Massey Ferguson 35 Industrial mystery tractor??

[Central Vermonter]

Good Evening folks, I just looked at a tractor today, I have been looking for another older Ferguson loader tractor to add to the stable. I have really been searching for an industrial tractor, for reasons of a heavier front axle, and found this tractor:

1960 Massey - Ferguson 35 Tractors - Utility (40-100hp) - John Deere MachineFinder


Now, from what I can tell, it's an MF 35 except what I can't explain it that the serial number isn't a regular sequence for those tractors from what I am familar with. The machines I know had a serial number that would be like: ABC 123456. This machine's serial number is 67960100059. Also it has an agricultural front axle with the exception that it has a zerk fitting on the center piviot (it looks factory) that I have never seen on any of those front axles, ( I only thought the fixed industrial axles had grease fittings on the center piviot) and to add to the mystery it doesn't have a differential lock, which again most MF 35 tractors produced after about 61 had, from memory and this tractor is equipped with a single stage clutch. Combine that with the lack of power steering I would of thought it was a 35 'special' that was just painted yellow and fitted with a loader, however from what I can see it was painted yellow from the factory, I also run into the issue with that theroy that it has a tach and fuel level gauge along with a foot throttle, that somewhat shoots that idea down. The tach and fuel level guage was only availible on the 'deluxe' tractor.

So.....

I'm pretty familar with the older 202, 203 workbull tractors, early 2135 tractors etc... but am somewhat confused, I have never seen this combination of features on a machine. I spoke with an old timer who worked at a Massey dealer in the sixties and he thought there was a complimentary tractor to the the 35 'turf special' that was not quite as expensive as a new 202 workbull but was still built as and billed as a '35 industrial' but he couldn't remember ever actually seeing one. (he told me stories of delivering brand new workbulls in the early sixties and I would trade my right hand to have a new 202 workbull today!!!) I did a quick search and found information about a 65 industrial but no in formation about a 35 industrial in the US.

So any thoughts or comments? Anybody have any informaion or am I incorrect in my observations/thoughts???



Many Thanks!!!

 

[murphy1244]

Don't like the gas engine, should be a Perkins.

 

[wthompson]

MF135, 150, 165, 175, 180 uses the serial number starting with a 6??? with a total of nine numbers in the serial number. the number you gave has eleven? Mystery...

 

[Fat Farmer Andy]

I'm interested to see the responses on this. I still haven't been able to determine the year and specific model on this tractor. The serial number is very similar to yours. However, you can see after taking the plate off, the number is metal stamped into the back. I've been told on this forum in the past that it means it's not a legitimate serial number. The tractor looks like the original paint was yellow but was painted red when I got it.

 

[murphy1244]

I'm interested to see the responses on this. I still haven't been able to determine the year and specific model on this tractor. The serial number is very similar to yours. However, you can see after taking the plate off, the number is metal stamped into the back. I've been told on this forum in the past that it means it's not a legitimate serial number. The tractor looks like the original paint was yellow but was painted red when I got it.

I don't understand that, why?

 

[droptop]

My father had an old 202, but from the photos, the loader has a lot more framing in the front. This leads me to speculate that it was a predecessor to the 202 which had the cast radiator support that the loader bolted to which eliminated much of the welded loader frame in the front of this tractor.

The 202 was a BEAST! I was always lifting the rear tires off the ground even with loaded tires and a big concrete weight on the 3 pt hitch. Looking back, the bucket was really too big for the tractor.

 

[Central Vermonter]

Okay, to add some more found information....

After referencing the production and serial number tables in my Massey Legacy-volume two I found that they list a 'turf special' and '35 utility' with these serial numbers:


1962 turf (gas) 656000001-656000105
1963 turf (gas) 656000150-656000614
1964 turf (gas) 656000615-656000892

1962 utility (diesel) 655000003-655000240
1962 utility (gas) 655000001-655000236
1963 utility 655000279-655001253
1964 utility 655001254-655001754

Now this makes me think I'm looking at a utility tractor, however that doesn't shed much light on the fact this tractor serial number starts as 67, which according to production tables actually was a designator for a model 356 shovel (which it obviously isn't) so I'm still somewhat confused.

If I find any more leads I'll pass them along!!

 

[The kid]

I'm interested to see the responses on this. I still haven't been able to determine the year and specific model on this tractor. The serial number is very similar to yours. However, you can see after taking the plate off, the number is metal stamped into the back. I've been told on this forum in the past that it means it's not a legitimate serial number. The tractor looks like the original paint was yellow but was painted red when I got it.

Early model 35 and 135 both has serial number stamped this way. If you where to take a clean close look at the patent numbers on the nameplate. They are raised lettering. that too is a true indicator of a genuine serial plate. if the plate is not traceable thru places like tractordata.com it could be an industrial model that's been repainted. On a 65 135 Continental the first three letters aere SGM for the Z145. Those embosed number are in fact real numbers. They are probably linked to the industrial version database.

 

[Sportsman762]

Here are some brochures for the UK 35 industrial:
http://www.masseyarchives.com/archive/MFBrochures/9_Plant/MF35XIndustrial_2.pdf
http://www.masseyarchives.com/archive/MFBrochures/9_Plant/MF35Industrial.pdf
Neither of these show diff lock. However thy both indicate that there should be an foot throttle.

 

[Central Vermonter]

Ok folks, I wound up buying the tractor, and after doing some more homework this is what I've found....

I searched and found a guy in Wisconsin that has what's known as a "government 35", basically a series of tractors that were made for the government, sparse machines without power steering or dual stage clutches, The Agco parts lookup actually has a listing for those tractors, that they identify as ' gov't 35 655 series machines' and are the only machines that show that plate attached to the RH fender with three point hitch operation instructions.

I have acutally searched and found the spot underneath the left hand hood headlight mounting spot where the military data plate was once attatched, so I feel pretty comfortable in saying that I have some variant of a government issued tractor, now comes the additional questions. My tractor, and I believe one other person on this forum has machines that start with the serial number prefix of 679, now the parts lookup makes no refrence to that number, only the 655 machines, (655 was the prefix used for the stock 35 utility machine) Also my machine has the adjustable agriculture style front axle, where the other 'gov 35' machines had the heavier front axle, why I can't tell you! I'm wondering if my machine was a different 'batch' of tractors that were just built to slightly different specs. I'm still in the digging phase, so if I get more information I'll pass it along.

Have a safe and happy new year everyone!!