Bruce Mazuranich purchased a JPS Power Steering Kit for his wife’s 750 John Deere Utility Tractor. I was so happy to get this message from Bruce with a “thumbs up” picture of his wife on her John Deere tractor!

Roland,
The power steering unit was successfully installed on the wife’s tractor. Photo of happy wife is attached.

The Jackson Power Steering unit for my Ford 8N was well worth it. It developed some steering problems that had to be dealt with, and after eying this upgrade for years, those issues were the incentive (excuse?) for me to do it. Driving the 8N with the loader was always about steering. Good tires in the front, and weight in the back helped, but with a full loader, steering became a chore. That isn’t a problem now.

I had replaced a few parts behind the dash and under the hood and had redone some of the loader hydraulics on my 8N before, so this was work I felt comfortable with. Roland emailed the pdf instructions before the kit came. Not being in the midst of a farm community, it took me a few stops to find hoses, fittings, pipe sealant, etc. that I needed to customize my installation. Every installation is going to be different.  I built the manifold that would collect the hydraulic oil, send it to the filter, and then into the reservoir. I chose to lubricate the steering gear box with StaLube engine assembly lube, which is a light grease, similar to the corn head grease that is often used, and available in auto parts stores.

When the kit came, it was pretty straight forward installing the steering and diverter valves. I connected the hoses paying close attention to where each went. The only hitch I had was when I went to attach the rear steering cylinder brackets to radius rods. These are the large fixed rods on each side that go to the front axles. The brackets did not fit around the rods. But it turns out that my tractor has oversized radius rods from a Ford 300 tractor that are a little beefier than the stock 8N. Fortunately, Roland was able to ship larger brackets which worked like a charm. I had to play around with positioning some so that the steering didn’t rub against the loader cylinders in low position. The big issue was that my loader wasn’t on straight, so once that was resolved, attaching the cylinders was easy.

Obviously steering is easier now. I was happy to play around with the steering and loader and find that they both could work at the same time. The loader may be a bit slower now in general, but in a good way. I suppose a bigger pump might be necessary in some cases, but in my case, the existing pump was probably oversized for the loader, and is now about right. Overall, I really happy with my power steering. It’s going to last for years. Roland was very helpful, and available by email and phone when I needed him.

Bob Mesenbrink

Arvada, Colorado

Roland-

I finished the installation of the power steering kit on my Ford 861 yesterday, and it works perfectly.  I spent quite a lot of time on it, mostly because I am a slow worker and spend a lot of time finding misplaced tools, backing out of mistakes, etc.  I also spent some time planning the installation so that I would be satisfied with it after it was done, and dealt with a number of other issues while I had the tractor apart.  After it was done, I felt the results are worth all the trouble.  I appears that I will have to do something about my hydraulic pump eventually, since it probably isn’t putting out its rated flow.  At idle, there is barely enough excess flow to lift the bucket.  At operating speed, the loader is slower than it was, but sufficient for now.

I’ve attached some pictures in case you are interested.  The picture of the whole tractor was taken some time before I started putting on the power steering, and the others show how I ended up mounting the flow controller.  The flow controller is mounted on a platform that was added by a previous owner for a control valve to control implements.  I T’d into the tank port from the loader controls to accommodate the return from the flow controller and the steering control, which made use of the existing filter.  I replaced the cartridge with a 20 micron version of the standard cartridge, although the supplied cartridge will also fit.  The rest is standard stuff I imagine.  One thing I have not done is to bolt the rear of the cowling to the steering controller mounting bracket on each side.  The cowling seems secure enough as it is, and I would rather not drill for the bolts, but the cowling did originally bolt to the steering box assembly.  Do other customers do this, and do you think it is necessary?

I came to appreciate the engineering you put into the system, as all the parts fit and the steering action couldn’t be better.  I hope to get a lot of use out of it for the next couple of decades.

Thanks,

Norm Kolb

Mr. Jackson,

I just finished installing my power steering unit, and I just wanted to express my gratitude. The system worked just as you said it would, and I really enjoy the power steering. Thank your your time.

Sincerely,

Jacob Vanator

I sent you some pictures of the tractor we rebuilt. Once again great product. Thanks to you and all your staff.

Murray Boikoff

Hello Roland,

Here are a couple shots of my 1300 Ford blowing snow. We are about 4 feet behind normal snowfall at this point-still have had over 3 feet. The power steering unit you made for my tractor works extremely well. It might just save my shoulder from surgery. If you don’t mind, I will give you website to our local tractor place – they could not find any ps units from their sources.

You have made my tractor enjoyable again.

Thank-you,

Joel Lantz
Skandia, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula