Don-Behlen Power Steering

Don, and everyone else that has Behlen power steering,

I don"t know if parts are still available and I didn"t want to hi-jack your post. I am curious if you are happy with Behlen power steering? I have a chance to buy a Behlen unit off of a 450 to put on my 300. I"ve heard they are not as fast, or maybe as good, as a Charlyn. I don"t have any experience with a Behlen and I would like everyone"s opinion.
Thanks,
Paul

SGT K:
I have a behlen unit on my SM and it has been trouble free. I don't know what you mean by "not as fast"; the steering ratio stays the same, but the effort is made easier. My behlen is so easy - too easy by today's standards - that I can steer with one finger. Hope this is helpful information....
mike

What I meant to say is you can spin the wheel as fast. I don't know this, someone gave that as an opinion. I'm glad you like yours and it turns so easy. That's just what I'm looking for. He's asking $450 for the unit and the fittings and I'm a little hesitant to spend that much.
Thanks

Behlen Power steering systems are not usually quite as good as a char lynn but my experience on this is that the reason for this two fold. First Reason - The Pump or lack there of. On the 450 they used a flow divider valve and the hydraulic pump. The other setup is a pump that drives off the distributor. Neither of these meet the volume requirments that it take to make a behlen work really well. On the 400/450 We have mounted late 60s early seventies all steel Ford power steering pump up under the left side and then if the generator is replaced with a nice 10DN or 10SI alternator one belt can be used to drive both off the water pump pulley. The pump is also completely concealed. This requires considerable fabrication skills to do but works really well. Do not try to use a GM power steerinhg pump from the same era. Not enough flow. A good Ford pump will make 1600 psi deadheaded and almost kill the tractor while idling. The other thing that happens in the Behlen is that they get wore and too much oil moves around the gear due to wear thus creating the need for more flow to compensate for this loss. This can fixed as well but requires some precise machining. What I have done and works the best is the Ford pump with a brand new Char Lynn motor. The Ford pump is better than the Eaton and produces amazing results with a new Char Lynn motor. It works just as good as the factory John Deere Systems of the same era. Got to hand it to JD on that one.

(quoted from post at 16:47:11 10/08/09) What I meant to say is you can spin the wheel as fast. I don't know this, someone gave that as an opinion. I'm glad you like yours and it turns so easy. That's just what I'm looking for. He's asking $450 for the unit and the fittings and I'm a little hesitant to spend that much.
Thanks

Click to expand...

That's top of the price range, but he's not way off on his asking price - especially if it comes with the pump. By the way, Larry's post reminded me, my system has the distributor driven pump.
mike

I grew up on a Stage II SM w/ Behlen p.s. back in the '50s. We also had an H with Behlen p.s. that was used daily as a loader tractor feeding 4-500 head of feeder cattle. Never had any problems with the Behlen units. However we did buy a 450 which had the Behlen p.s. from the factory. That tractor always had a "catch" in the steering which always seemed to occur at the wrong time, especially when cultivating row crops.

A few years ag I bought a SMTA to restore & later purchased a Behelen p.s. unit for it. The unit came off an M & had it's own distributor driven pump & reservoir but I used thelive hyd pump on the SMTA & plumbed it into the tractor's hyd system using a priority flow divider. P.S. worked aboyut the same as I remember

Later I purchased a Stage II Louisville SM that had Charlyn p.s. I ended up switching the p.s. units because I wanted the SM to look like the SM I grew up on. I'm still working on this tracot (should say it's been regulated to the corner of the tool shed for the last couple years. One thing I have noticed since moving the Charlyn to the SMTA is that the steering is smoother ( easier) than what it was when the Behlen was on the tractor. Whether the difference is between individual units or design I can't say but this is what I have noticed in comparison between the two units on the same tractor. Pretty much goes along with most comments I have heard in comparison of the two types by others.

Thanks guys. That was just the kind of input I was looking for. I've got quite a bit of work to do before I get to the power steering decision, but I will let you know how it turns out.
Paul