Thread: MF165 Project

Originally Posted by Homestar

Wiring is mostly toast and will be mostly replaced. Generator works and charges the battery and the starter works, but that’s about it. Will be getting the headlights working and the rear lights too, not too much else to worry about.

The good news is ... if you want to be a tightarse You can probably just buy one roll of wire in one colour and use it everywhere (to keep it original). Mine has quite a bit of wiring to the back and an extra dash light wired to it. I have no idea what its for. Possibly and old bailer warning light or similar (its all broken up and destroyed).

seeya,
Shane l.

The last Fergie TE 20 that I restored I bought a harness from the following. Not cheap but it was period wire. They have one listed for MF 135 but not 165.

https://www.vinwire.com.au/index.htm

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

my money is on the split...

And the winner is... 😆

After many months and a lockdown it’s time to finish this up and get it down to the farm where it belongs. Did I absolutely need to split it - no. Would it have lasted many years to come - I’m sure it would, but in the end it is in the perfect place to do this job, and I wouldn’t be able to do it down the farm if it was ever needed, so 1 step backwards and I split it yesterday arvo. Didn’t actually take that long in the end and confirmed the only leak is the rear main - pouring out. Gearbox seals are fine and as they are hard to get (remove, measure and order as there are so many variables) I’m not going to bother.

New rear main and clutch is ready to go in tomorrow as well as some other bits. It also gave me the chance to repair the steering box mounts properly as they had broken and been repaired in situ. Again, would have lasted no dramas, but with the engine out of the way, the repair was pretty straight forward. I made a new bracket on the mill and as the old cast bracket was in 3 pieces, the measurements were a bit hard to get accurately but it bolted up well in the end so pretty happy.

Old clutch plate splines were quite worn so was worth the dollars to get a new unit. Also bought a seal kit for the injection pump too as there is a leak from the throttle shaft so once it’s back together, that will come off to get done - was going to get a fuel pump specialist to do this but I just watched a YouTube video from a guy in Qld that knows his stuff and it isn’t at all difficult so will save myself the $300 in labour I was quoted for 2 hours work - including removal and refitting the pump which I had to do myself anyway. Stay tuned for some pics of me cocking that up... 🤣

A couple of pics of the split.

22515CED-D1BA-4E23-8277-A94819D182D1 by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

3319C547-5E11-46E9-9F5F-23342F0B42F2 by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

Tomorrow it will be one piece again.

If its the idle cuttoff lever on the fuel pump. I did that a few weeks back. You just whip the lid off and push the shaft out. Throw an "O"ring on it and your away The grime inside the pump was amazing. How does that get there when there is a high micron filter just before it ?









Nice job splitting the tractor. I need to do that. The clutch drags all the time in mine ( smells like spigot bearing/bush to me ....).

Thanks - yep, exactly that.

If you need to borrow the dolly you can see on the front half let me know. It allows adjustment up and down independently on each side. Makes light work of doing it and is secure.

So, I didn’t quite get the tractor back together today. What should have been a couple to replace 2 seals in the input shaft housing turned into nearly 8 as I uncovered and fixed several horrors from a previous repair. This was done many moons ago well before the PO had it and sold it to me, so I’m not having a go as it’s held up ok for decades but the last time the housing was off, half the gasket obviously came away and rather than clean it off, another one was stuck over the top of half the old one with around a gallon of silastic - not RTV, but what looked like clear roof and gutter stuff. The bolts holding it were loose and one had been replaced and was too long and nearly touching the gear inside the box.

So, with all that sorted and the new rear main in, I’m confident it should be leak free in there for many years and was well worth the effort.

So I did get everything back together ready for the tractor to be put back in one piece but just didn’t quite get that far - maybe tomorrow arvo, but I have to go back to work for a couple of days now which will get in the way of my fun...

Look at the size of this finishing mower! It would have to be perfect for your tractor

That's exactly what I'm looking for! A little too far to go and I'm really after a running unit not another project but if you see something that might suit, be sure to post a link.