Possible tractor for me

Curtis B · #1 02/18/10, 12:42 PM

The clutch sticking has me a little worried, but I would like some expert opinions on the tractor.

http://http://wichita.craigslist.org/grd/1606540130.html

Can you get wide front ends for these?

HermitJohn · #2 02/18/10, 03:14 PM

I had a MH444, the updated version of the 44. My guess is no power steering since my 444 didnt have power. Also dont know if 44 had live pto. My 444 did and H/L range with 5spd tranny. My 444 was about last real MH row crop tractor before company became MF only and went to the Ferguson utility tractor design dropping the MH technology and the MH row crop tractors.

The MH444 offered a wide front option, dont know if there was a wide front for the 44 but they should be interchangable. Somebody probably made a kit at one time, but to be honest if you cant find factory wide front in some local scrap yard, just as well adapt one from something else or use an old solid beam truck front axle. Even if a new wide front kit was available, it would maybe cost more than the tractor.

HermitJohn · #3 02/18/10, 03:17 PM

Oh, and if it has the gravity fuel feed like mine, you might want to add a small low psi electric fuel pump like you would use on a 4cyl carburetor car. Made a world of difference for me on hills.

Curtis B · #4 02/18/10, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

Oh, and if it has the gravity fuel feed like mine, you might want to add a small low psi electric fuel pump like you would use on a 4cyl carburetor car. Made a world of difference for me on hills.

I am in Kansas, I don't think there is hill for 1000 miles.:smiley-laughing013: I didn't think about the PTO, I will have to do some checking on that.

PhilJohnson · #5 02/18/10, 05:05 PM

I had a Massey 33 I used for a couple of years. It wasn't a bad tractor. A sticking clutch I wouldn't worry about too much. I had a stuck clutch on my 51 GMC, happens when you don't run a vehicle for a few years. I got mine unstuck by putting it in high gear and letting the truck jerk while depressing the clutch pedal. I have seen a few Masseys with wide fronts so I know they are out there.

**Ross** · #6 02/18/10, 05:28 PM

Mighty big loader for that old tractor! Nice and cheap though. perhaps the clutch linkages have negliected grease nipples?

HermitJohn · #7 02/18/10, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtis B

I am in Kansas, I don't think there is hill for 1000 miles.:smiley-laughing013: I didn't think about the PTO, I will have to do some checking on that.

Look at your map, Kansas is only little over 400 miles long, even if you are at the extreme northwest corner, I rather doubt you are a 1000 miles from me. And believe me NW Arkansas has hills. But even if you are flat as a pancake, a low pressure electric fuel pump also makes the carburetor act better. With the gravity feed, I'd had problems with needle valve sticking either open or shut. Added the 2 or 3 psi pump and the sticky needle valve problem went away along with fuel starvation on hills.

Without looking up specs, I would hazard guess that a MH44 is simular to a Farmall M. Believe me you arent going to be happy with loader, especially a big loader like that with tricycle front and no power steering. But who knows, maybe they rigged up some kind of power steering. Just about have to with that size loader unless the guy driving it is built like a gorilla.

Oh and like most gasoline tractors, sure this one guzzles the fuel. My 444 sure did. Doesnt matter for just occasional use but there is a reason all modern tractors are diesel.

PhilJohnson · #8 02/18/10, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

Without looking up specs, I would hazard guess that a MH44 is simular to a Farmall M. Believe me you arent going to be happy with loader, especially a big loader like that with tricycle front and no power steering. But who knows, maybe they rigged up some kind of power steering. Just about have to with that size loader unless the guy driving it is built like a gorilla.

A few years ago when I used to work on a farm the farmer I worked for had an old John Deere two cylinder tractor with a loader. It was a narrow front end and the tractor used a hand clutch. It was a real pain getting any work done with it, mostly because of the darn hand clutch

fixer1958 · #9 02/18/10, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJohnson

A few years ago when I used to work on a farm the farmer I worked for had an old John Deere two cylinder tractor with a loader. It was a narrow front end and the tractor used a hand clutch. It was a real pain getting any work done with it, mostly because of the darn hand clutch

I had a JD 60 with a FEL without power steering. Powerful tractor but if you had the loader full good luck steering unless you had a 1/4 mile turning arch to work with or some mighty big arms. The thing could pick up a house but it wasn't much use unless it was pointed in the right direction.

I just used it to put firewood on the front porch. 1 load was 4' wide, 2 logs deep and 4'-5' high. That was all I could keep on there without falling off on the trip to the porch.

I thought it was kind of dangerous. 1st was a crawl and reverse was about 5 mph.

