Traction 1968 Massey Ferguson 165 differential lock pedal won't budge.

[Taylormade2017]

Hi, I am new to the board, and I had a question I was hoping someone could help me with. My father-in-law gave my wife and I his MF 165 when he decided to sell his farm. He never did much with it, except haul bales of hay out to the cattle and every once in a blue moon use it to plant some things. We are planning to put more heavy use on it. Long story short, when I was out in the field with it the other day, I got stuck in the mud. One tire spun while the other held its ground. The one that spun does not have a lot of traction on it, and will be replaced in the near future. When I tried to push the differential lock pedal down to lock in both wheels, it would not budge. I don't know if I was doing it wrong or what. I don't know if my father in law ever used it a lot. I asked him if he had used it, and he told me that he knew it was there, but thought he only used it a few times over the 20 years he had it. He bought it from another person who took great care of it, but I don't know how much that person used the differential lock mechanism either. Any thoughts on what I could do to get the lock working?

 

[Agvg]

Peda probably stuck because of no use or oil, quite common. Start spray it with wd40 or something similar and repeat over time.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I had the same problem on a M 285 that I owned. I don't remember if I used a bar or a hammer to force the linkage back and forth. What I do remember is that I spent about an hour at it. I would move the linkage back and forth and wash the rust out with WD-40.

 

[Taylormade2017]

Thanks, will do!