G was kind enough to give me some info but no one else has responded, maybe more people will see it here.

Was wondering if anyone here has added PS to their Massey or have any info or ideas on how it could be done.

I've got a 33 with a FEL and steering is hard.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Never done it, I can see it would be difficult but not imposible.

The simplest way, and I don't know if it was ever offered, would to be find a donor tractor for parts.

The other 2 options would be:
1. To remove the existing steering gear and adapt an automotive/truck steering gear and pump.
2. Remove the existing steering and install a rotary valve and hydraulic cylinder, similar to what a forklift uses.

Either way would require a lot of research and fab work, would be very expensive to hire it done, probably only be practical if you can do most or all your self.

You just need a Behlen or Charlyn power steering unit that goes in the steering shaft and a pump to run it. I put one on a John Deere 60 one time. Not much to it.

(quoted from post at 16:34:10 02/05/14) You just need a Behlen or Charlyn power steering unit that goes in the steering shaft and a pump to run it. I put one on a John Deere 60 one time. Not much to it.

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That is what David G has on his, I asked him if it would handle the extra effort required with a FEL and he told me he couldn't say. I was on a website for a similar system and they said it might not handle the job with a loader.

Your thoughts on this?

Do like David G said,put a Char Lynn unit on.The mounting bracket is the only thing needs made but it is super easy on Masseys,get a PS pump from junk yard.We have had 3 44s with them since the 50s.They can be run from the tractor hyd.but are slow.You can buy new ones or rebuilt ones.

(quoted from post at 20:45:06 02/05/14) Do like David G said,put a Char Lynn unit on.The mounting bracket is the only thing needs made but it is super easy on Masseys,get a PS pump from junk yard.We have had 3 44s with them since the 50s.They can be run from the tractor hyd.but are slow.You can buy new ones or rebuilt ones.

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Yes, that looks like the easiest way to do it.

My question about this is, will it handle the extra load that the FEL will put on it?

I couldn't tell you on that aspect. All I know is,that old 60 turned so hard,Dad just couldn't handle raking hay with it. That thing steered HARD. I put that on and you could steer it with one finger. I'd be more afraid of breaking something in the gearbox from all that torque than anything else.

(quoted from post at 21:11:25 02/05/14) I couldn't tell you on that aspect. All I know is,that old 60 turned so hard,Dad just couldn't handle raking hay with it. That thing steered HARD. I put that on and you could steer it with one finger. I'd be more afraid of breaking something in the gearbox from all that torque than anything else.

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Thanks.

Hoping to get more input on this but it looks like the way to go.

ya power steering is great BUT when was the last time you did any work on the front end First the gear box under the radiator have you ever added oil or grease to it [ put a grease zerk in the cover and pump it full of grease. second you did not say wide or narrow front end new bearings on the spindles[lower end] will make a world of difference. when you grease the front end do you lift the front wheels off the ground so grease will come out the bottom also rust will make the top bushings bind and make it hard to steer. do the things that I said and it will help and save you a lot of money. if you have never done anything on the front end I bet All the bearings are shot if there are any left

also the bearings will get flat spots on them at each roller and make it look like a serrated knife on the outer race

(quoted from post at 21:58:32 02/05/14) ya power steering is great BUT when was the last time you did any work on the front end First the gear box under the radiator have you ever added oil or grease to it [ put a grease zerk in the cover and pump it full of grease. second you did not say wide or narrow front end new bearings on the spindles[lower end] will make a world of difference. when you grease the front end do you lift the front wheels off the ground so grease will come out the bottom also rust will make the top bushings bind and make it hard to steer. do the things that I said and it will help and save you a lot of money. if you have never done anything on the front end I bet All the bearings are shot if there are any left

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Yes you are right, I neglected to say that it is a wide front end, sorry.

