Minneapolis Moline BF

[flusher]

Found this nice 1951 MM model BF tractor locally. Four cyl gasser (Hercules 1XB3SL engine), 25 hp at the drawbar.

Straight sheet metal, good rubber.

Wheel weights. The hydraulic ram for the 3pt hitch is visible on the frame in front of the left rear wheel. Red cylinder above the fender is a fire extinguisher.

Swinging drawbar. 3pt looks OK. Need to replace a leaking pto seal. Bought this tractor mainly because I wanted to have a small MM model with bull gearing on the rear axle.

This tractor is actually a B.F. Avery model R. MM bought Avery in 1951 and since MM already had its own model R tractor, the Avery R was renamed the "BF" in honor of Benjamin Franklin Avery, the founder.

Cost: $1300

Plan to make this a parade tractor. But it will earn its keep pulling my recently restored MM P3-6 grain drill to seed the hayfield.

 

[Nat]

Flusher, That would be a real find around here in NC. not to many MM here but did have a few Avery 's. Looks to be in exc cond also. I saw one like it for sale at the NC threshers reunion last year not restored, but had been painted guy wanted 6,000.00 for it. It didn't look to be in as good condition as your find. Later, Nat

 

[flusher]

Flusher, That would be a real find around here in NC. not to many MM here but did have a few Avery 's. Looks to be in exc cond also. I saw one like it for sale at the NC threshers reunion last year not restored, but had been painted guy wanted 6,000.00 for it. It didn't look to be in as good condition as your find. Later, Nat

The MM BF is a fairly rare tractor and is definitely hard to find outside the upper Midwest area. The 1951 BF production run was only 2621 units. The total BF production run from 1950-53 only amounted to 7627 units. My MF135 diesel, by comparison, was produced in the hundreds of thousands.

This one showed up on craigslist last Aug and didn't sell until I showed up last week to eyeball it. It will need work on the engine starter, but otherwise it's in fine shape. I'll tear it down later this year and do a complete restoration.

 

[bontai_Joe]

Nice find! Glad this one is getting restored.

 

[DonWorrell]

Front end and sheet metal look a lot like a WD Allis Chalmbers. We owned a 1956 or 1957 WD-45.

Good looking tractor though. Did the MM have original 3 pt hitch in 1951.

Don

 

[flusher]

Front end and sheet metal look a lot like a WD Allis Chalmbers. We owned a 1956 or 1957 WD-45.

Good looking tractor though. Did the MM have original 3 pt hitch in 1951.

Don

Interesting. As a matter of fact, the Allis Chalmers WD is on my wish list. Almost bought a 1951 WD last year with tricycle wheel layout, but passed on the chance. I prefer the wide front configuration.

It's my understanding that the 3pt was an option that Avery/MM offered. The rocker arm mechanism is essentially a bolt-on/weld-on unit that's not integral with the tractor's rear end configuration.

The hydraulic ram for the 3pt and the hydraulics reservoir are bolted onto the frame also.

My guess is that Avery was prevented from incorporating a Ferguson-type 3pt into their tractors like you see on a Ford 8N, for example, until Harry Ferguson's 3pt hitch patent expired sometime around the late 1940s. Hence, the goofy-looking layout you see on this BF. I suppose some BF afficionados consider this 3pt kludge as a charmingly eccentric feature of these tractors.

 

[DonWorrell]

Flusher,

Where do you attach the middle Arm of the 3pt hitch? The picture isn't clear. Do the lower arms swing?

Don

 

[flusher]

Flusher,

Where do you attach the middle Arm of the 3pt hitch? The picture isn't clear. Do the lower arms swing?

Don

There's a bracket just under the seat for the top link and its retention pin. You can see it in the rear view previously posted in this thread.

The lower arms swing OK. Right now the tractor has rigid sway bars on the lower arms. I'll probably replace them with sway chains and turnbuckles.

 

[Taylortractornut]

You mean theres another BF out there Thats the first wide front Ive seen. I got the other one thats a norrow front. My neighbor got it about 16 years ago and gardened with it it had been rebuilt but the owner didnt sleeve it and she throws the dip stick out. He gave it to me 2 years ago I had to cut it out of the trumpet vines and drug it home. I need to reman the grill its got a mid mount lift and a funky 3point. Also small Oliver crawlers used the same frame as the power unit in the smaller OC line. And i think some of the General line of tractors.

 

[Retired Iron Peddler]

There's a bracket just under the seat for the top link and its retention pin. You can see it in the rear view previously posted in this thread.

The lower arms swing OK. Right now the tractor has rigid sway bars on the lower arms. I'll probably replace them with sway chains and turnbuckles.

From the photo, it doesn't look like the Avery/MM BF 3-point hitch/swinging drawbar. It looks like someone fabricated that one. The hydraulic pump, reservoir, cylinder, and controls look original, but the rest doesn't.

I have my father's Avery R he bought new in 1950 that was converted to a MM/BF with the MM factory upgrade kit that was installed on many dealer inventory Avery R tractors after MM purchased B. F. Avery. My father and I installed the kit on his Avery R in the mid-50s. The 3-point hitch has adjustable lift arms (hand crank to adjust on the right side) and an adjustable lift arm stabilizer bar. It was all bolt-on, no welding required.


Bill