MF135 restoration.

Got some photos of my restoration (not finished yet!) of my 1967 MF 135, that has been in the family from new. Made in Coventry,
England, Perkins AD3 152, Mechanically good, but tin work, wheels etc pretty rusty. Tin and wheels have been powder coated - local
guys made a great job. Have fitted a ROPS 'cos the grandkids will learn to drive it. Will restore and re-fit the MF80 loader at the
end.Hope some of you guys find it interesting!
Jim (Scotland)

Thanks for sharing Sir....

Bob. North Western Alberta Canada..........Owner of a 1963 MF FE-35 X....

Yes, thanks, but tell us more about your barn. Looks very solid.

Well done on the 135. Yes the stonework on your building is also impressive, what approx age? It humbles my oak board and batten walls!

I third the request for more about the barn! Looks to be about...300? Repairs and alterations every 80 or 90 i suppose? Floor is poured concrete? I love the brick and cobble stone flooring there.
Oh, yeah. Nice tractor....

Nice job on the tractor, love the stone walls your building has.

Ha, ha, ha! Thanks, guys!

OK, the barn. First of all, this is at my daughter's place, and probably dates from around 1850, a time when in Scotland lots of small farms were being lumped together to make bigger units. These larger farms typically consisted of a range of buildings round a courtyard ? the barn in the picture originally formed one side. This one is built of sandstone (most older Scottish farm buildings are built of the local stone) and would have had a timber and slate roof. It would have been on two floors, and would have housed the hay barn, threshing machinery, grain loft, various stores etc. It was about 200 feet long by about 20 feet wide, and totally useless for modern agriculture!

Anyway, by the time my daughter and son-in-law bought the place, it was no longer a farm ? most of the land sold off and the buildings, including this one, mostly roofless and derelict (except for the house, which is the bit they wanted). To provide storage for horse trailer, caravan, etc etc (and her dad's tractor and Kubota digger!) we erected a steel framed building inside the footprint of this old barn to give it a new roof (as you can see in the first pic), repaired and pointed the old stonework and poured a concrete floor. One end was sectioned off for a secure workshop with a kids playroom above, and a big section of one wall left open for vehicle access.

Thanks for the interest! Jim

Looks pretty useful to agriculture from here! Can't arc weld in a North American hay barn...not twice anyway...
1850? Seems ages older than that. Thanks for telling us about it.

Hi Jim,
You've done a superb job on the restoration. Errr by the way the loader shown in the photo is an MF 40 model.


Cheers

DavidP, South Wales

Hi David, you are of course correct - slip of the whatsit ! Sorry!

David, a bit of advice you maybe can give me ? The handle on the link levelling box now fouls the ROPS when the lift is fully up. Am I best to buy a new handle and then heat it and modify the shape, or are there any proprietory ones out there with a longer straight shank?
Cheers, Jim

Fantastic 135 restoration. And I too, like the stone barn!

Jim
I have had the same problem with the lift arm handle fouling on the ROPS on my FE35. However, in practice it is not an issue, lower the lift arms before adjusting. If I have a plough on the arms, I cannot turn the lift arm handle when the weight of the plough is on the arms. If I lower it, so that the weight is on the ground, I can turn the handle. I have never needed to turn the handle with the lift arms raised.
Simon
Holmrook, Cumbria

You did a super job. You should be proud. Yes, we all would like a stone barn here in the US, but it would be so costly.