Massey Discussion Forums > Massey Talk > tractor design faults
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RE:tractor design faults

That tractor would be a piece of cake compared to the mounting of a Pony or Pacer. I need a ladder or an overhead crane to get on mine.

RE:tractor design faults

Jerry,

I have a Pacer and I can assure you that it is easier! 

I also have a Pony Vineyard - now that really is a teaser to get on and off!!!  And there is not much room for booted feet either to operate the vitals!  You need feet that rotate through 180 degrees to get off.

John

RE:tractor design faults

Is it just me, or have some of the posts in this thread disappeared?  It seems like there were some other posts about brake pedals and the locking mechanisms.

Ike

RE:tractor design faults

Ike,

Have just checked and I think everything is still there that should be.  Are you thinking of a post by MasseyH (GaryE) who mentioned the awkward brake latch on the Ponys?  That is still on.

John

RE:tractor design faults

Everthing is there now.  Yesterday, I only had one page of posts on this thread.  I guess I should have waited a day to question it.  Must have been something on my end. :-)

Ike

RE:tractor design faults

Just thought of another irritant regarding the TE 20 Ferguson tractors.  The one on the farm at home bought new by my Dad did an awful lot of rowcrop work - potatoes, cabbage/cauliflowers, lettuce and the like.  So we often had to change the track settings.  The front was easy but the rear involved undoing the 6 bolts that held the wheel rim to the wheel centre.  These were about 6 inches long and had a fine thread.  The bolts had a dome head with a small lug on the inner side to grip into a notch in the wheel rim.

The fine threads could get horrendously tight due to exposure to water, mud and manure.  Whilst it was often possible to get them undone about 3 threads, once that little lug could come out of the notch it was exceedingly difficult to get a grip of the dome head, particularly with certain wheel settings where it became very recessed between the rim and the wheel centre.  Eventually we threw the lot away and fitted coarse thread bolts with a standard head and a strong spring washer.  And despite our initial doubts they rarely ever came loose as had been our fear - the fine thread bolts were to overcome this potential problem.

John

RE:tractor design faults

Thinking Ferguson again, it dawned on me this afternoon that the much heralded Ferguson open ended wrench (spanner!) was not the most ideal piece of kit once nut and bolt heads became worn or the threads rusted up.  A ring type wrench (spanner!) would have been much more positive and indeed equivalent size ring wrenches (spanners!) were made specially for Ferguson owners over here.


John 

RE:tractor design faults

Back to the MH and Wallis U frame tractors.  Can there be anything more tedious and fiddly than replacing the bottom radiator hose?  Why did they not have a rigid cast hose like on the top of the radiator to the cylinder head? 

Bruised knuckles and bad language are the common result of this operation!

John

RE:tractor design faults

I called on an old friend of mine Huw Gruffyd - originally a Welsh man but now living in the north of England at Penrith and running an award winning fish and chip shop.

Anyway, good Massey food aside, over the past few years he has got heavily into collecting and restoring early MF tractors.  And does he know the detail of these?!!!!

I asked him if he would send me some design faults related to these tractors so here is his first:

"common to all Ferguson35/65 and 100 series tractors is the fuel tank position.  He says a simple job such as removing the injectors became a nightmare - hood (bonnet!) off firts and then the tank" 

Yes Huw - I seem to recall this on our 35s on the farm at home!

John

RE:tractor design faults

Huw's second gripe about MF tractors is about the inboard brakes on the MF 65/165 and similar tractors.  The axle trumpets had to be removed to access and service or renew the brakes.  Quite a big job making a simple but necessary task difficult and beyond the scope of most home workshops.

Next one please Huw as soon as you are ready!

John