ferguson 35 gold belly?

I am considering a ferguson 35 tractor with a 23c four cylinder standard diesel engine, originally a grey and gold paint scheme. It will be used as a run about tractor for hauling fruit bin trailers in an Australian
sub tropical climate Citrus orchard, driven by itinerant fruit pickers, so needs to be reliable and largely indestructable. A partially restored mf 135 with a 3cyl perkins has survived thus far. The 23c owner says the
machine all functions well but can be difficult to start, ive heard that this engine has a poor reputation, can any one tell me why? and how could its poor starting be remedied simply, and, or are there other issues
inherent? I would appreciate any comments thanks.
 
Hi, in the UK the four-cylinder 35 is a far from popular tractor. Having said that it has a very sweet engine once running. The problem as I understand it is largely down to compression. When everything is new and the compression is at full spec there will be no problem. As the compression begins to drop a little that is when the problems occur. The cylinder head was made by Ricardo-Comet and does not have the fuel and air mix design of more efficient engines. If memory serves correctly Masseynut in Australia has had a degree of success in installing heater plugs in each cylinder.

Hope this helps

DavidP, South Wales
 
Here in The Netherlands the 4-cylinder is also not very popular. I fear that when your tractor is difficult to start there is only one way to fix it: rebuild the engine.
 
'Itinerant fruit pickers'... that describes 15% of the US population.... that ain't so itinerant any more.
In general that is a rather tough easy to repair tractor with easy to find rather inexpensive spares... except that particular engine.
Mine is a smokey... world famously smokey, MF35 with 23C. As David said, a compession of ??? +400 pounds? is what they need to act new, I couldn't get a shop to help me, so I got 325 on my own so far, which just isn't enough. So I will tear into it again one of these days, plane the head this time.
So if it isn't doing anything but drive you deaf and not start easy, well yeah, if it has preheaters or glow plugs, you got to use em. Or a small shot of ether will get it going, people want to crucify me for saying it, but the 'risk' of damaging an already worn engine, and getting 99 starts out of 99 cents makes it easy to sleep at night...
A couple Canuks dragged this one to the FENA meet in Indiana last year. I offered them a case of beer for it, but no deal. La Batt Ice too, but they didn't go for it....
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As always I'm lurkin. Seldom to write unless I'm broke down. I greatly enjoy Tony's smokey 23C. I, however rebuilt a 23C with different results than Tony. A complete rebuild excepting the crank, it was still good. Mine does have the glow plugs which it requires to start anywhere in the -25C to +25C range. But it always starts. One 45 second heater in the summer, two in the winter. It has started at -22C to plow snow.Mine has been a real work horse. It was used every other day to plow the yard this winter at my home in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Not long ago I showed the video to an old friend who is a long haul trucker. Right away he asked if I had the head planed, I told him the machine shop gave up on my project as hopeless, and didn't do anything but the crank, which they sent out. My friend told me to get the head done and get a couple new gaskets, and that smoke will go away- cause it isn't smoke to his eyes, it's steam. I can't argue, over the years, far as I remember, smell was never brought up, and yeah, it doesn't have much of a smell at all, a typical exhaust without a diesel stench. If I find the time next week, I will start pullin her apart...again...
I suppose the 50 years of Perkins perfection gave the poor Standards a dodgy reputation, but yep, if you can find 'support'- they are not out of the race. We are tractor guys. I wonder how many British Leyland trucks vans and taxis are still running on them?
The first time I searched online... the first 2 pages of results were fishing boat repair shops... and that's where I bought the CAV injector pump kit...
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thanks for your comments it is as i suspected, might be best left alone,, but wasnt that an impressive paint scheme??? and a can of ether,, do i need the headache??
 
Pete

It is worth looking around for a 35 or 35x or 135 etc with the Perkins diesel. They now take some finding, but if you a patient you will find one. 35 with properly reconditioned standard engine will do the job, but no where near as good as one with Perkins.
 
Here are the pictures that didn't show in the last post. Taken on Easter Day. Lots of of snow here and the bunnies were hopping ! Note the tire chains. These are
what we use north of the border. We call them ring chains. Not quite the same as the south of the border ring cahins.

Thanks
Alan
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We call those 'bear paws' around here. I might still have a set someplace. dunno.
I don't know if my diesel is suppose to have a hood like yours, or what it has now, the same as a TO35. I like yours. Good looking machine, but what a way to spend Easter Sunday eh? It rained a lot down here all that weekend.
 
I remember my Dad had a set of those chains on his skidder. Pretty rugged and agressive.
 

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