Massey 65 lp questions

Hello folks, I am regular over on the IH forum, but was hoping to get some help for a friend who has his nose oils on a Massey 65 on LP. We are going to look at the tractor tonight so any hints or tips would really be appreciated. He is a machinist and I ran a heavy equipment shop for years so not much scares us, which can really be hazardous to a marriage and expensive. I keep an IH 350 utility on propane and a 300 utility on gas, both with t/a running and working so I am in general comfortable with antique equipment. My friend is looking for a chore tractor for about 3 acres, which may soon increase to 7 or so acres. He is in West Texas, so cold starts are less of an issue. He will be running a blade and either a brush hog or a finish mower. No loader work. The seller has by-passed the factory tank (it is still there) and is running the tractor off of a barbeque grill tank. I am not sure what else has been done to the fuel system because the sheet metal is on in the pictures but he says "New regulators" . Tractor has new rear tires and is priced under $2000. Can someone give me the following help;
*How difficult would it be to find OEM or equivalent LP regulator and filters etc.?
*Are there any specific weaknesses on this model tractor we should be on the lookout for?
*Does this tractor have (or was it available with) down pressure?
*Does it seem appropriate to the use he has for it?
Thanks, I really appreciate any tips, hints or clues you can arm me with.
jeff
 
Kind of a big tractor for 3 - 7 acres. I don't know much about the propane setup, but one thing to look at is the planetaries on the rear axles. Remove the fill plugs, and check for water, and or rusty gear oil. The planetaries can be expensive to rebuild, they could probably cost more to rebuild than what they are asking for the tractor. For 3 -7 acres a MF35, or a MF135 (something around 40 hp) should be plenty of tractor for that amount of land.
 
Thanks for the tip, I will take tools to pull the drain plugs and suss out the planetaries. I have been pushing him towards a slightly larger tractor than he needs for mowing, as he will be using a blade, and my experience with lighter tractors with a blade has been really poor, particularly those without any down pressure. My neighbor back home is blading our road (3/4 mile of gravel) with a Super 90, and it has been a spectacular performer on blade work. jeff
 
1) LP question: Sorry, can't help there.

2) 65 weaknesses: Let me start by saying I think the 65 is a very good tractor. Power steering seems to cause many people grief. Watch the motion behind the grill on the steering parts to see if bushings look loose. If new bushings are needed in the pedestal, they are made undersize and require a line bore to replace properly. This has only been done once since my tractor was new. Power steering in ONLY one direction can many times be cured with adjustment if other parts/bushings are not too worn. Check pivot bushings on front end. They are thin walled and if worn through into castings, your buddy is going to be glad he is a machinist. Brakes are not fun to replace but doable. Two new sets on my tractor since new. Throttle shaft may need rebuilt if it is hard to keep the desired engine R.P.M. This is a piece of cake for a machinist. Hook something to the three point and see how well it lifts, lets face it this tractor is old.

3) Down pressure: If you are referring to 3 point, no-never had it. Not an option from the factory.

4) Appropriate: You bet it is. Maybe a tad big but I certainly wouldn't pass it up if it is in good shape
 
(quoted from post at 09:32:31 07/21/15) You may OR may not find drain plugs. Some had them, others only had fill plugs.


That is true, you may want to take something that you can suck the oil out with (and or one of those bore scopes). Oil leaking onto the back wheels is a not so fun fix also. I looked at buying a 65, I pulled one of the fill plugs, water came out then rust colored gear oil.

Since it has no down pressure he will need a heavy blade, or box blade.

On the plus side even though the power steering (if it has it) can cause some grief its still a good system, and not really too hard to fix.

Check the air cleaner since it has the old oil bath type, hopefully it will be hooked up, complete with the right amount of oil in it.
 

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