nathan Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 500 was good to drive, but felt unsafe in the steep where the 100 felt safer, the 500's cabs had some sharp edges in the cab too. i saw a kid at college drive a 565 over a speed bump too fast and flew up out the seat and almost take his nose clean off, and i've never driven a 500 with even brakes( gone down a few steep fields a bit faster than tractors should) the 500's were good when we were cutting caulis gearing was just right for walking/cutting and would pull good in the mud. then we got 290's and then 390's so the two 500's went up the road, shame really. but the boss must of missed the 500's coz one 4wd with loader turned up one day. we did have a 135 that would catch fire by the battery. i drove that the first day i started my farming life, the boss explained how it all work than said ' oh yeah sometimes it gets a bit hot in there(pointing at the battery) if you see fire and theres not water bout pee on it like i do" i thought he was joking but turns out he wasn't, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 i think it's easy to pick fault with any tractor cabs from that era as by & large it was a learning curve for all manufacture's. the only people who can really comment on the good's & bad's are the people who worked with them from new , yes of course the 500 series cab was a step forward , you ask anybody who used a baler behind a 100 tractor with dust drifting into the cab & making you itch for the rest of the day & then having a 500 with a back window keeping the dust out ! also the same in the winter ,rain driving into the back of the cab as opposed to being completely sealed off to the awfull wether outside . the weight of the new cab obviously affected the performance ,the extra weight for one being the main culprit. all in all it was an improvment in tractor design , & like many others cab comfort varied as to what options were ordered when the tractor was new . after the 500 the 600,200& 300 came along the 600 was leaps ahead in cab design for MF with tried & tested mechanincs & a lower rated db sound proofing it was a good place to spend the day , although the rake of the steering wheel as to upright for my liking was improved in the later years when it was made to be adjustable. The cheaper version of the time was the 200 series again tried & tested mechanincs , but lacking in the cab department in the UK various cabs were offered , the very early 200 resembling 500series bonnets wit basic duncan /lambourne cabs fitted , but were then offered with the duncan de-lux cab or lower profile sekura cabs, got to admit although rather dated in design the duncan cab gets my vote . the flimsy sekura version would rattle itself to pecies, door hinges break off & not a brilliant driving position . vast improvement were then made with the 300 series tractors with a decent cab built specificaly for this tractor which was improved upon as the years went on. me personally ? having been aquainted with these tractors they were all great to drive , ............... well of couse they were it was back in the good old days , but not being a tractor driver anymore , i had the choice of a 575 or a 168 , i bought the 168 simply because it has more character & is fun to drive . The 100 series masseys ,the early 600 fords , the david brown 990,995 etc were all basic no nonsence tractors & this is why they will always be favorites . hmm sorry chaps i seem to have gone off into a world of my own \ all in all proper tractors back in a day when the driver still had somthing to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurodeere Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Agree with most you say MJB1 BUT did anyone ever manage to stay in the Sauna of a fully closed 500 series cab baling in August?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Agree with most you say MJB1 BUT did anyone ever manage to stay in the Sauna of a fully closed 500 series cab baling in August?? was hot but then the side windows did tilt outwards ,ok some dust in, but not as much as the old 100 series allowed in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 was hot but then the side windows did tilt outwards ,ok some dust in, but not as much as the old 100 series allowed in or you could wait till you were out of the hedge & have the door open ! only to catch it on the first telegraph pole you forgot about :D been ther done that .twice , i'm sure i'm not on my own remember with the 500's you had a blower for clearing the windscreens & if you were lucky heater that worked , & creme de le creme , you could opt for a wait for it thats right a wireless radiogram so you could listen to radio 1 on good old crackly 275/285 MW that right you too could laugh along to someones misfortune on simon bate's our tune , guess who sang 'toast' in the 70's or 'johnny remember me' from the 60's at 10 o'clock at the golden hour , listen to the desparately unfit DJ who's so cool ,dance around the stage at the summer radio 1 roadshow, play along to 'bits & peices' & smiley miley to guess the distance from Lyme Regis to Great Yarmouthon with quite litterly mate ,hunderd & dozen people with nothing better to do, steve wright with his geese & his now awfull jingles but were brilliiant in the day remember this one guys & galls ! i'm all wright , you're all wright everyone's feeling allwright to night , nows the time to sing this song, & if you're all wright we can't go wrong ! OHH my god i cant believe i still remember that [ [ see what he did there ? he used his name , in this case wrig...... to replace the word ...... righ..... haaaa haaaa haaa hooo ha, h un mm er yes well