It doesn't have the normal high arch spindles and bearings as far as I can tell, it has a lower rectangular beam axle with kingpins, I have jacked the axle clear and greased all pivot points including the steering box, everything is tight and free and can be turned easily when there is no weight on it. I have also replaced the truck tires with 3 rib ag tires.

This is the only picture I have that shows the axle.

Yeah, somebody thought it was a Deere or Oliver.

i don't think that is a 33.33 did not come in a standard tread that i recall

That's what I was thinking, can a standard gear box handle the power, especially giving it a spin and hitting the end of the travel.

(quoted from post at 00:09:34 02/06/14) i don't think that is a 33.33 did not come in a standard tread that i recall

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According to the numbers on the transmission housing it is a 1953 33.

We had a Farmall M in the late 60's and into the mid 70's I think.
It had aftermarket power steering on it. At times the steering would lock up. Knowing what I know now, I bet the worm and sector were worn out and binding. I almost went into the ditch while trying to turn into the driveway at half throttle in road gear. Makes you a little nervous.

I have old Masseys, some with PS added. I see yours is a standard, I have a puller with a standard front, so I know how they work, they have the same general gear box and actually steer easier than the row crop with the wide front. I have two loader tractors, one with a char-Lynn and one with a Behlen unit, they both have been set up for over 35 years and still work well. The Behlen unit is on a 444 wide front which is a different and heavier front than a 33 or 44 front but the gear box has stood it all these years. I have a 30 Massey with a Schwartz wide front with a Char-Lynn unit and a loader that works well also. The 30 has thousands of hours of use and I have went through the gear box a couple of times, but just bearings and bushings, the worm is indestructible. I run 3 of these units off of chevy ps pumps, your 33 has a narrow belt, just use a double pulley from an alternator and belt the pump to the second groove. Brackets have to be fabed. Char-Lynn used to have two units back when they were American made, a fast, lower torque and a slow, higher torque one, the higher torque one had a longer geroter(mid section) and was a little longer, years ago the high torque one was recommended for all Masseys. I started out with a slow one on my 30, but it only added assist at about 60 rpm, or one turn per second, too slow for raking hay etc, so I put that one on another tractor and put the fast one on. it does ok with the loader, but you can stall it if your not moving with a full bucket on the dirt. The last one I did was 4 years ago, I installed a new Char-Lynn(Foreign built)unit on a 44 special, they still used the wide belt and hard to get a pulley set up on, I used a flow divider I had laying around from a 333 and hooked it up into the hyd system, it works good. Hope this answers some of your questions, let us know how it works out for you.

I have set some up on H and M and those gear boxes wont stand it, ended up doing a full hydrostatic unit on them with cylinders on the wide fronts.

You refer to mine as a standard, I assume you mean the axle is a standard rather than the round tube axle, am I correct there?

The numbers on the transmission housing are:

33 GIRF

5676

According to this site,

http://www.edgeta.com/Technical Dat...e been very helpful. Thank you very much.

You refer to mine as a standard, I assume you mean the axle is a standard rather than the round tube axle, am I correct there?

The numbers on the transmission housing are:

33 GIRF

5676

According to this site,

http://www.edgeta.com/Technical Dat...e been very helpful. Thank you very much.

Sorry for the blank posts, had to log out then log in again to copy and paste for some reason.



You refer to mine as a standard, I assume you mean the axle is a standard rather than the round tube axle, am I correct there?

The numbers on the transmission housing are:

33 GIRF

5676

According to this site,

hhttp://www.edgeta.com/Technical%20Data/Massey-Harris%20Production%20Dates.pdf

they break down like this:

33 = model 33.

G = Gas.

I = Not listed.

R = Rowcrop,,,, which it apparently isn't.

F = Foot clutch.

5676 = manufactured between 1953 and 1954.


Anyhow, I won't be doing any work to it until warmer weather comes, I just trying to gather as much info as possible before I go at it, you all have been very helpful.

Thank you very much.


Any additional input and info is welcome.