Bought a 1964 MF35 Industrial Utility / Turf ( The Yellow One )

Rick Sladewski · Oct 6, 2017

I Bought a 1964 MF35 Industrial Utility / Turf ( Gas ) ( The Yellow One ) for $1600.00. Does not seem to be smoking, or leaking anywhere. The seat frame for the backhoe seat is missing, but have the seat. Tires almost new. The only problem I see is the exhaust manifold to head is Bad / gone. Now before I even attempt to fix that I am asking anyone out there what would they suggest as a good plan to do this. As of right now I figure to saturate each nut with 1 of these penetrating oils. Seafoam Deep Creep, or Kroil, or PB Blaster. Can anyone out there guide me on which one. If that does not work I will try heating up and the oils. If that does not work I will go to heating it up and the candle dripping trick. After all that all I have left is trying the impact wrench as gently as I can . Does anyone else have a better plan of attack.

Thank You
Rick Sladewski

shaeff · Oct 6, 2017

Rick Sladewski said:
I Bought a 1964 MF35 Industrial Utility / Turf ( Gas ) ( The Yellow One ) for $1600.00. Does not seem to be smoking, or leaking anywhere. The seat frame for the backhoe seat is missing, but have the seat. Tires almost new. The only problem I see is the exhaust manifold to head is Bad / gone. Now before I even attempt to fix that I am asking anyone out there what would they suggest as a good plan to do this. As of right now I figure to saturate each nut with 1 of these penetrating oils. Seafoam Deep Creep, or Kroil, or PB Blaster. Can anyone out there guide me on which one. If that does not work I will try heating up and the oils. If that does not work I will go to heating it up and the candle dripping trick. After all that all I have left is trying the impact wrench as gently as I can . Does anyone else have a better plan of attack.

Thank You
Rick Sladewski

Hi Rick,

Sounds like you've got basically the same machine as me. If yours has a backhoe, it's not likely a Turf model but rather a 35 Utility. Mine is also a '64. I'd try the regular penetrating oils first, PB Blaster, Kroil, etc. If that doesn't work, the candle trick is always a good one. Just be really careful with that one, and maybe remove the carb and fuel tank to eliminate gasoline from the equation. I've always had great luck with the wax trick, usually as a last resort because I don't like heating anything valuable to that temperature unless I'm really stuck.

Post some pictures when you get a chance, a few threads down we have "The Massey Ferguson Picture Thread," you can see a few of mine in there as well. Welcome to the forum!

Rick Sladewski · Oct 7, 2017

View attachment New MF 2.jpg

I tried the first time. Guess I did something wrong. How's This

shaeff · Oct 7, 2017

Nice looking machine! I sure wish mine had a backhoe!

I think you'll find it to be a very capable machine. You've got a heavier duty loader than me, but even still mine has lots of lift and breakout force. Yours is likely using a 17gpm front mount pump, assuming it's one of be three MF/Davis loafers that were commonly put on these machines.

Those loaders are: 99,101,102.

If you have any questions, we've got a bunch of guys here that are very well versed in these older machines. I've gotten lots of valuable information from these forums and hope I can give back even half of what I've received.

Also check out and post in our Massey Ferguson picture thread, we all love pics of 'em and there aren't many out there that grace the lens of a camera while in use!

Rick Sladewski · Oct 7, 2017

Mine has a MF Loader model 201 and a ARPS backhoe Model 728

Rick Sladewski · Oct 7, 2017

Also, a weird thing happened last night. The distributor was pushed back out just enough to not engage. Does anyone have any ideal why that would happen?

shaeff · Oct 7, 2017

Is the bolt and small bracket still present that locks it in place? If yes, likely bushings in it are shot.

Rick Sladewski · Oct 8, 2017

You are right. The distributor froze up and pushed up even with the retainer on it.

shaeff · Oct 10, 2017

Well, at least it should be a relatively easy fix. You can find the timing mark on the flywheel if you look in the hole (may have a rubber plug in it) below the starter. It's not a bad idea to grab yourself a set of factory books for this machine, you can get them through agcopubs.com.

Rick Sladewski · Oct 10, 2017

Thanks, it is a relative easy job. The books I have are the MF35 shop manual by IT, the original MF35 utility / turf parts book, The original MF200 Loader parts book and the original ARPS 728 owners manual. I am not a complete stranger to all this, just never had a MF 35 before. I have worked older dozers and backhoes and a little on tractors. I have a older 74 T5 terramite now. The main problem is the tractor is not at my house yet. My best friend picked it up in SC with the intention of using it to move some dirt ( 8 dumps worth ) and then I would go down and give him the terramite to use and pick up the tractor. His experience is like mine, with a few twists. I am more by the manual and proactive, he is more just try until good. I will try the link you sent to get the books I donot have yet.
Thank You
Rick Sladewski