New MF 135 owner

[Sam in TN]

Just got a repair kit for the carb. Will drain the tank while I have the carb soaking. Do have a couple more questions though. I have also included pics of the areas in question.

Next to my hydraulic dipstick there is a mystery lever. Anyone know what it is and it looks like that area is supposed to be covered by a panel. Will it hurt anything by not having that covered up?

Went to check my timing and I found the pointer but can't seem to find any timing marks on the flywheel. Can someone give me an idea on what to look for?

Last question, my pto has ground and engine options. Engine setting works fine but ground setting does nothing, whether I am sitting still or moving. Is this serious? It appears to have a 2 stage clutch whith the second stage being very stiff. It take great force to push it down all the way to disengage the pto. Twice as much force as whats necesary to disengage the transmission.

Thanks for everyones help, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[flusher]

Just got a repair kit for the carb. Will drain the tank while I have the carb soaking. Do have a couple more questions though. I have also included pics of the areas in question.

Next to my hydraulic dipstick there is a mystery lever. Anyone know what it is and it looks like that area is supposed to be covered by a panel. Will it hurt anything by not having that covered up?

Went to check my timing and I found the pointer but can't seem to find any timing marks on the flywheel. Can someone give me an idea on what to look for?

Last question, my pto has ground and engine options. Engine works fine but ground does nothing, whether I am sitting still or moving. Is this serious? It appears to have a 2 stage clutch whith the second stage being very stiff. It take great force to push it down all the way to disengage the pto.

Thanks for everyones help, it is greatly appreciated.

That lever near the hyd dipstick is the draft response control lever. It is used together with the draft control lever above it to adjust the reaction speed of the draft system when using a ground engaging implement like a plow. Sometimes an implement will cause rapid changes in the draft load and the implement will bob up and down. The draft response control lever can be adjusted to minimize this motion. You're right--the panel that covers that lever is missing.

Sounds like the pto shift isn't working if you can't get the "ground pto" feature to work correctly. You may have to split the tractor to fix this problem along with the problem with the 2-stage clutch.

My 135 has a clutch problem--can't shift the pto into gear with the engine running. Have to stop the engine, shift the pto into gear and then restart to get the pto shaft to spin. I plan to split the tractor later this year and fix this problem.

 

[whistlepig]

Just got a repair kit for the carb. Will drain the tank while I have the carb soaking. Do have a couple more questions though. I have also included pics of the areas in question.

Next to my hydraulic dipstick there is a mystery lever. Anyone know what it is and it looks like that area is supposed to be covered by a panel. Will it hurt anything by not having that covered up?

Went to check my timing and I found the pointer but can't seem to find any timing marks on the flywheel. Can someone give me an idea on what to look for?

Last question, my pto has ground and engine options. Engine setting works fine but ground setting does nothing, whether I am sitting still or moving. Is this serious? It appears to have a 2 stage clutch whith the second stage being very stiff. It take great force to push it down all the way to disengage the pto. Twice as much force as whats necesary to disengage the transmission.

Thanks for everyones help, it is greatly appreciated.

The two stage clutch will feel stiff when hitting the second (pto disengage) stage. It should have a "feel" between the two stages of this clutch. About twice as much foot pressure sounds right. My 135 had the ground setting on it also and it worked. I tried the ground setting once just to see what it would do and never used it again in the 27 years I had the tractor. It made the tractor feel like it did not have a "live power" PTO. I'm not sure what this ground setting is for. I do know that for mowing you would never want to use it.

 

[Sam in TN]

The two stage clutch will feel stiff when hitting the second (pto disengage) stage. It should have a "feel" between the two stages of this clutch. About twice as much foot pressure sounds right. My 135 had the ground setting on it also and it worked. I tried the ground setting once just to see what it would do and never used it again in the 27 years I had the tractor. It made the tractor feel like it did not have a "live power" PTO. I'm not sure what this ground setting is for. I do know that for mowing you would never want to use it.

Thanks for explaining the hard clutch. As far as the pto, I was worried with the ground setting not working it was a sign that the engine setting would soon be failing.

Now if I can just figure out how to check the timing. Which is the number one cylinder? Closest to radiator, middle or closest to operator? I have hooked my light up to all 3 and can't see any flywheel marks when it flashes.

 

[flusher]

Thanks for explaining the hard clutch. As far as the pto, I was worried with the ground setting not working it was a sign that the engine setting would soon be failing.

Now if I can just figure out how to check the timing. Which is the number one cylinder? Closest to radiator, middle or closest to operator? I have hooked my light up to all 3 and can't see any flywheel marks when it flashes.

I've looked into my MF-135 service manual. I can't find any info on cylinder numbering. All I could find is the firing order, which is 1-2-3, and that the #1 valve is nearest the water pump end of the engine (the front end).

 

[Texas Blues]

Heres a picture of my perkins gasser with the head off. The pistons are numbered, 1 being the one in the front. Good luck! TB

 

[Sam in TN]

Just ran into another problem. Took my carb off to rebuild and after I tore it down I realized it didn't match my rebuild kit. Apparently my carb is a Zenith and my kit is for a Marvel-Schebler. Long story short someone painted my carb and I can't find any model number anywhere.

Want to make sure I get the right kit this time so if someone could tell me the model number Zenith used on the 135 Perkins 3 cylinder I would appreciate it.

 

[Texas Blues]

How did the carb look on the inside? See any clogged passages? Sorry, no help here on the correct carb , when I bought my 135 it had the wrong carb on it (mounting holes did not line up and the guy just had a pair of vise grips holding it tight on one side) it ran good like that but obviously the wrong one.

 

[normpete]

I have a MF that was originally painted yellow but now looks like a 135. It has a 3 cyl gas engine Perkins. It has a shuttle-shift, foot gas pedal also, a power steering cylinder on each side, high-low trans, no decal or badge when I got it and a front axle that is non-adjustable. What is it? Can anyone help me? Norm

 

[murphy1244]

Hey Norm, Are your headlight mounted in the front grill?