Friday Big Iron 3

[Majorman]

Massey Ferguson 1200. Massey got into the articulated four wheel drive market a bit too late and their first offering the 1200 was under-powered and weak transmissions compared to the other, fixed chassis, tractors in the same class like County and Muir Hill. They stepped up the power and improved the transmissions but by that time, the Ford FW and Steiger based tractors had cornered the UK market.
Massey Ferguson 1200

 

[caterpillar guy]

The reputation they got here was you had to jam a fence post in behind the transmission lever by the cab wall to hold the lever in gear after they got quite a few hours on them. The V-8 Cat didn't do them any favors either. Had they put an inline 6 in it would have helped there too.

 

[Steve in IL]

I think the 1200 had a 6 cylinder Perkins in it of around only 100hp. The 1500 had a 3150 Cat (predecessor to the 3208).

 

[Majorman]

The engine was a Perkins 6.354, a good engine but in the wrong tractor. Most of the other parts came from a Massey Ferguson 175 or even further back and MF65. Could not cope with the strain a four wheel drive and bigger implements put on them.