Thread: MF165 Project

Originally Posted by Old Farang

Gee, some nostalgia right there! The metal work is in amazing condition considering it's age. I had the same one from new, but not multi-power. Was a big step up from a 135!

Thanks, yep it’s very straight and should scrub up ok. The grill is cracked but I’ve already ordered a new one, along with all new lights, etc. It should look quite good once degreased, a few leaks fixed and a coat of paint. 👍

Got the new brake parts today so can get back to it this weekend maybe. 👍

Thanks for the explanation. I used the vernacular to describe the effect ie it goes effectively into neutral..no retardation.

My mate with one has no issues as he knows what can happen with multi power...unfortunately it has caused too many operators grief..hence the bad rap. At clearnce sales you will hear blokes saying..had one of those. ..they run away on you on hills...blah blah. ..

Then again my modern massey will do the same on very steep hills when the tranny oil runs away from the pump pick up causing the clutch to disengage and the steering to cease operating. Fortunately the brakes are on a separate circuit but without 4wd the tractor will lock the rears and toboggan down the slope. Ask how I know. .I ended up in a dam needing a dozer to pull me out😐

Solution .fill the tranny with and extra 30 litres of oil ...Massey dealers actually filed a new fill mark on the dip stick. .a good inch above the factory fill mark! !

Or back down really steep stuff☺

Yeah certainly something that needs to be looked out for but not sure if they had that much of a bad rap - in continuously production from 5 plants worldwide for 11 years. 👍

Ok, part arrived, so back to it. In our last exciting instalment there was several decades of crud to remove before the new parts could be fitted. That actually didn’t take too long and before I knew it, things were clean and ready to back together - intermediate plate not shown here, that got a new seal and a clean before it all went back together.

BA8318D8-DE6C-4BF3-90C6-5FE0BA1A5B48 by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

Mmmm, new DRY brakes, just the way MF intended. 👍
FE4FC68C-6171-4043-9268-48511EA3459C by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

Next came the Dulux reco.
F1B50B6C-3DA0-47E5-A4AA-8AED062C34AC by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

Pretty. All adjusted up, this side now has brakes.
D82F2DFA-C6A4-41D2-94E9-A469C7F5EFEC by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

And back on its wheels. Ready to turn around and do the other side - which won’t take as long - the hardest bit of all this was getting everything off so you can get to the trumpets.
AC8153A7-029A-463D-9A35-B8342C6BEC1A by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

Have also got a pile of new lights, new grill, stop cable, indicator switch, new roll bar and some gaskets to fix a couple of leaks on the engine. All that fun stuff to come. 👍

Until next time boys and girls.

What's the story with extra hydraulic control valve mount where the PTO lever lives? Some external attachment I guess? I am talking about around 1970, so a bit of a grey area, but for sure I recall welding an extension on to the ridiculous original lever. I extended it up to just under the seat for easy use. As far as I can recall the extension was the gearbox lever out of a scrapped Simpson washing machine! Had a nice round knob on the end as well! Cheers

It’s a hydraulic remote, option from the factory on the 165. Modern tractors run like 6 of them or something. Would run something like a log splitter or rear mounted pallet fork, etc.

I like the idea of extending the PTO lever - it’s in a silly spot and hard to reach. Might do that. 👍

Yes, I realise it is a remote hydraulic control valve. Should have been more clear in my question! Are you sure it is am original option? It is where it is mounted that raised the question. Seems to be plonked on the footplate without any thought of where to mount it.
On one farm that I worked on for one seeding season both and a Fordson Power Major, and a David Brown had remote hydraulics for use with a trailing disc plough.

Actually, I have just had another look and on one of your photos there appears to be a control knob behind the hydraulic block. Cheers

I believe this setup is factory - Given that the bracket for the connections bolts to the top LH trumpet bolts - and these 2 studs are longer than the others to allow for this, also the valve bracket is quite complicated and fits very well to the mounting bolts it’s attached with so it’s certainly not a backyard job, so assuming it’s original. Also, a old cow cocky was looking at it this morning while his truck was repaired and he was letting me know quite a bit of info on them as he had 2 of them some years ago. He mentioned ‘The factory remote’ in his conversation so everything points this way however I don’t definitively know this - it could be an aftermarket kit, there’s plenty of those about. It’s actually in quite a good location and I wouldn’t have mounted it anywhere else - it’s not in the way and easy to reach.