The shaft that the steering wheel fastens to is tapered, so it is often necessary to use a tool to pull it off.  Massey Ferguson provide Service Tool MF.250 for this task.  It is possible to adapt any pulley drawer for this purpose in a manner similar to the sketch below.

Once the steering wheel has shifted from the tapered shaft it will come away with ease.

Hi, I’ve got a MF35X which I have been using to “top” the reeds with a small topper. Unfortunately, the PTO has been slowing and even coming to a stop when under load, and the lifting hydraulics have failed several times when trying to lift the topper. Both functions appear to return once the load is decreased.
Do you think the two problems are linked? If so what is causing the problem, and finally, how do I fix it?
Many thanks in anticipation of your help. Best wishes,
- Mike

Most of the 35X’s have a dual clutch. As you may know this means that when you press the clutch pedal half way down the drive to the gearbox is disengaged. When you depress the clutch pedal all the way to the bottom it disengages the drive to both the pto and the hydraulic pump (which means you can easily engage the pto).

Therefore, if your pto and hydraulics are slowing down when under load it will be this clutch which is slipping. The first thing to do is to remove the plate on the underneath side of the clutch housing. You will notice a hole in the bottom which has a split pin in it - this hole is designed to let any drips of oil out of the clutch housing which may have entered from either the crankcase or the gearbox. On occasions this hole becomes blocked and oil gets onto the clutch plates and makes them slip.

More likely is that your clutch will just need adjusting. All the instructions you need are on the clutch page.

Hopefully that will solve your problem. If the clutch still slips then you will need to split the tractor and replace the clutch.

Hope that helps. Let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Steve.

Hi Steve, took off inspection plate and out poured about three quarters of a pint of oil!! cleaned out inside of casing as best I could, and cleaned out the hole that the split pin sits in. Tried to adjust the PTO clutch, but locking nuts were on too tight. Decided to give it a go with the topper back on, and everything now seems to be working fine. Thank you very sincerely for your help, it really was invaluable.

Many thanks and best wishes - Mike

Glad you found the problem.

If your tractor is now working fine for light work then that is OK. The oil will have got onto both clutch plates (i.e. the one for the hydraulics/pto and also the clutch that operates the transmission drive. If you experience problems you may need to replace the clutch plates some time in the future.

Hi was wondering if anybody could help me with a problem with a 23c Massey 35 I bought a few weeks ago. When i bought it i was told it had a full engine rebuild but was still very Smokey. Was told it would be the injectors so had them sent away and serviced , but its still the same. Could it be the timing or the pump ? any ideasThanks,
Jerry Macpherson

Hi Jerry,

Presuming that the engine rebuild was all done correctly, then I think you are correct to look at the fuel system. As you will probably know, servicing of the injection pump is quite expensive so it makes sense to eliminate everything else first. The most obvious place to start is to check the timing. The Engine Rebuild DVD (that is on its way to you) explains the timing procedure, although in our experience it is often necessary to fiddle a little with the pump after following the procedure - each engine seems to be slightly different.

Pay attention to the condition of the timing chain and the timinng chain tensioner, which may not have been checked properly by the person who did the engine repair previously (again this is shown in the DVD). Also the number of shims between the engine and the injection pump intermediary drive gear will affect the backlash between the gears and hence will have an effect the injection pump (as per DVD).

Another thing to check would be the thermostart. On occasions they have been known to dribble fuel into the air intake manifold and cause smoking. It is not an obvious thing to check, but if you think about it it is a source of fuel to the engine which would cause smoking.

Resticted air flow can also cause smoking. Clean the air filter and refill with clean oil (same grade as the engine oil).

If all these are OK then you may have to look at getting the pump serviced.

The Vintage Tractor Engineer

]]> http://www.vintagetractorengineer.com/blog/2008/05/27/smoking-engine-massey-ferguson-35/feed/ http://www.vintagetractorengineer.com/blog/2008/05/27/ferguson-fe35-heater-plug-wiring-diagram/ http://www.vintagetractorengineer.com/blog/2008/05/27/ferguson-fe35-heater-plug-wiring-diagram/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 06:37:04 +0000 The Vintage Tractor Engineer http://www.vintagetractorengineer.com/blog/2008/05/27/ferguson-fe35-heater-plug-wiring-diagram/ I have a 23c and need to know how to wire the glow plugs and how long to heat them as i just got my 2nd set of them and dont want to buy any more?
I got the tractor in a basket and my book did not cover wiring.Thanks,