Massey Ferg ground speed PTO

jamstra · Jul 4, 2017

I'm sure this must have been discussed before but, as a newbie to the forum, can I ask if anyone ever found a use for the Massey Ferguson 'ground speed' PTO? I have owned and operated various MF tractors on farms for over 50+ years, and as I was contemplating my 1967 MF 135 the other day I realised that I had NEVER used the ground speed option for the PTO! What on earth was it intended for?

Ron Muhlenkamp · Jul 4, 2017

Ads often showed raking hay, Ferguson patented PTO parallel bar rakes before any one else. Ground speed PTO allowed you to rake in hi gear with low throttle. Also it allowed you to (carefully!) reverse the direction of the PTO by backing up

Traditional Farmer · Jul 4, 2017

Seems like it's be just the thing for a PTO driven driven fertilizer spreader you'd be spreading evenly no matter the ground speed.

Dieseltech · Jul 4, 2017

Original use, hay rake..

jacksun65 · Jul 4, 2017

IF you get post hole digger stuck you can jack up one wheel and put it in reverse and back it out,

Hay hay hay · Jul 4, 2017

Ground speed for PTO 3 point rake. Works great, idle along in 2HI gear, lift at the corners of small fields.

Also good to spread manure evenly regardless of gear.

fixerupper · Jul 4, 2017

But, but why mess around with some old spreader controlled mechanically by ground speed when you can get the same results with a complex $20,000 GPS controlled unit? LOL.

Royse · Jul 4, 2017

This isn't a tractor use, but I had a guy call and ask if I had one a while back.
He wanted to make a horse powered rotational shaft out of it.

RayP(MI) · Jul 4, 2017

Never thought about hay raking. Figured it was for things like tree planting where a set distance between plants was desired. Am going to be raking tomorrow with MF 180 and NI 49 rake. May give it a try. Has been my observation that it seems awfully slow. When. Baling, wife will often accidentally shift it into ground drive instead of neutral. With tractor in motion baler is barely turning over. Father-in-law had a plastic fence post insulator jammed in there to prevent that. Maybe I should find something to do the same.

jamstra · Jul 4, 2017

Thanks guys.

Must say that in 50 years farming in Scotland I have never knowingly seen a 3pt power driven Ferguson hay rake! (seen one now on YouTube) We ourselves went from pitchforks to a Vicon Acrobat to a PZ Haybob - each step a quantum leap in efficiency!

Not so sure about the pto fertiliser spreader, though? Surely as the PTO speed reduces with reducing ground speed the width of spread reduces, resulting in missed bits?

Chris English · Jul 4, 2017

We had a Massey 3p.h. rake that i rebuilt as a college project. We never had a Massey and ran it with a Ford 8n. After college Dad had purchased a MF 35 then traded for a 135. I dont recall which i discovered had the ground driven pto, but it worked great on that rake.
It sounded like a sewing machine any other way

Dan in North Houston · Jul 4, 2017

I always heard you could put an old rear end under a wagon with a drive shaft going to the PTO and make a powered wagon - if you get the gear ratios correct. I always thought that would be cool but I've never had a need for one.

MikeinKy · Jul 4, 2017

I use mine on a hay tedder.

Northvale PA · Jul 4, 2017

What kind of Tedder?

moresmoke · Jul 4, 2017

In some areas it was common to use an old truck to build a pulp wood trailer. The axle had to be flipped over, drain plug on top. Then you could find a gear close enough with the transmission to work.

Only time I've ever really used ground speed, was with a pto driven rock picker. If you got a rock jammed in it you could put the Pto in ground and back up to get it out and not have to get off the tractor.

ptfarmer · Jul 4, 2017

(quoted from post at 13:26:23 07/04/17) Never thought about hay raking. Figured it was for things like tree planting where a set distance between plants was desired. Am going to be raking tomorrow with MF 180 and NI 49 rake. May give it a try. Has been my observation that it seems awfully slow. When. Baling, wife will often accidentally shift it into ground drive instead of neutral. With tractor in motion baler is barely turning over. Father-in-law had a plastic fence post insulator jammed in there to prevent that. Maybe I should find something to do the same.

The pto powered rakes like my MF25 3 point (roll bar type) they have different pulley's for use with either ground pto, or live pto. A live pto rake will run way too slow if you use ground pto. Don't know if the NI49 rake is the same way, or not.

Keith Molden · Jul 5, 2017

When using a tedder, we put it in ground drive on the outside of the fields so it won't throw the hay out into the weeds or brush. We also use it to just fluff up the hay and not throw it everywhere when it's still green to get the air and breeze into the hay. As said before it is nice when the post hole digger gets stuck, you can put it in ground drive, hold down on 1 brake and back it out of the hole. About the only thing we've used it for around this place. Keith

495man · Jul 6, 2017

I use it for reversing PTO post hole auger too, jack one wheel up and no more stuck auger!

Massey Ferg ground speed PTO

jamstra

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Ron Muhlenkamp

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Traditional Farmer

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Dieseltech

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jacksun65

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Hay hay hay

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fixerupper

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Royse

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RayP(MI)

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jamstra

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Chris English

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Dan in North Houston

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MikeinKy

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Northvale PA

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moresmoke

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ptfarmer

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Keith Molden

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495man

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