you get it i'm so lonely \ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 that was one option we did have, uncles used to hate me coming back into the yard with the windows open, door open and queen blasting out from radio one, grandad used to think it was great, as all his kids listened to it anywayhe was of the less religious side of the familly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurodeere Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 That hinged side window was of no use what so ever, the sliding window at least let some air into the cab. Didn't knock one door, but I did know one chap that caught the water trough, same result as a telegraph pole! 300 series were the machines to operate with the doors open. 500 series blowers, ahh yes those that forced warm dusty air into yer face, great idea! Yep, wireless mounted on the top of the dash with a single speaker above it, Saturday mornings were best with snooker on the radio and the proposal of decimal time, good old D.L.T. Listening to the the entire Friday Rock show meant bad weather arriving and lunch times mean't no radio since silence was better than that bl***y oohhh gary davies ooohhhh gary davies on your radio. Now he did make me sick and I'm even now feeling bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 any one remember the new fandangled trip for the loader on the 500series tractors ? was a big button linked to an electronic spool just ahead of the cab , press the button,which would hit a sprung coil of thin wire rope to automaticly trip the bucket very little used as the new 80 powerloader was also released with hudraulic crowd rams , but if not you kept hitting the button with yer foot till in would break , then a bit of rope was threaded through the side window to pull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurodeere Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Ahhhh, the wonderful 80 trip loader, what a great idea, not enough weight on the forks and the bl**dy thing wouldn't trip or too much on the forks and the electric motor didn't have enough power to pull the arm. Then the motor burns out and you end up attaching a piece of wire through the side window and the catch releases every time! (and I thought I was the only one to have made this excellent modification) On top of that you could have hydraulic rams to tip the bucket or forks etc but the moment you had a grab the arms were used to power that and the trip was for tipping the fork, no choice. Loader controls built into the cab but seemingly at floor level. Foot controls and steering wheel aligned for sit up and back in the seat but seat back, gear sticks and loader controls for a hunchback, what ergonomics! Add in constant pumping hydraulics and a massif door with an overcentre catch plus pickup hitch lever outside the back of the cab. The owner required a deformed contortionist of a driver to fully exploit the 500 series tractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 we only had the hydrallic version of the 80, and that was fitted to a 290 duncan cabed lady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Ahhhh, the wonderful 80 trip loader, what a great idea, not enough weight on the forks and the bl**dy thing wouldn't trip or too much on the forks and the electric motor didn't have enough power to pull the arm. Then the motor burns out and you end up attaching a piece of wire through the side window and the catch releases every time! (and I thought I was the only one to have made this excellent modification) On top of that you could have hydraulic rams to tip the bucket or forks etc but the moment you had a grab the arms were used to power that and the trip was for tipping the fork, no choice. Loader controls built into the cab but seemingly at floor level. Foot controls and steering wheel aligned for sit up and back in the seat but seat back, gear sticks and loader controls for a hunchback, what ergonomics! Add in constant pumping hydraulics and a massif door with an overcentre catch plus pickup hitch lever outside the back of the cab. The owner required a deformed contortionist of a driver to fully exploit the 500 series tractor. yep not forgetting trying to get the quick release couplings to attatch , then finding they're still under pressure & having to walk all the way back around the tractor to dump any pressure from the spools then walk all the way back roundto do it all again ! & thats along with the fact the loader supports won't slide back up into the holders as they've been bent from being scrapped along the floor ahh good days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurodeere Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 The solution to the loader supports was to throw them away then invest in a length of rope and another loader and tractor then you could lift the 80 loader off the ground and attach to the original tractor using the new investments. Those quick release couplings also needed some baler twine to hold them open after the spring clips had expired. The other thing to remember was once you started loading you had to be careful the tractor did not split itself at the bell housing. Wonderful memories of 500 series tractors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB1 Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 wonderfull memories ? well for me yes ok compared to the ford bubble cab it was cramped & spartan but at least the 500 series was offered with power assisted steering , where as for a long while i think power steering was an option on the ford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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