If you can find an older convertible top motor,from a 1950's to 1970's full sized car,they work great for a snowplow lift or small bucket loader on a garden tractor..they dont draw much amperage,not much more than a typical heater blower motor on a car does..they wont set any speed records lifting a full bucket however,but work very well on a snowplow blade or 3 point hitch--and they can have down pressure too,since they had to operate the convertible top pistons in both directions to raise and lower it..
We used an electro-hydraulic pump off an old 50's Packard convertible for a plow lift on a lawn tractor ,(this car had hydraulic windsheild wipers and windows,in addition to the roof!)--and we arranged the plow frame & lift so it was connected by linkage,rather than chain,so it could apply down pressure as well as lift it..it had no problem hoisting up the blade,with me and a friend standing on it,and it would lift the front of the tractor off the ground easily too..we used it around the building to plow where our pickup couldn't fit,and we did not have any battery issues..
I recently visited a junkyard,and saw about 50 ride-on pallet fork trucks there,and they had a pile of the electric-hydraulic pumps already removed from many of them..most were 36-48 volts though,but the motor was removeable from the pump and had a 5/8" keyed bore,and I thought they would be simple to adapt to a gas engine..had the control valve and resivour all in one unit too..
But adding a power steering pump onto most tractors isn't that difficult either,and wont have the drawbacks of the slow speed,and potential electric motor problems and battery drain the hydro-electric ones have..there is no perfect way out,each has disadvantages and advantages..
We used an electro-hydraulic pump off an old 50's Packard convertible for a plow lift on a lawn tractor ,(this car had hydraulic windsheild wipers and windows,in addition to the roof!)--and we arranged the plow frame & lift so it was connected by linkage,rather than chain,so it could apply down pressure as well as lift it..it had no problem hoisting up the blade,with me and a friend standing on it,and it would lift the front of the tractor off the ground easily too..we used it around the building to plow where our pickup couldn't fit,and we did not have any battery issues..
I recently visited a junkyard,and saw about 50 ride-on pallet fork trucks there,and they had a pile of the electric-hydraulic pumps already removed from many of them..most were 36-48 volts though,but the motor was removeable from the pump and had a 5/8" keyed bore,and I thought they would be simple to adapt to a gas engine..had the control valve and resivour all in one unit too..
But adding a power steering pump onto most tractors isn't that difficult either,and wont have the drawbacks of the slow speed,and potential electric motor problems and battery drain the hydro-electric ones have..there is no perfect way out,each has disadvantages and advantages..
