Massey 165

[VroomVroom]

I have a guy selling a tractor. I won’t get a chance to look at it for several months. He said multipower clutch pack done, seals in injection pumps, tires, looks clean. Few other things. But reading on this multipower , it seems like a terrible thing. In high range it has a sprague clutch. O the tractor will pull forward but not engine brake the machine in hills. Causing you to rely on brakes.

In low range, it has a clutch pack that if worn, will cause the tractor to also free wheel down a hill. It was stated somewhere you should never use, forget using the multipower in low range on hills. But in high it is also no good as it free wheels with a sprague clutch pack it does not seem like a good idea if using on hills. He did say it’s a new clutch pack. But apparently using it in low will eventually wear this clutch pack out. It may be 1000s of hours I understand however. It’s just that a lot of the old stuff I grew up around had poor brakes. And you learned to rely on engine braking. But that option seems out on that tractor. Also, what would the prices be for a clean Massey 165, with seals in the steering unit, injectors, new Mp clutch pack, new rubber. Good sheet metal and painted well?

 

[Harry in Ky]

Some of your facts are correct but not all. Multipower transmissions of that era did use a sprag clutch for low range, which WILL freewheel downhill. However the high range is a clutch pack which is solid drive both ways and provides engine braking.

As always placing a value would be based on location, tractor options and condition. In this area a 165 in the shape you described would probably go for 7K to 12K. USUALLY the multipower units came with independent clutch pack PTO and a two section auxiliary hydraulic pump that supplied some external hydraulic flow, but not all. Earlier tractors had dry brakes, which were effective, later ones had wet brakes which were better. Those features would factor into the value as well.