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Sitting is very hard on electronics, and indeed most low voltage equipment. The older and simpler it is, the more free of electronics it is, the better it will tolerate sitting. My 1959 Massey Ferguson can sit for months with no problems. We caused all kinds of ills by letting a WJ...

Naturally, a lot of what I’d LIKE to do is illegal, but we have a few things around the place. In the house, we use BurglarBomb (just go to www dot burglarbomb dot com). There are no people or pets inside when we leave. Burglarbomb could be adapted to a tractor cab. But protecting externals...

I’m going to go with the guys who said get the longer bar but keep your shorter bar & chain. If you only need the longer bar now and then, you can be patient with the cutting. Heck, I have an 18” on a little MS180 (barely over 16” usable before you hit the dogs), but it’s a saw to carry in the...

Few years ago, I bought a Pat’s Quick Hitch. It laid around for a couple years, until I finally put it on the tractor. I even bought a longer top link. Only took a couple moths to realize it was not for me - interfered with my back blade, hardware was super soft, fit was not good on my Massy...

Just a reminder: it is possible to remove water from oil. I had water in the relatively fresh transaxle gear oil on my Massey 204. I started draining a bucket at a time, putting it on a controlled hotplate (in a high quality stainless bucket) set to just above 212F, then cool the clean oil...

Sounds like a real find. The model and/or serial number may allow you to look up the answer to your fuel question. But propane is more likely than natural gas. In a given engine, gasoline makes more power than propane, propane makes more power than natural gas. But propane is very clean and...

Interesting conversation and experiences here. But the OP gave me the impression a 20” saw was needed for a few larger than usual logs, not forever. A saw that has pulled 18” for years can pull 20” for a while, if not quite as easily. Heck, I have an 18” bar on a tiny Stihl MS180, which is...

My MF204 has homemade 5’ bucket (can’t curl upward as much as I like, but looks stronger than OEM bucket). I bought a tooth bar. Was backblading, grabbed a root and popped the tooth bar off, twisting the bar. Replaced the bar (which teeth bolt onto) then acknowledged that the two big setscrews...

In 2025 if you got a manual you are lucky. I just bought a Fluke meter: “safety warning” in MANY languages. But manual is only available online. The first post in this thread caught my attention. My Massey Ferguson 204 was made in 1959 (as close as I can tell from the serial number; Work...

Lawyers vary. We went though two with my Dad’s estate. The first one was (as we were slow to realize) learning as she went and padding the bill (my wife managed a small law office for eleven years, and knows billing). The next was scrupulously honest, did lots of good work, cost us about...

I’ve had a car trailer since 1988. Our two properties are 7-1/2 miles apart. I haul my old Massey Ferguson. If going to a neighbor only a mile away, I’ll road it

The tale I’ve heard was turn on lights for a moment before cranking, to “wake up” the battery. I know that in tests of a really big battery (powerhouse station battery) I’ve seen the quick initial drop when chargers stop, then slow drop and stabilize then gain slightly under load, before...

“Same cost” includes cost of maintenance and breakdown repairs. I think simpler is often cheaper. As a retired guy on a fixed income, I look for lower cost, much lower. My tractor is 65 years old. It does what I want, cost less than 1/10 of what a newer smaller tractor would run, can be...

I have always viewed StaBil as “one season” treatment. I’ve seen gas treated with PRI-G siphoned from a motorhome after 8 years, put in a car and run fine - but this was early 2000s so probably no alcohol. I buy alcohol free premium for power equipment, and as much as possible for our...

I like colors that blend in. Did a lot of work with a gray ex-Navy IH 4x4. Both my wife and I like Hunter Green. But we like bright colors on smaller things that can easily be lost. Her old peavey has a broad yellow stripe (yes, my wife can move logs). I often put bright colors on hand tools...

I’m a low budget retired guy. Bought a good boom pole (County Line brand, I think) for the three point on my old (serial number comes back 1959) Massey 204. Had a small “Powerwinch” in the shop, so mounted it on the boom pole. These boxy things are mostly for loading boats, power in but...

My favorite small saw is the Homelite Super EZ Auto I bought new in December 1974 (after using my parents’ EZ’s for a few years). I have more than one. My “new” saw is a Husqvarna 385XP I bought in 2002 when I needed a bigger saw. I have 28” and 32” bars and an Alaskan Sawmill for that. The...

My old dark blue Ryobi recip saw just went up in smoke after I pushed it too hard, so I picked up a new bright green one. I recently had a Ryobi inflator quit (electronic controls, not pump), so bought a Ridgid. It’s hard to swap, once you’re invested in a battery system. My dark blue Ryobi...

I’m retired and past my days of buying just about anything new. If you have old enough cars, trucks, tractors, guns, tools, etc. and you take care of them, they appreciate in value. What is your budget? What do you really need (as opposed to what you want)? Are you in business and putting...

