I hadn't done much but tow trailers with the 30 since I brought it home two weeks ago. This morning seemed a good time to tackle a grove of sumacs which were obstructing the view of the road, so I grabbed a logging chain, fired up the Massey, and set to work.The first thing I noticed (apart from the ice-cold seat) is that there is a place to put stuff. A chain dropped on the floor remains there. My other tractors have no such space. It's easy to get on and off. The parking brake works very well, with little effort required to set it. The brakes are excellent. Of course the recent engine starts well and runs very smoothly. The 30's mass makes short work of the sumacs, though I am glad I have a hardhat and hard earmuffs on as the taller upper branches whip down around my ears. Maybe I'll find a longer, lighter chain next time. The hardest part of the job is lifting the chain. I tow the sumacs out and form a windrow in the field. When pulling I notice none of the light front end of the Ferguson TEA20. That extra thousand pounds and the low tow bar make a difference. The morning goes by. Everything works perfectly. The Massey's engine just keeps gurgling along, the transmission grating a bit going into gear each time, but nothing that seems damaging. I am working across an increasingly steep slope, but the tractor feels more stable than my MF35 in a similar situation. The afternoon's work is hauling the brush a half mile to a pile. The Massey is pretty slow, so I use 4th gear for the light load. On a long hill I watch the temp gauge creep up from below 130 almost to 160, and then drop back as soon as we top the hill. Six loads and the job is done. The 30 seems to have been made for this kind of work. I dread to think of what it would be like to operate PTO implements with this layout, but for pulling I like it a lot. My 35 Perkins is a good PTO machine, but the tradeoff is awkward mounts and dismounts, and when the work calls for a hundred or more climbs on and off the tractor in a day's work, I'll use the 30.
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