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Landlord Power steering doable and DONE..


Chris727

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I bought this semi-rough Landlord DLX 18/50 three years ago for $325 delivered. No PS or diff-lock but did have hydraulic lift.

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It was not running then but with some wiring repairs ran great. It still needed lots of work (including a new $200+ PTO clutch) and I had other tractors to mow with so it went on the backburner. A few years ago I purchased a Char-Lynn steering unit from CarlH at Sam's Ice Cream Social for $50.

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Turns out that was the O.E.M power steering unit for the DLX. Fast forward to 2016 and with some changes in the fleet we now needed to mow with this tractor. Dad insisted he needed something with power steering so I dug out the parts and we got started. I was unsure if the trans would have the output needed as the Power Steering models had a K71E trans and mine has a K71G. Sam thought it would work anyway so I figured it was worth a shot. All of the DLX with hydraulic lift already have the oil lines installed for the steering motor.

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The pedestal is also made to accept the motor. We removed the T's and installed the motor and connected to the lines (which all use flare fittings).

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One of the fittings was very difficult to get threaded together. The motor came with the upper coupler. I bought the lower coupler off fleabay a few years ago. The PS equipped tractors also use a heavier duty lower column bushing with a steel sleeve around the bushing (on the right in pic). I also bought this from fleabay.

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We found that to install the lower coupler the motor needed to be raised up. To make it easier we removed the screws securing the pedestal support to the sheet metal. We then installed the lower coupler and bushing assembly.

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Not wanting to pay the exorbitant prices wanted for well worn steering gears and shafts on fleabay I managed to pickup a nice used one from a '90s Broadmoor (similar design) for next to nothing. This way I could save the original shaft if I ever needed to go back to manual steering. We then measured the original column and height for the steering wheel and gear locations. We then cut the Broadmoor shaft to make a lower pinion gear and an upper steering shaft.

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The parts support for this model is somewhat poor. Some of these steering parts are already NLA but then the DLX was only made '99 to '01 ?I am happy to report that after reassembling it does function properly. Dad loves the PS but did note that it's harder to mow in a straight line now.

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Nice job repurposing and finding parts to complete the power steering project. Good old Yankee ingenuity combined with a man's got to do what a man's got to do to keep your dad mowing.

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Looks like a fun project. I got a whole ps setup like that off fleabay cheap and put it in my manual steering sunstar. That worked real good too.

I see a bumper on the DLX pictured. Are those bolted to the hood or the frame?

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Thanks guys! I need to give Dad most of the credit. I mostly provided instruction as my left arm was recovering from surgery at the time. I just went out and checked that bumper. It is attached to and moves with the hood. I wouldn't want to hit anything with it. Its just for looks.

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Dad also installed the anti-blowout kit because he didn't like getting covered with grass. It makes a huge difference but I do still need to check the deck level.

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I agree with fishnwiz, the project took a lot of wrenchin' but the end result was well worth it.

And a suggestion for your Dad, if the tractor likes to turn more than run in a straight line, he should make wavy stripes like a flag blowing in the wind. ;)

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