75 replies to this topic

[The_Mistro]

still have hand throttles on tractors now! there so nice to use, my gear change is on a little rocker switch on the side of it in our tractors!

i would guess at what it is as a 165? or a 35? but i couldnt tell you why it isnt a 135 anymore! i dont know much about the older tractors like this, always intrest me though! what intrests me is how we went from tractors like these massys to the fendts and john deeres of today, with all the computers and electronics! i was talking to a mehanic who was telling me that new holland are working on having a touch screen computer which has all the software installed for all balers, drills etc so that you just plug the attatchement into the back of the tractor and all the controls apear on the screen infront of you! compared to the days before massy came up with the 3 point hitch!

been driving our oldest tractor today, an old ford 7600, compared to the tractor i usually use, a case magnum MX285, its so hard to drive, and everything is so slow to get working! also power washed of our combine header, you could fit 5 or 6 combine headers from the era of the 135s!

3 words on new tractors, bare in mind that I use both on the regular basis..
NOT AS FUN!

but there so much more comfortable to drive and do the job so much better! i dont need a hydralic arm and leg to change gear which i did do when i drove a TW25! and i dont bang my head or bruise my backside everytime i hit a pebble on the road!

are you going to tell us what model it is? and why its not a 135?

Never had any of those problems on the old Massey's! also farming's a man's thing, no need for comforts....Man up maybe?

It technically is a 135, and had the two conversions on it...so it's equally joint between a 135 and a 165.
Any ideas on the second conversion? name not needed, but what it might have done?

wild stap in the dark, but is it 4wd? or had uprated hydralics or engine or something?

Give me a few examples where a new tractor (and bare in mind its JUST the tractor that is the cause) will do a better job than an old tractor?

the extra power and weight means that it has better traction and can therefore pull more, they are also faster, work lights are so much better, safer, better brakes, in some cases, not all i admit, more reliable . . . . . .

im not knocking old tractors at all, for some things their size and weight and lower fuel consumption are better for certain people, like somebody with a small paddock doesnt need a 300hp tractor, but a small massy and mower would be ideal, but farming on an industrial scale they are too unreliable, slow and have a lack of pulling power and traction!

[The_Mistro]

examples, hitting a wet spot and you start to bog down, flick a couple of switches, 4wd, diff lock, and nock it down a gear or two out of the 18 or so available and 9 times out of 10 you will pull straight out, do this in an old tractor with manual stick for 4 and 2wd, manual stick shift with clutch and by the time you have got it into 4wd or got the clutch down you have already got stuck!

[liirge]

I'm not restricting the old tractor criteria to just small massey's your power argument only makes sense in so much that what they are pulling and/or pushing now weighs more, however I do see where you are coming from. Weight is something I really will disagree with you on, it does NOT provide more traction on any type of hills, there are certain parts of the farm whereby you cannot take our big tractor out feasibly the ground is just too steep, and will give way. Work lights retro fit to old tractors anyway, or you just add more old ones to get the same light power!
I have no problem with new tractors, and you obviously work with the new ones mainly, however you must realise that some of these gadgets are pointless...like you say some of these buttons, WHY? in a car we still use a lever there is really no need what so ever for it! I also note your location, and from this I can make a safe assumption that most of what you are dealing with is arable? now obviously it has different requirements to us fruit boys, and you have to do large acreages a lot faster than we have to.
What tractors are you using? we're actually thinking of getting a new one in the next couple of years, so would like to know if you have any opinions on certain makes, our last one was a New Holland...what a piece of excrement!

Nope not stronger Hydraulics or 4WD (note the small front axle still)...Another clue look at the rear and see if you notice anything compared to a rear of standard 135 or 165!

[liirge]

P.S. 135's have diff lock! also we're on one of the hilliest farms in the county (no exaggeration) never had too hard a problem of getting out of any situation, including the sideways skiing!! lol

Edited by liirge, 24 July 2010 - 06:42 PM.

[The_Mistro]

yeah we are just arable, 1200 acres of milling wheat! i can see why the older tractors are useful in an orchard, especially a tractor the size of a massy! as i said in certain applications they are more effective! with banks and stuff, a lof of it is how you work it, we have very steep banks, but because our larger tractors are on larger tyres running low PSI, we can go accross them or up them in no trouble at all!

i agree some of the gadgets are pointless, and sometimes it is more effective to go back to basics! just like a mini vs a modern eurobox i suppose, they both have their pros and cons!

i think that weight does help traction, maybe not on hills as much, but it does especially when pulling, if you had 300hp in a tractor like a ford major or massy, and tried to pull a 14 tonne trailer it would sit and slip and spin! with extra weight it helps push the tyres onto the surface whatever surface it is, our tractors have loads of added weights, front weights, axel and wheel weights, some other farmers also put water into the rear tyres to add weight!

we use Case Magnums mainly, we also have a New Holland combine and Bateman sprayer! i will get some pictures of all of it and upload them when i can! i personally would like a new holland T8000 series tractor, they are essentialy a case magnum but with better technology and better weight distribution!

