Advice on Tractors for a City Girl

[flusher]

I haven't posted for a while because I've been having too much fun mowing. I need a tractor bar and I failed to measure the little holes when I was out there last tme and this guy on Craig's list has two tractor bars for sale for $25. Does anyone know what size bar I need for my Massey Ferguson 150? Also, please tell me if I should keep the multi gear shifter in high all the time. You were talking about free wheeling and I don't know what that means. Thanks again for all your help I really love the tractor. I bought two 5 gallon tanks of gas and tried to fill her up and that didn't even touch it. How many gallons does it hold? Thanks for all your help!

Glad you're enjoying your new MF-150. Have a ball!!!

My MF-135 diesel has a 10 gal fuel tank. The 135 gassers have 13.7 gal tanks. I suspect that's the same for the 150.

Regarding Multi-Power range. On my 135 with the MP in high and the transmission in 1L, the ground speed is about 4.1 mph at 1500 rpm engine speed and 5.5 mph at 2000 rpm. You have to judge if the ground speed seems OK for the implement and the terrain. If you feel that the tractor is moving too fast, move to the MP low range. The MP high range is recommended when descending hills where engine braking is a nice safety feature to have. In MP low range you don't have engine braking, i.e. the tractor is in free wheel mode. I don't bother with engine braking on my 135 since my 10 acres are flat as a pancake.

 

[backdoor]

I'm not sure what the tractor bar that you asked about is used for or what I would call it, so I can't help there. On the 180 MF that we had, I ran the multipower in high while I was working the tractor, and if I got into heavy pulling with the wheels or with the PTO I put the multipower into low for slower speed, no clutching involved, until the tractor was pulling easier, then back to high range till slower speed was needed again. I don't think it matters if you run in low or high in multipower as long as you remember the freewheeling part. Feels good to look back at your work after a hard day and admire a job well done, doesn't it? Sometimes I drive halfway across a finished field just to cut a few weeds that I missed on the first pass. The 180 that we had was very cheap to run, and it did heavy tractor work most every day. I'm glad you are enjoying your tractor. They're good therapy when you just need to be alone.

 

[sunspot]

Freewheeling

You can compare it to coasting downhill in neutral. Your speed will continue to increase until you reach level ground, lose control or hit something.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I haven't posted for a while because I've been having too much fun mowing. I need a tractor bar and I failed to measure the little holes when I was out there last tme and this guy on Craig's list has two tractor bars for sale for $25. Does anyone know what size bar I need for my Massey Ferguson 150? Also, please tell me if I should keep the multi gear shifter in high all the time. You were talking about free wheeling and I don't know what that means. Thanks again for all your help I really love the tractor. I bought two 5 gallon tanks of gas and tried to fill her up and that didn't even touch it. How many gallons does it hold? Thanks for all your help!

Ah!!! The look of a happy tractor owner!

The 150 has a larger fuel tank than the 135. 150's hold just a tick over 18 gallons.

Not clear about the term "tractor bar". There's a couple possibilities there. One is the standard swinging drawbar that mounts under the rear end housing. Other choice is the 3-point drawbar. That'll be a CAT I model.

MultiPower will act as if it's in neutral when in low range and on a steep downhill. Stay with high range on hills. You still have the choices of 1-3 and H/L on the mechanical gear shifters.

 

[SPYDERLK]

MultiPower will act as if it's in neutral when in low range and on a steep downhill. Stay with high range on hills. You still have the choices of 1-3 and H/L on the mechanical gear shifters.

How is this feature a good idea?
larry

 

[Farmwithjunk]

How is this feature a good idea?
larry

It's not a "good idea" as such. It wasn't an "intended" design feature. Low range is essentially "over-ridden" by high range. To allow high to over-ride low, low range has what can best be described as a "ratchet effect". In low, that "ratchet effect can be overtaken by simple gravity on a downhill slope.

Most of the earliest attempts at "automatic" shift Hi/lo transmission had ther quirks. Other than this "quirk", MultiPower worked quite well and was one of the best hi/lo clutchless shifters of its day. Keep in mind the design is now 50 years old.

MultiPower was best used in hard drawbar pulling situations. In hi range, it was direct drive. Same as not even having MP. Low is an "under-drive". It worked fabulously when in a hard pull with tools like a plow as an example. Run in high, hit a hard spot, kick it down to low until the hard spot is passed, then shift back to high, never losing momentum, and doing so very smooth. Being a mechanical drive, it was never "in neutral" as when a clutch is disengaged nor did it suffer from inefficient transfer of power like early fluid drive systems. In its day, it was as good as it got. The negative aspects didn't cause trouble when MultiPower was used correctly.


Something less than 30% of all 100 series Masseys built were equipped with MultiPower. It wasn't the answer to everyones needs. All in all though, it was still a good system in its day.

 

[twofoolsmet]

Okay, next stupid question. I was playing with my box blade and found out it doesn't like stumps. I have an area with a lot of stumps (low & level with the ground) that I want to level up. Is there any attachment, tool I can get that will easily get rid of the stumps, without having to rent a back hoe, bulldozer, etc.? These aren't very big maybe 4-5inches.

 

[sandman2234]

I would think it would depend on the type of root system the stump has. Some of the treestumps we have here, a middlebuster pulled up close to the stump would break all the roots and a chain on the drawbar would pull the center out. I also have a few stumps that seem to have a tap root that acts like an energier bunny and just keeps going and going. A backhoe attachment would do well on one of those, but for the limited use, rental is probably better, unless you forsee a future need for a hoe attachment.(Probably not)
Some are easy, some are no fun at all...
David from jax

 

[flusher]

Okay, next stupid question. I was playing with my box blade and found out it doesn't like stumps. I have an area with a lot of stumps (low & level with the ground) that I want to level up. Is there any attachment, tool I can get that will easily get rid of the stumps, without having to rent a back hoe, bulldozer, etc.? These aren't very big maybe 4-5inches.

I think you have a tough problem. Those stumps look pretty small, but they will stall your 150 if you try to yank them out of the ground, assuming you can get a chain around them.

I had a similar problem with larger stumps.

Had to do a bit of digging before the 135 was able to muscle those stumps out of the ground. Fortunately there was enough stump above ground to get a chain around them easily.

My almond orchard had a bunch of 6-12" dia stumps flush with the ground. Had to rent a walk-behind stump grinder to get those babies out. No problem once you do several to get the hang of the grinder.

I also used that grinder to remove the remains of a large almond tree in the middle of my Japanese garden. The wind blew this 100-year old tree over last April. Sad, since it was a beautiful tree, still producing sweet almonds and giving a lot of shade for my bonsai plants.
Oh, well. Now I'll replace it with a Japanese tea house.

Hope this helps.

 

[WilliamBos]

Is your Japanese garden done?? Do you have pics? What size tires on the rear of the 135?

I think you have a tough problem. Those stumps look pretty small, but they will stall your 150 if you try to yank them out of the ground, assuming you can get a chain around them.

I had a similar problem with larger stumps.

Had to do a bit of digging before the 135 was able to muscle those stumps out of the ground. Fortunately there was enough stump above ground to get a chain around them easily.

My almond orchard had a bunch of 6-12" dia stumps flush with the ground. Had to rent a walk-behind stump grinder to get those babies out. No problem once you do several to get the hang of the grinder.

I also used that grinder to remove the remains of a large almond tree in the middle of my Japanese garden. The wind blew this 100-year old tree over last April. Sad, since it was a beautiful tree, still producing sweet almonds and giving a lot of shade for my bonsai plants.
Oh, well. Now I'll replace it with a Japanese tea house.

Hope this helps.