Older diggers for farm use

[MF30]

Does the 4550 gearbox have the very high speed reverse. The one we had could go very fast in high reverse . It is forty years ago but I think it was able for over 15 mph in reverse.

Speaking of high reverse speed it brings to mind of a tractor drive for charity in 1979. The Leyland 272 Synchro had just been launched and had a high reverse speed of over 20mph. To raise money for charity the local main dealer supplied a 272 which was driven in reverse through every county in Ireland. After the fundraiser the tractor was sold to a family near to us where it stayed for another 20 years. You'd have a stiff neck after that drive, presume it was done in a lot of shifts.

 

[drew]

Speaking of high reverse speed it brings to mind of a tractor drive for charity in 1979. The Leyland 272 Synchro had just been launched and had a high reverse speed of over 20mph. To raise money for charity the local main dealer supplied a 272 which was driven in reverse through every county in Ireland. After the fundraiser the tractor was sold to a family near to us where it stayed for another 20 years. You'd have a stiff neck after that drive, presume it was done in a lot of shifts.

Leylands must have been the weapon of choice for those type events at the time! In 81 there was a 282 did the circuit of Ireland non stop from local to here!

and another aside on leylands dad had an early 272 synchro, some one took it for a spin one day with dad in it went for what he thought was 4th, dad shouted that’s reverse, he didn’t believe him till he started to let out the clutch, couldn’t believe it was possible to select reverse without a load of crunching and grinding

 

[MF30]

Leylands must have been the weapon of choice for those type events at the time! In 81 there was a 282 did the circuit of Ireland non stop from local to here!

and another aside on leylands dad had an early 272 synchro, some one took it for a spin one day with dad in it went for what he thought was 4th, dad shouted that’s reverse, he didn’t believe him till he started to let out the clutch, couldn’t believe it was possible to select reverse without a load of crunching and grinding

My mistake, it was actually a 282! Yes the synchros have reverse gear synchronised also, and it's in front of first gear so it was a shuttle of a type at the time that could be used without braking. The Leylands here can be driven flat out forwards and then reverse can be selected easily while doing around 25 mph. Was never brave enough to let the clutch out, you'd be put out through the windscreen fairly lively.

 

[maidhc]

Does the 4550 gearbox have the very high speed reverse. The one we had could go very fast in high reverse . It is forty years ago but I think it was able for over 15 mph in reverse.

550 and 4550 box are the same aside from the top cover, but both have a crazy high speed reverse! I would easily image 15 is possible.

 

[nashmach]

For Farm use might be a stretch....

https://www.donedeal.ie/tractors-for-sale/ford-1988-655-imccualte-condition/23923766

 

[maidhc]

For Farm use might be a stretch....

https://www.donedeal.ie/tractors-for-sale/ford-1988-655-imccualte-condition/23923766

It's still only worth half that...

 

[powerfarmer]

For Farm use might be a stretch....

https://www.donedeal.ie/tractors-for-sale/ford-1988-655-imccualte-condition/23923766

Where was that all its life ? Amazing how fresh it looks

 

[Mike]

It's still only worth half that...

I would tend to agree, maybe €12k at a push to the right man.
An 88 3cx with them hours would be much more sought after, but I couldnt see one of them making that money either

 

[nashmach]

It's still only worth half that...

At a big push!

Where was that all its life ? Amazing how fresh it looks

It clearly didn't do much work anyway. I've a feeling that was advertised within the past 12 months before by a collector but may be getting things muddled.

I would tend to agree, maybe €12k at a push to the right man.
An 88 3cx with them hours would be much more sought after, but I couldnt see one of them making that money either

Would a 3cx like that even make five figures now :scratchhead:

 

[Mike]

At a big push!



It clearly didn't do much work anyway. I've a feeling that was advertised within the past 12 months before by a collector but may be getting things muddled.



Would a 3cx like that even make five figures now :scratchhead:

I think a 3cx with a genuine 3000hrs would draw fair interest.

 

[nashmach]

Another clean 655
https://www.donedeal.ie/tractors-for-sale/ford-655-1988/24034446

 

[nashmach]

A very clean 50 here
https://www.donedeal.ie/tractors-for-sale/massey-ferguson-50h-/24113814

 

[Seedsower]

My 550 being pressed into action last week after about 12 months of rest. It was bought in 1992 for £4000. Has fed the cattle and stacked the silage bales almost every year since. Also backfilled the shed it is pictured in and has done innumerable jobs.

Since purchase (28 years ago!) it has got the front axle rebuilt, replacement gearbox from a 4550 and in the last 12 months a new hydraulic pump, water pump, radiator and the back actor levers rebushed.

It needs the back actor dipper to be line bored and bushed at this stage and a general tidy up is overdue.

