Big Dean's Tractor Video

jvb1

New User
Hi I am new to this website. I recently bought a 1960's vintage Massey Ferguson MF 35 Utility Front end Loader tractor. I was directed to this website to get info on where I can obtain a copy of Big Dean's tractor video. I've been having problems with my 3 pt hitch which is powered by hydraulics contained within the transmission. I definitely need to change the oil and filter. the dipstick is brownish indicating water mixed in the oil. The person who directed me here had been able to obtain the info for the kind of oil I needed from Big Dean's video. I'd appreciate some one's help.
 
Warning
When I attempted to download the files my computer security (Norton) warned me that this was a very unsafe location
Please use caution
 
Have you checked the rubber 'boots' at the bottom
end of the 2 gear sticks? if they are buggered (Or
indeed absent) that is a classic cause of how
water gets into the transmissions on those
tractors.
 

Thanks for the tip on how water may be getting into my transmission. I tried downloading Big Dean's tractor video which downloads as a compressed file. Using a free Winzip decompression application I get a warning from my ESET antivirus ap.
 
I sure miss Big Dean, a lot of knowledge died with him. Proud to have his CD and really enjoyed the one time we spoke. Quite a man
 
jvb1, the early 60's MF's had 80w90 gear oil for hydraulics, so if it hasn't been updated it would be brown and 'stinky'. If it had significant water in it, it would show milky white, or even have 'mayonaise' (thick gel) on the dip stick. If it's above freezing and it's been sitting for a couple days, you can crack the drain plug and see if any water comes out.

I think it was the '64 model year when Massey went to the then industry standard of UTF (universal tractor fluid) for gear lube and hydraulics. For a while, some farmers had separate hyd cylinders for their Masseys vs tractors of other colors that used UTF. I'm told there was a MF tech bulletin issued shortly thereafter that instructed mechanics doing service work on the rear case (such as hydraulic lift repairs), that once opened up, they should clean the case and re-fill with "Perma-tran" (Massey's pricey version of UTF). In the real world, any good quality UTF works just as well.

The choice is yours. If this is your only tractor and you don't share hydraulic equipped implements with others, you can stick with the gear lube. If you have or use equipment that uses UTF, I'd change the oil in the MF to match.
 

My MF35 Utility tractor says MF 100 on the left side and is yellow in color; appears to be original paint. Looking at Big Deans tractor CD that I downloaded from a link someone previously gave me Big Dean says perma tran was used to replace the summer and winter hyrdraulic transmission oils on older tractors before the 100 series. Because of the 100 on the side of my tractor I assume it is a 100 series and I should be good with 80/90 gear oil. The serial # of my tractor is UGM655001750. Is there anywhere I can verify my tractor model and year from the SN? Thank you for the reply to my post.
 
jvb1, Being a "utility, (sometimes known as an "industrial") factory paint would have been yellow. The utility tractors often had a loader on them, which would have been a Model "100" loader for those units. Does yours have a loader?

The '10 series' tractors (35, 50, 65, etc) looked like this: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/7/2/729-massey-ferguson-35.html and used gear lube for most of the production run.

The 100 series tractors from 1964 and up (135, 165, 185, etc) had squared off hood and fenders, like this: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/7/4/743-massey-ferguson-135.html and used Perma-tran from the factory.

I don't have access to the utility serial numbers for a 35, but the first 3 letters give the basic configuration: U (utility) G (gas) M (dual clutch, regular transmission), then the actual serial, which doesn't seem to fall within standard Ag numbers. They didn't make nearly as many utility tractors, so the xxxx1750 could well be a later model 35.

There should be a number stamped on the transmission, something to the effect of DN xxxx U I

D is the factory (Detroit), the second letter ('N') gives the year of manufacture, the 'xxxx' would be the trans serial number, U is Utility, and 'I' = factory modifications to customer specs. I don't have a key for sorting out the date codes, but someone here probably does.

Without a picture of your tractor, if yours is running gear oil, it's either pre '64, or possibly someone put gear oil in it because the seals were leaking badly with Perma-tran.
 
jvb1, Being a "utility, (sometimes known as an "industrial") factory paint would have been yellow. The utility tractors often had a loader on them, which would have been a Model "100" loader for those units. Does yours have a loader?

The '10 series' tractors (35, 50, 65, etc) looked like this: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/7/2/729-massey-ferguson-35.html and used gear lube for most of the production run.

The 100 series tractors from 1964 and up (135, 165, 185, etc) had squared off hood and fenders, like this: http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/7/4/743-massey-ferguson-135.html and used Perma-tran from the factory.

I don't have access to the utility serial numbers for a 35, but the first 3 letters give the basic configuration: U (utility) G (gas) M (dual clutch, regular transmission), then the actual serial, which doesn't seem to fall within standard Ag numbers. They didn't make nearly as many utility tractors, so the xxxx1750 could well be a later model 35.

There should be casting codes on the transmission just in front of the dipstick, which should be something like: "B 24 L"
First letter is month, A= Jan, L= Dec; then the day (1-31), then a letter for the year (I=1960, L=1964).

Without a picture of your tractor, if yours is running gear oil, it's either pre '64, or possibly someone put gear oil in it because the seals were leaking badly with Perma-tran.

Hope that helps.
 
(quoted from post at 03:52:31 01/16/15) Have you checked the rubber 'boots' at the bottom
end of the 2 gear sticks? if they are buggered (Or
indeed absent) that is a classic cause of how
water gets into the transmissions on those
tractors.

The rubber boots are in bad shape. Do you know where I might get some new ones? I see you are in the UK and I'm in Canada, but if you could direct me somewhere it would be much appreciated. Thank you for the info!
 
(reply to post at 20:15:14 01/18/15)

My tractor has a front end loader.

Looking at the photos in the links you posted I would say mine is rounded on the front hood; not squarish

I could not find any numbers on the transmission corresponding to DNxxxxUI. All I could find is the # 183253M5 on the right side in front of the transmission dipstick and the # 189459M1 on the left side beneath the gear shifter.
 
Sounds like you have a 35 utility tractor (looks like the red MF 35 farm tractor). If you don't have a shuttle shift you need 2 boots part number 180579M3.

If you have a shuttle shift you need 1 boot part number 180579M3, and 1 boot part number 190697M1 plus the clamp for it 832826M1 (if you have shuttle shift 190697M1 is hard to find, my 2135 industrial uses the same boots)
 
The shift boots are part# 180579M3. Check the YT store here - the prices are good, and shipping is fast. You can also Google the part# and see what comes up.
 
(quoted from post at 22:56:37 01/18/15) Sounds like you have a 35 utility tractor (looks like the red MF 35 farm tractor). If you don't have a shuttle shift you need 2 boots part number 180579M3.

If you have a shuttle shift you need 1 boot part number 180579M3, and 1 boot part number 190697M1 plus the clamp for it 832826M1 (if you have shuttle shift 190697M1 is hard to find, my 2135 industrial uses the same boots)

I have what they call the 6 speed transmission; a gear shifter on the left with R, 1, 2, and 3 and a high/low shifter on the right.
 
(quoted from post at 23:04:30 01/18/15) I have the BigDeans tractor download on my computer, I can email it.

Thank you I managed to download it. It was a compressed file. I managed to open it with some free software that didn't issue warnings from my antivirus software ESET. Any one looking for free decompression software and not wanting to pay $25 for Win Zip I recommend Free Viewer, http://www.freeviewer.com/
 

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