Hi, John
  I hope the weather in Ohio has been as nice as it has been here. Might have made the '70's here today. 
 Saturday we had a nice plow day with 50 tractors attending. The ground was just right and turned nearly 100 acres in no time. After the plowing I went with John Swanson (Terry's brother-in-law) to help him move a disabled tractor. When that was done we were discussing John's tractors and I was SHOCKED at his newest find. A ONE OWNER 1959 "mist green" 880 gas. 44xx hours. The drawbar hole is still almost round. He said he got it at an auction near St. Louis a week ago, never mentioned a price although I bet it was in the 10K area. 
 The tractor is beautiful. Been sheded on a regular basis and probably waxed quite often. The tin is straight, not a ding in it. Must have had a cultivator on it at one time because the two metal straps with the "keyhole" in them were still on the tractor. They were used to hold up the gang under the belly for moving it on the road. 
 This tractor has hydrostatic power steering. The pump looks similar to the old GM pumps with the long fill neck. The fill cap protrudes through the hood slightly, has a nice grommet around it, very neat installation. The bottom of the "dash", just behind the hydraulic unit, has a small cutout to make room for the steering motor. The center cap in the steering wheel does NOT have the P/S words, as the tractor didn't come with the P/S. 
 My question is when would hydrostatic P/S have been available?  It looks like a dealer installed unit, did they market these kits or were they perhaps "aftermarket"? Did any of the late 880's or later 770's have hydrostatis p/s and did the 880's ever have any pump other than the one attached to the back of the generator? 
 The gen. has a "shiney" center cap covering the rear bearing and the endplate has the two ears to attach the shaft driven pump. IF this tractor came from the factory with no p/s, would it still have had the endplate with the ears?
 I know any amount of modification may have been done over the past 45 years but was just wondering what you thought. 
 Thanks for your time. 
                                                           Jim Thurnau