depending on what size and horsepower you are after, a case maxxum is a good tractor, to be honest, when we look for tractors, we also look at the dealers, we get alton really well with the new holland dealership and they really look after us, so we would go for a new holland if there wasnt a case dealer, as they are the same tractors give or take a few bits, they look after them for us anyway! the reason we have case is because they are simple tractors as a whole, especially the magnums, no complicated computers for my dad and the older part timers to get confused on!

if i was personally buying a tractor, i would stick to case or the bigger new hollands! massy are coming back strong, they went through a weak spot, John Deere are expensive to maintain but are good tractors! dont go near mccormic, there just chocolate tractors! dont know much about valtras so i cant really comment on them!



it isnt just that it didnt have a 3 point rear linkage as standard? or something to do with a PTO shaft? or wheel sizes? beefier rear axel?

[liirge]

Close with the rear axle.

I see your point on towing and weight, agree on that one.

Glad you agree that some of the stuff in these new'uns are useless!

Thanks for your recommendation of CASE, we had an old one of those years ago, it was a solid tractor that did well! As much as you recommend them New Holland have a bad reputation, they're cheap for a reason...so definitely will not get one of those! And of course we had one and it was\is nothing but trouble

Glad to finally have someone i can have a discussion about this stuff with!

Edited by liirge, 24 July 2010 - 07:11 PM.

[The_Mistro]

i really dont know! wider rear wheels or wider track?

a lot of the stuff on them is not vital and isnt needed to run the tractors, but it can be quite usefull for some people!

I have never really had anything to do with new holland tractors, but we have had many of their combines and they have always done us good, their big rotary combines are up there with Class, not quite got the reputation the lexion has but we can romp away with it, cover atleast 100 acres a day! and thats starting at around half 11 in the morning! they are supposed to be better for the drivers too!

the only other thing i would say is stay away from the CVT boxes, they might sound good, but they are nothing but trouble when it gets to a certain amount of hours!

yeah its good having people to chat to about it! me and my mate get nothing but grief when we talk about it from the others, i dont think they apprechiate that they would be very hungry without people like us! lol

[liirge]

Been up to a few bits and bobs, theres actually loads more, but i keep forgetting to take pictures!

Removed this:


Changed these:


This has been welded:




This Leaked so had to be replaced:

Difference:

New one installed:


One of the 135's stopped charging had to replace this:


The 'dashboard'

New capillary to oil gauge:



And the height of comfort:


Hopefully getting close to firing up a tractor that went up in flames 3 years ago!! fun fun fun

Edited by liirge, 05 September 2010 - 12:49 PM.

[liam_italian]

Very cool.

We still have a Massey Ferguson 35 4-cyl that gets used daily. It's getting to the age were it could probably do with a new head gasket. It's a bit of a bugger to start unless you've got a can of easy start handy!

Also got a David Brown 995 still going strong, but it could do with the clutch adjusting so the PTO will work correctly.

[liirge]

Yeah we have one that doesn't like starting, dont like using Easy start, the engine becomes addicted to the stuff, don't know why they just do!

[The_Mistro]

you still havent told us what the difference is between the 135 and 35!

not a PTO is it?

Edited by The_Mistro, 05 September 2010 - 04:55 PM.

[liirge]

was I meant to?
no its the difference between a normal 135 and this particular 135 (infact all of the ones we have).....they've all had a conversion done years ago by Lenfield...they are especially narrow, the Rear axle is shortened, and nye on impossible to replace, as we had one snap the other month!

[Tommyboy12]

Lovely old tractor the 135. My grandad has a TE20 and a MF35. At work I drive a pair of 148's among some of its more modern counterparts. One does nothing but topping and the other powers a 6000psi pressure washer so doesnt move. It will move but has no need to. Great thing about them is they are both the 3 cylinder diesels so are incredibly frugal especially seeing as neither one is ever pushed past the 1700rpm needed for a 540rpm PTO.

[liirge]

Lovely old tractor the 135. My grandad has a TE20 and a MF35. At work I drive a pair of 148's among some of its more modern counterparts. One does nothing but topping and the other powers a 6000psi pressure washer so doesnt move. It will move but has no need to. Great thing about them is they are both the 3 cylinder diesels so are incredibly frugal especially seeing as neither one is ever pushed past the 1700rpm needed for a 540rpm PTO.

Precisely! I usually cane our 135s at 2100 Belt slip speed 'to clear the valves' when driving to and from orchards on the road!

[baker_boy]

nice to see something different! weve had a few tractors over the years.. still got one.. we started off with the good ole trusty fergie diesel and that had trouble starting so we used to use easy start on it and like you said above it got addicted to it like a drug as sometimes it wouldnt start at all unless you gave it a spray of that! ha then my dad bought a nuffield 460 which we still own, then i bought a fergie petrol/parrafin as the other was my bruvs.. then he sold his fergie and bought a nuffield universal and i sold mine but didnt buy anything else.. now my bruv sold his nuffield so we only have the 460 now.. awesome tractor though, pretty quick on the road.. gets a bit hairy when the front starts bouncing around! haha!

nice build though fella,keep it up.