It was painted 555 colours in the early 90s to fool the esb into thinking it was a more modern machine than it was. It got a brand new 4610/4630 engine around then too.

View attachment 73384

What year is it?great service and value from it anyway. Machines like that are even better than tractors for holding value

 

[JohnBoy]

A very clean 50 here
https://www.donedeal.ie/tractors-for-sale/massey-ferguson-50h-/24113814

Is that era still using a motor for slew?

 

[Mike]

Is that era still using a motor for slew?

Yes, the series after that had the rams (50hxs etc)

 

[jf 850]

Is that era still using a motor for slew?

A tidy enough digger for the age of it .

Which is at least a year or 2 older than its reg number. Plenty of 87 HX sold , the newer model than that .
He will find it hard to sell at the money he has it advertised for , added to the fact its 2 wd.
There was a very similar 50 H for sale nearby years ago , but without the extending dipper , ( handy to have but get very wobbly in old age , plus heavier). Ex equestrian, it sold after several years to the Eco Village.

The HX ram type has different buckets than the older type . Newer type 7 inch between lugs , older 10 1/2 inches.

Yes, the series after that had the rams (50hxs etc)

I have that type of slew post and motor fitted to my old 50 . In pic 5 , you will see the extra meat at the top and bottom of the slew post .
The original type , the shaft piece used year out of the post.
I had to give a close neighbour of @Bog Man €500 cash , for just the post part . I got the motor from the late Richard Moynan for either 200 or 250 , but it had been burnt a little , and he wasnt sure if it would leak.

That era of MF digger were notorious for self combustion.

 

[Mike]

A tidy enough digger for the age of it .

Which is at least a year or 2 older than its reg number. Plenty of 87 HX sold , the newer model than that .
He will find it hard to sell at the money he has it advertised for , added to the fact its 2 wd.
There was a very similar 50 H for sale nearby years ago , but without the extending dipper , ( handy to have but get very wobbly in old age , plus heavier). Ex equestrian, it sold after several years to the Eco Village.

The HX ram type has different buckets than the older type . Newer type 7 inch between lugs , older 10 1/2 inches.



I have that type of slew post and motor fitted to my old 50 . In pic 5 , you will see the extra meat at the top and bottom of the slew post .
The original type , the shaft piece used year out of the post.
I had to give a close neighbour of @Bog Man €500 cash , for just the post part . I got the motor from the late Richard Moynan for either 200 or 250 , but it had been burnt a little , and he wasnt sure if it would leak.

That era of MF digger were notorious for self combustion.

Splitting hairs, a 50HX is the 4wd version of the 50H above, the next series were the 'S Series' and less popular T series.

 

[Mike]

A tidy enough digger for the age of it .

Which is at least a year or 2 older than its reg number. Plenty of 87 HX sold , the newer model than that .
He will find it hard to sell at the money he has it advertised for , added to the fact its 2 wd.
There was a very similar 50 H for sale nearby years ago , but without the extending dipper , ( handy to have but get very wobbly in old age , plus heavier). Ex equestrian, it sold after several years to the Eco Village.

The HX ram type has different buckets than the older type . Newer type 7 inch between lugs , older 10 1/2 inches.



I have that type of slew post and motor fitted to my old 50 . In pic 5 , you will see the extra meat at the top and bottom of the slew post .
The original type , the shaft piece used year out of the post.
I had to give a close neighbour of @Bog Man €500 cash , for just the post part . I got the motor from the late Richard Moynan for either 200 or 250 , but it had been burnt a little , and he wasnt sure if it would leak.

That era of MF digger were notorious for self combustion.

Splitting hairs, a 50HX is the 4wd version of the 50H above, the next series were the 'S Series' and less popular T series.

 

[jf 850]

Splitting hairs, a 50HX is the 4wd version of the 50H above, the next series were the 'S Series' and less popular T series.

I haven't ever seen a HX older than 87 . Any of those 2 wd 50 H were 85 0r 86 . Possibly a coincidence.
H and newer had the Powershuttle transmission , as opposed to the " rocker pedal " type torque , of the 50 , 50 B and 50 D.

Cabs rotted of D s especially , and to a fair degree on Hs.

There must be plenty of F4F members that had the various aged MF digger loaders . Very common once upon a time . Then people moved onto 4 wd tractors , and with shuttle transmission, better comfort etc , a loader on the tractor was more useful .

 

[Kieran97]

I haven't ever seen a HX older than 87 . Any of those 2 wd 50 H were 85 0r 86 . Possibly a coincidence.
H and newer had the Powershuttle transmission , as opposed to the " rocker pedal " type torque , of the 50 , 50 B and 50 D.

Cabs rotted of D s especially , and to a fair degree on Hs.

There must be plenty of F4F members that had the various aged MF digger loaders . Very common once upon a time . Then people moved onto 4 wd tractors , and with shuttle transmission, better comfort etc , a loader on the tractor was more useful .

