Oddball 135 Rebuild

[MatthewPaul]

Last Friday I picked up an oddball 135 that is a basket case. The motor internals came in boxes, and the tractor was half stripped down. I think its a 135, the tins are anyway. It has a 3cy perkins, with a generator. The rear end appears to be a square housing like my buddies 175, it also has what appears too be a class 2 3pt. It has a 4speed hi/low transmission. The front axle is a solid non adjustable track width, with twin hydraulic cylinders. There is a diff lock on the rear, and it has disc brakes. It has solid 1 piece wheels, and not an inner/outer setup. There are 14.9/24 tires out back and 6.00-16 up front. There is yellow paint under the grey on many parts of the tractor, including but not limited to the hitch and front axle.

According to the tag on the dash, it is a 1972 135. It is a 9a serial number followed by six numbers.

it came with new in box perkins pistons, main and rod bearings, wrist pins, wrist pin bushings, etc.

The head was really messed up. It had been filled with water and left for some time. The valves and ports were badly rusted but everything cleaned up nicely.

Here are some photos of how I got it:

Over the weekend I split the tractor, and rebuilt the rotating assembly and head. Im just waiting on gaskets to get here. I'll post up some photos of that in a little while.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Wow... 135's are great tractors, but...

I hope they paid you to take that one.

Good luck, keep us updated on progress. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MatthewPaul]

I split it and pulled the engine apart, which was fun since the pilot bearing was stuck on the input shaft.

I had to deck the block as someone put sleeves in it and never did. #3 was bout 1/16" above the deck height, and #2 was about 1/32"

The sleeves look new, or had minimal wear and were honed. The whole thing is weird, it had new bearings in the crank, and rods, with very minimal wear, as if the engine was just rebuilt, but someone took the engine back apart again.

I put the new pistons on the rods:

The head was pretty nasty, but cleaned up well after a day soaking in CLR and a lot of brusing.

The exhaust valves, before and after.

I loosely bolted it back together while I wait for my gaskets, so it does not get filled with dirt and dust.

And that's all for now.

 

[MatthewPaul]

Wow... 135's are great tractors, but...

I hope they paid you to take that one.

Good luck, keep us updated on progress. Thanks for sharing.

Pretty much. I just redid a 2n that was the same way.

 

[PatrickS2222]

Mate, there's nothing like a challenge!

Seriously though, you've picked up what will be a rather capable tractor once you have it back together. It has some very impressive equipment. Maybe some of the USA members will know better than me, but it isn't the same spec as our Aussie 135s. Yours has PTO, but also the much bigger 65/165-188-spec rear axle - which comes with the inboard double-disc brakes, heavier (maybe) 165-188-spec front axle as well, power steering :licking:and cat 2 3PL (rather oddly-extended?) lift arms with what looks like adjustable LH lift link.

Cat 2 lower arms I believe suit 1&1/8" pins and the top link takes a 7/8" pin. (Cat 1 are 7/8" and 3/4" respectively).

This tractor appears to have quite similar specs to my MF40 loader, obviously without the loader and related framing, and instead has 135-styled body panels. My loader (with the bucket removed) makes a very heavy but stable and sure-footed machine with incredible grip - it will hold the ground and labour the (freshly-reconditioned) 3cyl Perkins diesel engine in 2nd gear. Yours could also be a 2200 or 2203 industrial - a lot of those here were equipped with 3PL and PTO. I'm also wondering what shape of rear fenders and what size F & R tyres are fitted.

Can you help us with a serial number? Also, what gearbox does it have - clutch with 4x2F + 2R, clutch with mechanical shuttle 4F + 4R, or torque converter 2 x 2 shuttle (F+R shuttle pedals on RH side, 2x brake pedals on LH side)? Any chance of some more pics? Gear levers and shift pattern diagram, instrument panel, pedals - LH & RH, and 3PL controls. Also feel free to include anything else you might want to post. Many thanks in advance.

There are a lot of positives in this project once it's reassembled - the most reliable tractor you've ever owned. :thumbsup: I'm very envious! :laughing:

 

[MatthewPaul]

Thank you!

That is part of what was confusing me about it was that the axles were totally different from the other 135 that we have from the same era. The serial Number is 9a-134124. I'll include a photo of that. The transmission is a 4speed plus reverse and high-low. Both brake pedals are on the right side like our other 135, and it has a 2 stage clutch, 11" and 9" clutch discs, both 10 spline. Sift pattern seems to be the same as our other massey, three gears on top and one down on each side. I'll include photos of the 3pt controls.

Since my last post I welded the broken foot peg on the right side.

I painted the front axle and center section. I figured it would be easier to get in there while the motor was out.

I wire brushed the rust from all of the tins and hung them up, then put two coats of primer on them, and 4 on t he hood and nose.

I mocked up hood up to make sure everything was there and fit.

And then fit it to the machine to see how it would look. Not a bad fit, and everything looks pretty good. There is no body fill in it at this point, I hammered the tins straight the best that I could on my anvil.

Here are the other photos Patrick:

 

[Winmac]

You may have an "orchard special" version of the 135

 

[murph1]

See TractorData.com Massey Ferguson 135 tractor information

Seems the #s match out for a 72 but no mention of disc brakes and I did not see any front lights on yours. The dash has a filler where your switch would be on a diesel deluxe.

 

[MatthewPaul]

You may have an "orchard special" version of the 135

That is possible.

See TractorData.com Massey Ferguson 135 tractor information


Seems the #s match out for a 72 but no mention of disc brakes and I did not see any front lights on yours. The dash has a filler where your switch would be on a diesel deluxe.

Im not sure what part of the dash that would be, but on the far left portion of the dash, that silver round, there is a switch (No clue what it is for as of yet), but it's a 3cyl gas perkins, not diesel.

 

[murph1]

That is possible.


Im not sure what part of the dash that would be, but on the far left portion of the dash, that silver round, there is a switch (No clue what it is for as of yet), but it's a 3cyl gas perkins, not diesel.

That silver piece is where my light switch is. The gas uses the same block.