Massey Harris 55 Diesel question(s)

[Farmallhm44]

I just bought a Massey-Harris 55 diesel at auction today. It's painted as an industrial model, but was also told its a "western special". It has larger rear tires and a hand clutch. There was another 55 diesel there that didn't have either of those. The tractor is a little rough. My questions at the moment are:

Where is the best place or places to get parts?

Where can I find more information about it? Repair books, manuals, etc.

Also, is there a secondary location somewhere for a serial number? Data plate isn't very legible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[centash]

Serial number should be hand stamped on the
transmission case just under where the
battery sits. For specific info, you had
best go to a MH specific forum, although
there are a few quite knowledgeable folks
on this site. New parts are hard to find,
used parts at wreckers tend to be out west
where most of these tractors were sold.

I have had 5 over the years, neat old
tractors, advertised as the biggest tractor
on wheels when new.
Enjoy!

Ben

 

[GreenEnvy]

Is the front axle arched or straight? I have a 55 WS and I
think the arched axle was one of the features of the
western special.

 

[Farmallhm44]

Thank you!

 

[Farmallhm44]

It's arched.

 

[rustred]

yes it was

 

[rustred]

cant see how that can be, my wd40 outpulls all them tractors

 

[DanielW]

Good luck with engine parts. Brakes, body
parts filters etc. are mostly available
online, but engine parts are a bit of a
pain. The Continental JD382 in those was
interesting, but really not a great engine. I
love mine, but acknowledge the engine is
the weak link. I was always irked at how
Massey had such well-made, user-friendly
tractors with a surprising number of
available options, but then crippled them
with lousy engine choices (referring to
Massey Harris only, not Ferguson).

There are a few companies that make engine
internals like pistons/sleeves/main & rod
bearings, but they're getting increasingly
hard to find. They're also getting
stupidly expensive. Jensales and AgKits
offer those parts.

If I remember right, they used two styles
of Bosch injection pumps, and one of them
is pretty much impossible to find parts
for. Make sure your tank and filters are
clean and add a good dose of diesel
lubricant to your fuel - hopefully you'll
never have to touch it.

The 382's in the Masseys weren't balanced,
and earlier ones were prone to crank
failures. That makes them lousy for any
belt/PTO work. Low speed lugging is what
they're meant for. I sometimes use mine on
my circular sawmill, but it's really not
happy being wound up that high. They're
also prone to having the block crack
between sleeves. This doesn't usually
cause any significant issues/leaking, and
if it does a little JB weld or gasket goop
shoved in the crack before bolting the
head back on usually gets you going.

These engines were only used in Massey
55/555's, Case (Terratrac) 1000 crawlers,
and a few oddball industrial applications.
Pretty sure some of the later 382's in the
Case crawlers had balancing shafts - I'd
love to find one of those for a donor
engine. Continental later made the JD403
which was pretty much the same engine,
just bored out a little. All the 403's (to
my knowledge) had balance shafts. I've
heard the 403's bolt right up and are an
excellemt swap, but they're hard to come
by - only used in a few industrial
applications.

This post was edited by DanielW on 09/04/2022 at 07:58 pm.

 

[Farmallhm44]

Thank you

 

[centash]

Pulling ability depends on a lot of factors....I outpulled many more powerful tractors with my 55 gas and as well got outpulled by smaller ones too. The Nebraska Tractor tests determined a corrected hp for a late 55 gas as just over 68 pto or belt hp.
This record remained for a gas tractor for a number of years
Ben