“Upgrade” is a relative term, one that depends on your budget. I grew up around a 1948 8N. Dad eventually upgraded to a 1962 Fordson Super Major (not before breaking the 8N in two with the FEL, twice). My budget is limited, as is my use (retired guy managing his woodlot, not a production...

The “check your budget” advice is good. My MF 204 Work Bull was inexpensive and has a good FEL. Part of the reason it was cheap is that the backhoe has been separated for years. I don’t think they knew the word “hydrostatic” in 1959 (mine is an early serial number) but I have the ReversOmatic...

Well, THAT is an eye opener. Thanks. Another recent info-bit I picked up was NOT to use Dexron in the power steering because it’s hard on seals. My power steering is already bad; fill the system and you have power steering for half a minute while foamy pink ATF comes out of the control valve...

That was a hilarious scene. I used to laugh at the old Koenig PTO winch commercial showing a 4x4 winching itself out of deep water. The one place I do not want a PTO winch is where I may have the engine flooded out. 😅 A word about winch ratings: a 10,000 lb. rated electric winch will pull...

Ground hornets are no joke. Dad was hooking behind a Cat in 1947, got into a nest and they lit him up like a Christmas tree. They raced him to a hospital in an old Buick Eight, managed to save him. Didn’t get stung again for 20 years, but 1967 was a bad summer in Washington for ground hornets...

Sorry for the confusion. Look at 5th paragraph, not 3rd paragraph. I did use Dexron in the “ReversOmatic” torque converter, because the manual said Type-A. I’m just thinking about the hydraulic system. Even with the backhoe off the tractor (bought it that way, and resurrecting that backhoe...

I was just wondering about use in my hydraulic system. Right now that’s a Cessna hydraulic pump (yes, MF bought that pump) and a Davis FEL, so pump, control valves, cylinders, no clutch pack or torque converter. The original manual says Type-A ATF, but my thought is that any of today’s ATF...

Just curious. I saw ATF for $2 a quart at a Big Box Outlet store. Saw various tractor fluid at O’Reilly Auto. The 32, 46 and 68 was $70 for 5 gal. ($3.50 per qt.). They had a universal fluid that claimed it was good for 32, 46 or 68, for $76 a gallon ($3.80 per qt.). Just looked online and...

Thanks, that is a good explanation. Non-detergent is almost a thing of the past. I have a little 30W N-D for my compressor. I remember when Dad was nursing a ‘49 Cornbinder on its last legs, getting about 80mpg on engine oil, sort of driving in a blue cloud! We were buying cheap 2 gal. cans...

You got that right. And I’m thinking 20-50 oil in old loose engines.

I’m thinking an old Ford auto trans would want Type F over Dexron, but the difference is only friction modifiers, so my guess is pretty much any ATF, even part Dexron & part Type F, should work OK as hydraulic fluid.

You know, maybe Massey could still give a definitive answer, if given my serial number. I will look into that Redline. I’ve used their MT90 in car and pickup transmissions, and I like it. Speaking of odd oils, I had a Yanmar YM240 briefly, but it went away in a divorce before I learned a lot...

I’m thinking most of us with old tractors have similar questions. Maybe I should be posting over at BobIsTheOilGuy but I think this is a common issue. I have a Massey Ferguson 204. I’ve heard they were made 1959-65 and also heard 1960-66. Ran my serial number at one site and it said 1959...

It really comes down to what you’re doing. I’m cleaning up an area we selective logged in 2016, just picking up what’s down for firewood. I bought a good 3-point boom pole for my Massey Ferguson 204; the pole has an eye at the end and at the halfway point. I had an old Powerwinch in the shop...

One rule of thumb when welding on vehicles is make very sure current never passes through bearings. Ground where you are welding, then be sure the stinger never bumps a wheel. CoyPatton, I’m sure you meant to say carbon steel or mild steel; nobody would make a tractor frame of (very brittle)...

Funny how back around 1978 the panic was the imminent ice age - if we didn’t let Big Brother take over energy, economy, most of society. Then the panic was global warming about to fry us - if we didn’t let Big Brother take over energy, economy, most of society. That turned out to be BS, but...

The guy who sold me my Massey Ferguson 204 handed me a set of two piece weights for the inside of the front wheels, but the one piece outer weights were still in place. As is common on old tractors with 16 inch fronts, this one was shod with old worn out 7:50-16 pickup tires. They are giving...

My own interest is in my 1959 (according to SN lookup) MF 204 with its 102 loader and 220 backhoe, specifically the 220 backhoe at the moment. I just got the backhoe home. The guy who sold me the tractor did not use it, and it was stored at a different location for years. I can see it will...

I bought an old (serial number indicates 1959) Massey Ferguson 204. Great price, but it definitely needs TLC. (I have not yet seen the backhoe because the guy who sold it it to me didn稚 use it and has it stored elsewhere - I suspect resurrecting that will cost more than the tractor.) The...