allis8550

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/rare-universal-hobbies-massey-ferguson-65-tractor_W0QQitemZ280281345627QQihZ018QQcategoryZ91592QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

            Does this seem very expensive to anyone? [ postage very reasonable though]

gives me something to have a play with when another bonnet comes along , cheers for lenghtening size, so is the 6190 bonnet bigger again?

              No , 6180 and 6190 are physically the same size, just a horsepower boost.

best get some 6150 decals , always thought 6180 bonnet was to short ,but how short?

              Britains 6180 bonnet needs lengthening by approx 10mm for an accurate 6180, but is spot on for a 4 cylinder , eg. 6150. Makes you wonder if britains measured and tooled up for a 6150, then decided to change the decals to a 6180, without changing the mouldings.

It's possible the Perkins engines may be phased out in the future, but for the time being I can't see this happening, most of the MF ranges seem to have a parrallel Perkins/Sisu line up, as many operators will prefer one engine over the other. 

Nice work, but the Britains 6180 bonnet is a bit short, badge it up as a 6150 and your spot on.

Nice Marky, now, how about a wooden car, you know the type of thing,

wooden body,

wooden wheels,

wooden engine,

wooden go.

No not without a lot of work , mudguards on the 6100's and 6200's are angled not curved, also cab roof is different . Basically this cab only suits the 54/64/7400's and 8400's.

What a wonderful pice of kit pops...

That machine is circa 1974.. it replaced the 1800 (released in 1971)..

The hitch on the back is an MF 8 rapid coupler... very popular in the states... never took off over here for some strange reason

           If you look closely Marky, it's not the same as the MF 8 ,very similar but not the same. Note the tubular top rail and the straight, not angled sides, probably an aftermarket hitch. And of course the 1500/1800 series tractors in the UK were delivered without a three-point linkage and fitted with a linkage in this country that was designed by Dowdswell.

you can usually pick these up around the fairs for about a tenner, with or without a loader.

No doubt about it the 500 series were a great advance in tractor design when introduced, integrally designed cab was a great deal better than the cab on the 100 series tractors. And you have to remember this cab was introduced in response to the pending introduction of Q-cab regulations by the Government.

          Apparently Ford were stunned by the 500 series, as all they had managed at this time was to add some sound deadening material to their existing cabs. Similarly IH had added sound deading material to the 74 series cabs and only introduced a purpose designed Q-cab with the introduction of the XL cab.

Nice pics,but can anyone answer this? why ,even on a perfectly still day, it starts blowing a gale as soon as you unroll a silage sheet?

For a breakage like this, I find the best way is to drill a small hole in the part and its location , then rejoin with a piece of thin brass rod and superglue. the resulting repair is stronger than the original join.

Mate of mine runs two Fiat 110-90's , and loves them. Absolutely bomb proof engine and gearbox and no electronics to go wrong. The other alternative I would suggest would be a MF 4260/70 or 4360/70, once again very little in the way of electronics to go wrong.

  The Autumn 2008 issue of Classic Massey Magazine arrived this morning, looks like a good read. Items on grey and red, FE35's and MF35's, birth of the 135, the 1130 and lot's more. Oh! and on the model pages there's an article about some bloke called Mark Channel, who appears to have a fair collection of MF models, anybody ever heard of him?

http://www.toptractor.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=34

New listing by Toptractor, now we won't have to convert one.

great pics mate, that cab top looks like a low profile / loader one, did it have a glass hatch between the lightas at the front??? never seen one in the flesh, but have seen it in brouchures ect

as for barrys fluff machine, dam are you sure its big enough,lot of acres to cover up there mate after all :D

    Nice pics Marky, in the one line up you can see both types of cab roof, the visio roof with the loader window between the front cab lights and the flat topped low profile roof.

I get both "Classic Tractor" and "Tractor and Machinery", and I find between the two most of my interests are well covered.

MF 4235

MF 6180

1949 Allis Chalmers B

1950 Allis Chalmers B

1949 Allis Chalmers G

1963 Allis Chalmers ED40

Ford 1210

Nice build there, looking good. I like the way you've machined the casting out to take the V8, by the way where did you get the engine? Going to be a lovely tractor.

Wow! that's a stunner Sean, you'd better send it up to Wales. It's just what I need to complete my MF artic line up.

Nice little MF there, will look great with the decals on.

A pair of MF865 combines with power-flow headers combining OSR.

  Lovely convo, looks great with the loader.

      Don't buy a Deere at all , but buy a Massey , someone was writing in Sept "Classic Tractor" , and saying that a local contractor had a Massey on demo . He was amazed to find it was using 35 litres a day less diesel, hauling silage trailers than his JD's, this equated to £150 saving over a six day week, not bad with fuel prices like they are.

The Ford FW series tractors were based on the Series III Steiger Panther, but fitted with Cummins V8 engines ranging from 210 hp in the FW20 to 325 hp in the FW60 , whilst the Steiger Panther had a Cummins 6 cylinder inline engine rated at 310 or 325 hp. However the upgraded Euro spec FW60 had a 6 cylinder Cummins rated at 325hp. British FW 's were also fitted with an optional 5.7 ton capacity three point linkage built by Dowdeswell.

                The ERTL Steigers and FW's use the same casting, so ignoring small details a simple paint job should produce a Steiger Panther series III.