Engine Mechanical problem
1998 Ford Ranger 6 cyl Four Wheel Drive Automatic 64,050 miles
----------------------------------------------------------------
will it hurt my truck to gut the catalytic converters

You will have a check engine light until you replace them. The o2 sensors at the rear of the cats measure efficiency, with them gutted the PCM will set a cat efficiency code, P0420 I believe, but other than that it wont hurt anything, it will fail smog as well