I have 2 Massey I244 USAF tractors - 244G1SF2001 (Barksdale AFB?) and I244G2120 (Keesler AFB?)- both in rough condition 2001 runs but has cab torched off, 2120 has Continental F245 (not F244) engine apart and is missing cab, gas tank, hood / grill sheetmetal. No magnets. Trying to decide what to do with them - need info / pictures.

Understand there were as many as 7 restored I244s at a show last year - would like contact info for any of those tractors.

What kind of information are you looking for?  According to the Massey Tractor Data Book by Ketih Oltrogge There were 708 of these tractors made for both the Air Force and the Navy.  38 of these were made for the Navy and did not come with the cab.  Those would be serial numbers starting with 1001-1038.  Being that both of yours start with the 2000 serial numbers means it was made for the Air Force and they only made 243 with a PTO like your should both have.  The last military order for the I-244 was the 3000 series which did not have a PTO and 427 of those were produced.

This is the only Massey Harris tractor to have the large generator and large magnetic sweeper attachment manufactured by Sabre Equipment.  Very few (I only know of one) restored tractors have this great attachment.  The correct color should be yellow even though some of the restored I-244s out there are MH red.

I have attached two pictures of I-244s.  The first is the 2000 series incorrectly painted red (with the gray I-330 beside it) and the other a 1000 series Navy.

There was a great I-244 thread/discussion on the old site.  I am not sure it can be revived or brought back.  It had lots of good conversations and posts with pictures from many subscribers.

As to 3000 series serial numbers - were most of these really Army Corp of Engineers rather than USAF - only 2 of the 3000 series Ive seen (3087 & 3303) were both CoE tags with 30 inch rear tires instead of the 28's on my 2 USAF tractors.

Any info appreciated. How many still exist? Condition? Where / Who owns them? Anyone with a list of S/N assigned to which bases. Conrtract info? Parts Availability? Value of restored tractor but without magnet? Anyone have a spare cab?

Hi MHEd,

Sorry I never responded to your post but I knew we had talked via email earlier.

I would like to see if we could put a registry together for the 244s and even the I-162s!!  I know where 7 of the 162's are but it would be nice to record their numbers and where they are located.  The various 244 models would also be important to get recorded!!

Any one up for the challenge??

GTE