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Oliver 1850 vs Massey Ferguson 1100

O

OliverKid26

Member
Hey I am looking to pickup a "big" tractor for my farm and was wondering what the opinions out there are on the Oliver 1850 and the Massey Ferguson 1100. Both have the 354 perkins motor which is supposed to be pretty solid and easy to get parts for. Any other pros and cons? The Oliver 1850 diesel seems to be more expensive than the 1100s. Also it seems that there are more of them around. Is there a reason the Massey is a little cheaper? Would love to hear the pros and cons of each. Tractor would pull a small chisel plow, possibly a 4 bottom plow, 14ft cultimulcher, 16ft disk, and maybe a small no-till drill.

Thank you.
 
Thoe 2 Perkins engines are the same size, but a lot of the parts are different and a lot will not interchange either.
 
Which one do you think is better? If I remember right there are tons of variations of the 354. I think the 2-105 has a different variation from the 1850 and the 1100 as well correct?
 
I was told once there is 107 different versions of the 354. I overhauled a 1850 diesel for a neighbor who had a nephew that worked for Massey. The 1850 owner got the overhaul set from this nephew. When I started putting things together some of the gaskets were wrong, including the timing cover gasket. That was when I found out how many versions of this engine are lurking out there.
 
The Oliver is twice the tractor the MF 1100 is. Guys love the Oliver 1850s and few like the MF 1100. That is the reason the Oliver 1850 sells higher than the MF 1100. If you would drive them both you would see the difference right away.
 
I have run them both in years past. My preference would be Oliver green. Brother in law had a
couple of 1100's. Both of them had transmission input shaft problems. Had to take them to a
machine shop, have them built up and new splines cut. I liked the hyd on the Oliver better than
MF. MF seemed to be a little heaver, oliver seemed to be a little more nimble if you could call it
that.
 
Oliver probably has a bit better
hydraulic system. They are both
functional tractors. And also both
getting to the point of being
disposable power. If they break it's
hard to justify fixing.

If the Massey has a pressure control
hitch it can be a PITA.
 
I would use the Massey for heavy field work and the 1850 being smaller works better for chores. I love my 1850, but I
cuss the hydraulics a lot of times trying to hook and unhook from the remotes. I like the hitches on the Masseys better
also.
 
I have family that at one time owned an 1850 oliver, they loved it but it sucked fuel. Even though both tractors have a 354
perkins the oliver was fuel hog compared to the guys I know that own 1100 masseys.

That said using an 1850 for a small farm wouldnt break the bank on fuel so in the end it comes down to parts. Do you have a parts
source locally for either tractor?
 
The very late 1850s had the over/under available, while the early had the two speed shift like the 1100s had. The 9B SN 1100s were much improved over the early ones, dad bought his 1100 new in 1971 and has 7000 plus hours now, head has never been off. Not sure about 1850 hydraulics whether open or closed but 1100 was a closed center system. Injection pumps had changes too, 1850 and early 1100 had the small quill drive shaft that were prone to break, later 1100 came with the uprate hub drive that Oliver changed to only when a failure occurred for service. 1850 pumps had 9MM plungers while the 1100 came with 7.5MM plungers. Like most used equipment, depends on past care and parts support..
 
The 1100's had some trouble breaking the PTO clutch drum also, and that is not that much fun to fix. I would would pay more for the Oliver.
Some of the Perkins 354's of that era were produced with low actual compression ratio making them hard starting, fuel sucking, always dark exhaust, and poor on power. I don't know if color made any difference. They ran great, started easy, and were efficient, if the piston stand out was correct.
 
Brown Swiss Change your couplers to the newer style Cross couplers with the lever that allows you to hook them under pressure. I switched my Oliver 1655 over and it made a world of difference. Tisco handles them.
a218836.jpg
 
The 1850 is a good solid tractor. The open center hydraulic system works pretty well. it probably works just as well as the closed center system in the 4010-4020 JD tractors. The 2 speed or the 3 speed shifts are very reliable under constant heavy use. Parts are available. The Perkins is one of the better cold starting engines of the era. The brakes are mechanically operated. The PTO is a manual engagement. The 1850 is one of those rare tractors that no matter what the "experts" say it is worth, it's worth whatever it costs to keep it running.

Unless you are trying to plow concrete, the 1850 should pull a 4 bottom plow like it's hardly there at all.
 
The perkins engine is great but very prone to leaks or should I say seapage.The Massey has a poor hyd design. The filter for the system is after the oil has been thru both pumps.If you get anything in the oil it ruins the hyd pump. There was an aftermarket kit to add a filter back on the side of the trans. that took care of this problem. I saw lots of 180,1080,1100 tractors sell for next to nothing due to hyd. problems. Tom
 
That was my reaction! Super easy on fuel. I use my 1850 for every job that's possible to use it on.
 
If you belong to the HPOCA I did a short article on the development of the 354 Perkins. The 1850 is the first version of the 354 in farm equipment. The 2-105 and the 2-85 whites used 2 different versions of the 354 engine one being the dot one engine and the later ones using the dot 4 engines. I don't know if there are a 107 versions of those engines but it probably does not miss it too far. That is also why when these guys want a cheap overhaul for an 1850 and they buy a M-F combine engine it is not a direct drop in. There are at least 2 different oil pan gaskets and at one time there 5 different head gaskets depending on which dot series engine you had.
 
I would opt for the 1850 especially a late model one with over/under and detent remotes(not hydra-lectric)
 
Thanks everyone for the input. I have good dealer support for both Massey's and Oliver's so getting parts for either should be pretty easy.

It sounds like most favor the Oliver. I guess that is why they are a bit more expensive, especially the late models with the 3 speeds. I always thought the 1850 hydraulics were known to be slow and
not great, but from what it sounds like the 1850 has better hydraulics than the 1100.

I guess I will be on the lookout for a very nice 1850 diesel with a 3 speed and hold off on the Massey's.
 
If I got a 2-105 I would probably get one with a cab. I think a 2-105 would be a good fit down the road just not for the time being.

Thanks for your help though.
 
I have spent some time on an Oliver 1655 and Massey 180 and definitely prefer being on the Oliver but I didn't mind the Massey either. The 3 speed is a huge plus for haying especially compared to the multi-power of the MF's.

Any specific issues you see with the Massey's? I was also looking into getting a 1080 but would obviously have to have smaller equipment.
 
I guess my question would be which variations are preferred? I know people love the 2-105's but is the 354 in the 1100 better/worse than the 354 in the 1850?

I did hunt down your article in the magazine. Thanks for referring me to it, I thought it was a great, educational read.
 
One other thing. The Multi-Power Massey cannot be towed to start it. Any Hydra-Power/Hydraul-Shift Oliver can be towed to start them.
 
The MF 1100 had transmission and hydraulic issues. The MF 1080s where better but still seemed clumsy to me to operate.
 
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