There were two neighbours of mine that had enough of silage to justify a pit back when I was very small. one had some sort of mf digger he only sold there a few years ago, don't ask me what it was but it was an antique. He died a few years ago of motor neuron disease. His son has his own baler now.

The other had a mf 265 with a shear grab and a big weight on the back. Now has a New Holland and makes about 450 bales every year instead.

There's another fella with horses beside me had a 1987 reg one up until lately, looked to be a 4wd. The steering was bad on it and one day the auld fella had to go with the landini to pull him out of a ditch. Didn't see it since that, he uses the deutz now.

 

[Mike]

I haven't ever seen a HX older than 87 . Any of those 2 wd 50 H were 85 0r 86 . Possibly a coincidence.
H and newer had the Powershuttle transmission , as opposed to the " rocker pedal " type torque , of the 50 , 50 B and 50 D.

Cabs rotted of D s especially , and to a fair degree on Hs.

There must be plenty of F4F members that had the various aged MF digger loaders . Very common once upon a time . Then people moved onto 4 wd tractors , and with shuttle transmission, better comfort etc , a loader on the tractor was more useful .

Here is the type I am referring to, this one appears to be C reg 85/86

 

[drew]

Our previous digger to the current t series was a 50h , relatively similar to the one on done deal but had the big frame around the outside of the cab similar to the 50D, with the top half of the door having a metal frame around the window, the same as these but 2wd. It was reg’d as 87 when it came in but was supposed to be around 84 I think.

 

[nashmach]

Youd wonder what MF did after the 50b's that made them so prone to combustion?? Those 50ex's are notorious for it too.

 

[denis086]

Youd wonder what MF did after the 50b's that made them so prone to combustion?? Those 50ex's are notorious for it too.

There was something odd about how they were wired I heard before, are the switches in the wiring on the negative side of the circuits or something so if a positive wire rubbed through it was grounded and sparked?
...I could be completely wrong but I was definitely told something along those lines.

 

[Canyanero]

Hi lads, we are thinking of buying a digger something suitable for cleaning ditches, digging drains, bits of general digging and tidying up. We were looking at rubber track machines, as they are more suitable for concrete. Is there much of a difference in 3-5-8 ton machines, and are there any machines to stay away from? Thanks very much

 

[Kieran97]

Hi lads, we are thinking of buying a digger something suitable for cleaning ditches, digging drains, bits of general digging and tidying up. We were looking at rubber track machines, as they are more suitable for concrete. Is there much of a difference in 3-5-8 ton machines, and are there any machines to stay away from? Thanks very much

Dash 1 and dash 5 are the best of them. Dash one had little or no electrics and had twin gear pumps. Dash 5 has twin piston pumps. Dash 2 and 3 have single piston pumps. The only problem with the single pump is if you're in bad ground and get into bother you can't put down the arm and track at the same time. The dash 2 had a bad setup for the electric throttle which could give niggly bother but generally aren't too bad.

As said before rust is an issue on earlier ones. Cab on our uh02 isn't hectic.

Dash 5 will be north of 22k but a good dash 1 or 2 could be picked up for around the 15k mark. Dash 2 were the first with servo levers I believe so they're nicer to drive than a dash 1.

Try and get one on 2ft 6 pads. Keep you up in bad ground.

If you're moving a 120 regular you need a good low loader and a tractor North of 6 tons to be legal. Hence, an ex100 may suit better.

Personally I like the 6 ton digger cause they're easy to move around and a lot more economical on fuel. Hard beat the power of a larger digger but they will be significantly harder on fuel.

Ur is the zero tail swing model. Great on a building site but for making drains they tend to bow a bit in the front so I wouldn't be mad about one for farm use.

Anything older than a dash 1, uh etc are also a good basic machine but I will say its getting harder and harder to get parts for them. I've had to change filter housings and stuff on ours cause some of them are no longer served. If the dealer has a few of them on the shelf I tend to buy them all cause the response I usually get is "We won't be ordering them again"

Usual things to check out, have a look at the chains, and see its tracking alright. One with buckets is not to be sneezed at. You wouldn't find spending another few thousand on 120 buckets.

Fiat Hitachi have iveco engines, 100 120 and uh have isuzu engines. Ex 60 have a sweet little Nissan unit.

Common problem is the filter in the bottom of the tank is rarely cleaned or changed. They get blocked up and as a consequence they have no power.

Make sure the oil isn't gone milky. Moisture ingress can be an issue.

That's all I can think of for the minute.

Post I put in another thread. Can't go wrong with Hitachi. Dearer to buy day 1 than some other makes, but the best of them all.

For making drains and general farm work, the 6 Ton is best. Personally not mad about rubber tracks, but good if you're going to be on concrete from time to time.