Massey Ferguson 35 - 3 cylinder Perkins Diesel

[Darbz69]

After 20 months, I have finally finished fixing and restoring Dad's 1960 MF35 Diesel. It was built in Coventry, England and shipped to New Zealand. I am not sure of its history before we took ownership circa 2005.

Up until late 2023 it had been the typical, ultra reliable workhorse these tractors are known to be. Then, one November morning it just wouldn't crank. I was hoping it wasn't the started motor as I didn't want to have to pay $380 for a new one of those. Lucky for me (not) it wasn't and after stripping down the engine, discovered that one big end bearing had picked up on the crankshaft - and there it all started.

Was just going to fix the bearing, get the engine running again and put it back together but.........

 

[Paystar]

Wow that looks incredible!!! Those were good tractors. Nice work.

 

[sandman2234]

Wow that looks incredible!!! Those were good tractors. Nice work.

Definitely a nice job!
David from jax

 

[Darbz69]

Wow that looks incredible!!! Those were good tractors. Nice work.

Thanks Paystar. It has been fascinating working on it and appreciating the level on engineering of the time. They are great tractors and still going strong!

 

[BackRoad]

I have one of those, except it's gas, and not painted, and has old tires, and is not built in England...

Guess the only thing in common is the MF 35 emblem, but even that is different!

Very nice resto by the way!!!

 

[Darbz69]

Definitely a nice job!
David from jax

Thanks David

I have one of those, except it's gas, and not painted, and has old tires, and is not built in England...

Guess the only thing in common is the MF 35 emblem, but even that is different!

Very nice resto by the way!!!

Thanks. It has been very interesting looking at all the variations of these tractors on various youtube videos. US vs UK, Gas vs Diesel, 3 vs 4 cylinder, Grey/Gold vs Red/Grey.

 

[big bubba]

OP: commendable project. it sounds like your Massey is a Perkins 3 cyl, not the Standard Motors 4 cyl TO35 that i had for 28 yes (think it's predecessor). The Standard 4 cly was notoriously hard to start therefore hard on starter motors, i had mine rewound a few times in my 28 yrs of use..
I thought Perkins were made in Canada, not UK? i may be wrong. nonetheless, it's a stout tractor, but i could never go back. regards

 

[HamishMacCheap]

Impressive. You have some valuable skills.

 

[Darbz69]

OP: commendable project. it sounds like your Massey is a Perkins 3 cyl, not the Standard Motors 4 cyl TO35 that i had for 28 yes (think it's predecessor). The Standard 4 cly was notoriously hard to start therefore hard on starter motors, i had mine rewound a few times in my 28 yrs of use..
I thought Perkins were made in Canada, not UK? i may be wrong. nonetheless, it's a stout tractor, but i could never go back. regards

Hey Big Bubba, The 3 cylinder Diesel came out after the 4 cylinder and you are right, was a lot easier to start.
Perkins was founded in Peterborough, England in 1932 by Frank Perkins. It was subsequently purchased by it's biggest customer, Massey Ferguson, in 1959, with Perkins keeping its separate identity and branding.

 

[big bubba]

excellent. was the Perkins subsequently manufactured in Canada, or like my former TO35 Standard engine produced in England?

thx for getting back. looking back, i'd get a Perkins over Standard in that model tractor.....having said, once started, the 4 cly purred for any task as long as radiator was clean, regards

 

[Darbz69]

excellent. was the Perkins subsequently manufactured in Canada, or like my former TO35 Standard engine produced in England?

thx for getting back. looking back, i'd get a Perkins over Standard in that model tractor.....having said, once started, the 4 cly purred for any task as long as radiator was clean, regards

With a little help from Google, I found the following:

The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine.

In March 1951 Standard produced their first diesel engine for the TE-F20 tractor. Called the Standard 20C, this was a new engine design, different from the petrol engine. Bore of 3 3/16" and stroke of 4" gave a capacity of 2,092 cc. This was followed by the Standard 23C engine in 1956. The 23C had its bore increased to 3 5/16" for a capacity of 2,260 cc.

All Standard's tractor assets were sold to Massey Ferguson in 1959. Massey-Ferguson stopped using the Standard engine in favor of Perkins units in the same year.

 

[big bubba]

good homework, yes, mine was a 23c '60 model that i used from '79 till my present purchase M in '08. yes, the Perkins (135) was favored over the Std motors TO35. thanks for info

 

[scootr]

I ran a couple of the 3 cyl Perkins motors, one was in a MF 30B I had for many yrs on the ranch. They are great little motors making decent power with good fuel economy. You have done a beautiful job restoring that tractor

 

[TractorTech]

Beautiful job on the restoration!

I remember getting a MF? with the Standard diesel in our shop. It threw us for a bit because we were used to the Perkins, but it was a nice little engine, just had never seen one before.

 

[scootr]

I've since had 2 of the 4 cylinder Perkins. Both good engines as well. Honestly I can't say they make a whole lot more power but they do drink more fuel. The 3 cylinder Perkins is a solid option.