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I farmed with a 1952 44 way back when. I can't think of any particular weak spot. In general, the 44's were a good, solid workhorse. The power steering is a big plus. The stuck engine is the big question mark. The 44's had a wicked road gear. I timed mine at 25 mph once. I gotta tell this story. I bought this 44 originally, then after a few years I sold it to my father. He used it for various things for 6 years or so. Then, one day I was at his place and we happened to walk by the Massey. I asked him how it was doing. He replied, "To be perfectly honest, I think the engine's shot. It will run on only 2 or 3 cylinders". I asked him what he was going to do with it. He said, "I'm not going to put any money into it. If you want it, you can have it". So, I putted home (about a mile) with it on 3 cylinders at the most. When I got home, I started to check the ignition points and noticed the carbon button and spring were missing out of the distributor cap. As it happened, I had a VAC Case that, by coincidence, took the same Delco Remy distributor cap. I borrowed the cap off the Case and took off down the road, away from my father's place. When I hit full throttle in road gear, you wouldn't believe the black soot and crud that flew out of the exhaust. I ran several miles down the road, turned around and came back, and by the time I got back to my place it was running like new. The pipe was even burning out white. I stashed it at my mother-in-law's place about 12 miles away, in case I ever needed a tractor over there. My father never mentioned it again, and I never volunteered anything.
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