This tractor belongs to Jeff in Canada. Jeff wants to know what exactly he has? Ferguson or a Massey Ferguson?
Jeff's tractor
Read what Jeff says about his tractor and take a look at the photos…
Hi,
I have a Ferguson / Massey ferguson 35. I dont know the year and I have been trying to figure out if it is a Massey Fergson or a Ferguson. I looked at the pictures of the one in Port Elgin, Ontario and you had requested pictures. I can take a few and send them, it still has the original decals. Mine looks just like the one on your page about the decals. It has been painted, but the decals have been taped over, so they are still there and in relatively decent shape. The badge on the front is a chrome Ferguson badge, but the decals on the side are Massey Ferguson? It has been in my familly for 40 years, and belonged to the farmer that owned our property before us, so there are onyl two owners. It was my dads, and I have used it since I was about 12, so I have had it now for about 26 years. I still use it every summer doing brushing etc. We used it to cut grass more than anything.
Ferguson badge on the front
I have been thinking of resotring it, but I dont know if I could find parts these days. (Gaskets, rings, seals etc) As well I am interested in your DVD’s on this model.
Hopefully the pics may help others with their decals/restorations.
This tractor has been in my family now for 40 years. It has been in continuous operation since we got it.
We used it for cutting grass and brushing for years, until about 10 years ago every summer as a daily working machine. It ran everyday for years in the summer, 5-7 days a week 8-12 hours a day! Sometimes more! I personally have thousands of hours on it. Literally.
We never had much trouble with it other than the usual maintenance items, fuel pump, starter, etc. Fuel lines were problematic every now and then, they would crack. We replaced one year’s ago with a HP flexible line. And the front tires were replaced with truck tires.
Other than that it is as my dad bought it. The brush hog is a Massey Ferguson. Year I don’t know. Everything works on the tractor with the exception of lights. I still use it today for odd jobs in the summer.
Winter, no go. Will not start in the cold! As well we did install the Alternator years ago.
I am thinking of restoring it to original. But I would like to know exactly what I have.
A lot of this info I have is just from general knowledge of this machine in particular. Other than some items I have found on the internet over the past few days.
I believe it was originally grey, overall. It has been painted red a few times. But under the red, and shows through when the red paint fades off is a light grey paint. The engine and transmission have no paint on them that I can remember seeing.
The decal on the side says Massey Ferguson. But if you look close, those letters are over top of the original which just reads, Ferguson. There are also two decals, one on each side on the hood that are the general shape of the Ferguson Power decals I have seen before. They have been painted over.
Massey Ferguson sticker (been added later)
Look behind the MF sticker and we can see the old 'Ferguson' sticker beneath it
The Data plate, see pics, reads that it was built in Coventry England, by the Standard Motor Co Ltd. – For Massey Ferguson – FE 35 – Serial Number SDM 118336
Identification plate
The web sites I have looked at by S/N say that it matches Massey Ferguson, MF 35 only. But the data plate says FE 35. So I am a little confused. If there is any other info I can get, please let me know.
When I do restore it, I would like to do it to original, colours, tires, etc
etc.
Please feel free to use these pictures, maybe they will help some one else some day.
Thank you for your help, and great job on the website. It is very
informative, and helpful. I had no idea that anyone else had an interest in these old tractors! I have had a lot of fun with this old machine over the years. In fact out of all the heavy equipment we have, we always joke around that this is the best piece of equipment we own, it just keeps going!
Thanks,
Jeff Springer
Well Jeff thanks for sending in the photos of your tractor and telling us so much about it. So what have you got?
The first thing to say is that all the tractors (from the gold/grey Ferguson FE35, through the red/grey Ferguson 35 and to the red/grey MF35) have FE35 stamped on the identification plate as the model designation.
Basically the colour changed from gold/grey tractors to red/grey tractors when Massey Harris Ferguson changed its name to Massey-Ferguson (the hyphen was later dropped). However the Ferguson badging remained for some time before the MF and triple triangle logos were fitted to the tractors.
If we take a look at Dave’s 35 (serial number SDM112958 – which is only 5400 tractors before Jeff’s), we can see that this tractor also has the Ferguson sticker along the side of the bonnet. In his email, Dave questioned if this sticker was original – but now we have some evidence of another tractor with a similar sticker. The photo from the 1957 promotional brochure (if you follow this link, scroll down to middle of article) of the tractors shows a metal Ferguson badge on both the front and side of the bonnet.
A point to note about all these tractors is that, although manufactured in England, they have been exported to either Canada or Australia (has that made any difference to the colours/delcals?).
I would therefore deduce that Jeff’s tractor should be painted red and grey, was manufactured towards the end of 1958 (during which time the company was called Massey Ferguson), but was still badged a Ferguson – with both the front badge and the side decal.
Are the Ferguson side stickers available anywhere? Not that we know of (please tell us if you know where to get them from), but Dave has had some made and the last we heard was that he had some left over.
