Price Check Really nice Massey Ferguson 165

[daydk1]

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum. I am going to look at a Massey Ferguson 165 with Continental gas engine this Saturday. They have it priced at $4,500. It has the multi-power option. The sheet metal is real straight and the paint looks good in the photos. The tires look almost brand new. The man who owned it passed away and the family is selling it. They said he was real meticulous on maintaining it. I will be using it mainly to keep my farm bush hogged off and using it for planting a few acres of corn that I grow for corn meal and harvesting with a one row New Idea corn picker. Nothing heavy.

I have always had John Deere tractors, so this is my first look at a Massey Ferguson. I wish I had a photo to post, but I sent a deposit to hold the tractor until I could come and look at it and they have taken it down to stop getting calls. What are some things I need to look for when I go and look at this tractor? Is $4,500 a fair price for a gasoline tractor?

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To TBN. I didn't see how many hours it has and that is one of the things to see how much wear to expect.

 

[daydk1]

:welcome:
To TBN. I didn't see how many hours it has and that is one of the things to see how much wear to expect.

I'm not sure on the hours. I spoke with the daughter over the phone and she really didn't know a lot about it. It looks like it has been well taken care of in the photos. Of course, that doesn't mean anything. I go tomorrow to look at it. It seems like this price is in the ball park of everything else I'm seeing.

 

[flusher]

$4500? I paid $3600 for a 1964 MF135 diesel in 2006 with 4600 hours showing.

The 165 is the big brother of the 135 (58 hp for the 165 vs 45 hp for the 135 on the engine). Otherwise they are virtually identical except for a stronger front axle on the 165.

Multipower--I had MP on my MF135. It's a hydraulic clutch inside the transmission with Low/High ranges selected via a lever on the lower right side of the dashboard. MP changes the transmission from 6F/2R to 12F/4R and adds hill holding capability to the transmission. If the MP clutch fails, you'll be stuck in MP Low range. My 135 had that problem when I bought it. No problem using the tractor in MP Low. I sold my 135 before getting around to fixing that problem.

You really should determine the year of that 165. Go to TractorData.com

TractorData.com Massey Ferguson 165 tractor information

There's a list of serial number/year of manufacture information there. Copy that list and take it with you when you check out that 165. The serial number tag normally is on the dashboard. However, I found the S/N tag for my 135 on the right side of the battery tray. Had to remove the air filter housing to see it. Bring a flashlight and flat blade screwdriver.

On my 135 there's a weep hole on the bottom of the clutch housing. There should be a loosely fitting cotter pin in that hole. If there's a few drops of fluid coming out, no problem. If it's a lot more, then there may be a leaking transmission seal and/or rear crankshaft seal.

Since you have experience with JD tractors, I assume you know how to check out that 165 (exhaust smoke color, run it in all tranny gears, check out the pto and the 3pt hitch, water in oil, oil in the coolant, etc).

Good luck.

 

[daydk1]

Well, I ended up buying the Massey Ferguson 165. According to the serial number, it is a 1970 model. Brought it home and bush hogged with it for an hour. Ran pretty good, but it needs a tune up. I think it also needs some brake work. The pedal goes almost to the floor and I have to stand up on the pedal to stop the tractor. Not really comfortable with that. Some things I'm not familiar with. It has a two-staged clutch. All the way down to shift gears. Halfway down, or up (depending how you look at it) and the PTO engages. All the way down and the PTO stops. The 3 point lift also operates depending on the clutch. Mash the clutch all they way down, and the 3 point lift drops. Halfway up and it comes back up. Is this normal? Tachometer is not working. My dad looked and he said that it looks like there's no cable attached to the gauge, so probably needs a new cable. It has two hydraulic hoses and there are two levers right behind the gears. I have to learn what those do because while bush hogging, I must have adjusted one and the lift went all the way down and would not come up until I moved the hydraulic lever. The Multi-Power switch works just fine. I ended up paying $4,000 for the tractor. Very satisfied with it. The only dissatisfaction with it is that it has no power steering. Can you add power steering to a tractor that did not come with it from the factory?