Kent · #10 02/19/10, 03:04 AM

My Dad and Granddad had three 44 Masseys. Two with wide front ends and one with a narrow front end. They all steered very hard. I have shopped for about that same size and age of tractor recently and would not think of getting a 44 Massey because of what I remember about the steering. My Granddad had a 444 during the same time with power steering. It was lovely. The 44 does not have live power take off.

Canton is 10 miles away from where I grew up and was driving tractors as a kid. If it did not have the loader on it, the tractor on Craigslist looks just like the one I started out on. Maybe it is?

foxtrapper · #11 02/19/10, 05:16 AM

The sticking clutch is nothing to worry about. That's just rust from sitting. Just put a cinder block on the clutch pedal when you leave the tractor sitting for a long time.

HermitJohn · #12 02/19/10, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kent

My Dad and Granddad had three 44 Masseys. Two with wide front ends and one with a narrow front end. They all steered very hard. I have shopped for about that same size and age of tractor recently and would not think of getting a 44 Massey because of what I remember about the steering. My Granddad had a 444 during the same time with power steering. It was lovely. The 44 does not have live power take off.

Canton is 10 miles away from where I grew up and was driving tractors as a kid. If it did not have the loader on it, the tractor on Craigslist looks just like the one I started out on. Maybe it is?

On a wide front tractor you can convert to orbital valve controlling a hydraulic cylinder for power steering like on modern tractors. Little trickier with narrow front though probably doable if you can figure out how to get the space, cant just stick it out perpendicular to the front of the tractor. Narrow front tractors with loaders also tend to have lot wear on front tricycle support bearing setup. This doesnt help with steering.

HermitJohn · #13 02/19/10, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJohnson

A few years ago when I used to work on a farm the farmer I worked for had an old John Deere two cylinder tractor with a loader. It was a narrow front end and the tractor used a hand clutch. It was a real pain getting any work done with it, mostly because of the darn hand clutch

Should try an old Allis WC with hand brakes and a loader. Only need like six arms with two hands on each arm. Smart people tended to rig up their own foot pedal controls on these old tractors that were designed for mutants with lot of extra arms.

Bret4207 · #14 02/20/10, 06:37 AM

I never understood the fear of a tricycle tractor. If you have enough common sense to zip your pants you should be able to runa tricycle front end without problems. In some cases they are far handier than a wide front end.

HermitJohn · #15 02/20/10, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret4207

I never understood the fear of a tricycle tractor. If you have enough common sense to zip your pants you should be able to runa tricycle front end without problems. In some cases they are far handier than a wide front end.

The narrow front isnt nearly as important as the high center of gravity. Nearly all tricycle tractors were row crop tractors with a HIGH CENTER OF GRAVITY. They were made thus so crops could be cultivated even when taller stage of growth. The narrow front could go between the rows and not knock over the plants. Now that we have went to chemical ag, there isnt the need. They are less stable especially on hills than a tractor with a LOWER CENTER OF GRAVITY.

I grew up on farm in Iowa with old tricycle narrow front tractors. Yet that MH444 I had gave me some thrill scares on steep hills here in Ozarks. The laws of physics dont care how "manly" you are or if you even wear pants. And with laws of physics, there is no due process, just summary consequences when you attempt to break them. Especially with no ROPS/ seat belt. I never bothered to fabricate/adapt wide front cause that still wouldnt have lowered center of gravity on the 444.

T-Bone 369 · #16 02/20/10, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret4207

I never understood the fear of a tricycle tractor. If you have enough common sense to zip your pants you should be able to runa tricycle front end without problems. In some cases they are far handier than a wide front end.

They are somewhat like a chain saw - you have to know how to use them and respect what they can and can not do. You can roll any tractor just like you can take off a finger with a hand saw but it is not usually as quick. I rolled an IH B years ago mowing - just running along and dropped the front end into an unseen hole. The wheels caught and whipped the front end around and over she went. Was fortunate - didn't get hurt and only needed to get a new stack and straighten the steering wheel but did scare the pants of me. I had mowed that hill hundreds of times with that tractor and it was a fluke. I have had old timers tell me stories of broken arms and wrists from catching the front end and getting tangled in the steering wheel (or the speedball). I used that old tractor for many years after that and mowed that hill many more times. You just have to know the limitations of the machine.

Old Vet · #17 02/21/10, 01:50 AM

Even the newer Massey a have a leaver that holes the clutch in if stored for a long time. Any thing that will hold the clutch open fixed that problem. Mine has a leaver that when the clutch is pushed it will hold it their. It is a J screw on a hinge that you put over the clutch shaft.