Hi John,
After wet vaccing water out of the basement, I aired up a flat front tire and got the tractor started.  Pulled it out of the barn and took lots of pics and verified numbers.  Here are the numbers:

Model No:  415-21020
Serial No:  214-212-019

Engine Serial No:  168941

There is lots of oil/dirt crud on the PS pump and hoses - I need to de-gunk this to be able to see clearly to look for cracks etc.  I'll try to do that tomorrow when I change the oil and filter.

You asked about generator or alternator.  Generator.  Says so in the manual, I don't know how to tell the difference except generators seem to be long and alternators that I've seen are much shorter - half or less the length of generators.

I'll try to jack up the front and turn the steering wheel tomorrow.  I saw the post by IanC on the HPOCA site that shot bearings may cause so much resistance that the PS pump may not be able to overcome.  I know that crossing dips and ditches the front wheels make motions that they didn't 30 years ago - when I spent most of the time on the tractor.  So this could be an issue.  

Is there a filter in the PS system that may be clogged?  Maybe a screen on the inlet side of the pump?  Don't know how debris may have gotten into the system but who knows how crazy things happen.  I'm hoping the problem could be this simple, but probably not.

I'll try to attach some pics.  According to the site, pics with filesize up to 1 MB can be attached.  The pics are all close to 4MB.  Dang, the high quality camera.  I meant to take some high quality then turn the quality down and take some more.  I tried to send you one, but I got a message that says I exceded my PM folder filesize limit and your PM folder filesize was exceeded as well.  It said we both need to delete some of the attachments.  

So I'll send you some pictures as soon as I get your email address.  I'll be around mom's until about noon tomorrow, then I'm heading down to the farm. 

So send your email address to me when you can.  I'll also check, but I think I can post pictures, files etc. to my Microsoft Live 'Skydrive' and you can look at them there.  If I can figure that out quickly, I'll try that tonight and let you know how to connect to it.

Best Regards,

Buck's550 (Bob Dodd)