Massey 44

[44 standard]

Looking for a starter options for my 44 gas
Would like a direct bolt on replacement
I was told that the 6576N delco I believe would work
Can anyone verify that ?

 

[mrhud]

i am also looking for a 12volt replacement for the 44 i am working on with the 260 continental

 

[DanielW]

I'm guessing you're going to 12V, elsewise the easiest thing to do would probably be to get it
rebuilt (assuming nose cone isn't broken, which is a pretty common problem on these). I've heard
that a few Delco starters will interchange on the 44 with the 260. Starters (especially older North
American ones) are surprisingly more 'standard' than you would think, and there's a fair amount of
interchangeability. There used to be a company in Wisconsin called 'Goldsburg Performance' that
knew what 12V gear reduction starter to give you if you had a 44, but their website doesn't seem to
work anymore.

There was also a post years ago by someone with the handle 'Airy Creek Farm' that talked about an
older Toyota truck starter being a drop-in replacement for a Massey 44 and it being a phenomenal
improvement. I found what I think is their website years ago and meant to contact them to see if
they could tell me exactly what starter/model of Toyota, but never got around to it before getting
rid of that 44. Maybe worth giving them a try? See link below.

The good thing about a Toyota truck starter would be the gear reduction/increased torque, but also
the fact you could probably buy an aftermarket one off RockAuto for peanuts. Might even have a
nylon pinion gear like a lot of new starters, which would be a lot easier on the flywheel teeth

Lots of people run their 6V starter with 12V just fine, but it doesn't do the windings any favours,
and it really hits the flywheel teeth hard. It's common when people do this for them to knock a few
teeth off the flywheel when they run the 6V starter on 12V for a few years. It seems to be
especially problematic with the 44's. I'm not sure if that's because the flywheel teeth where a
little weaker/softer, or just because so many 44's were converted over to 12V because they were
often hard to start.

The H260 is a known hard starter when hot (after being worked hard), and they're hard on starters
because of this. They'll crank over slowly, backfire when the starter's still engaged, and the
kickback will bust the starter nose cone. Back in the day when every farmer around here had a 44
there was a constant swapping back and forth of starters between various farmers.

I once heard it was the valve guide material that caused the warm starting problems: It would
expand more than typical when warm and cause sticky valves. When I rebuilt one of my 44's the
machine shop that did the head put guides in that were spec'd for a Ford truck (can't remember
which engine). It never had any starting problems again after that, though I can't confirm if it
was the valve guides or the rebuild in-general that fixed it.
Airy Creek Farm

 

[mrhud]

(quoted from post at 14:37:01 02/17/23) I'm guessing you're going to 12V, elsewise the easiest thing to do would probably be to get it
rebuilt (assuming nose cone isn't broken, which is a pretty common problem on these). I've heard
that a few Delco starters will interchange on the 44 with the 260. Starters (especially older North
American ones) are surprisingly more 'standard' than you would think, and there's a fair amount of
interchangeability. There used to be a company in Wisconsin called 'Goldsburg Performance' that
knew what 12V gear reduction starter to give you if you had a 44, but their website doesn't seem to
work anymore.

There was also a post years ago by someone with the handle 'Airy Creek Farm' that talked about an
older Toyota truck starter being a drop-in replacement for a Massey 44 and it being a phenomenal
improvement. I found what I think is their website years ago and meant to contact them to see if
they could tell me exactly what starter/model of Toyota, but never got around to it before getting
rid of that 44. Maybe worth giving them a try? See link below.

The good thing about a Toyota truck starter would be the gear reduction/increased torque, but also
the fact you could probably buy an aftermarket one off RockAuto for peanuts. Might even have a
nylon pinion gear like a lot of new starters, which would be a lot easier on the flywheel teeth

Lots of people run their 6V starter with 12V just fine, but it doesn't do the windings any favours,
and it really hits the flywheel teeth hard. It's common when people do this for them to knock a few
teeth off the flywheel when they run the 6V starter on 12V for a few years. It seems to be
especially problematic with the 44's. I'm not sure if that's because the flywheel teeth where a
little weaker/softer, or just because so many 44's were converted over to 12V because they were
often hard to start.

The H260 is a known hard starter when hot (after being worked hard), and they're hard on starters
because of this. They'll crank over slowly, backfire when the starter's still engaged, and the
kickback will bust the starter nose cone. Back in the day when every farmer around here had a 44
there was a constant swapping back and forth of starters between various farmers.

I once heard it was the valve guide material that caused the warm starting problems: It would
expand more than typical when warm and cause sticky valves. When I rebuilt one of my 44's the
machine shop that did the head put guides in that were spec'd for a Ford truck (can't remember
which engine). It never had any starting problems again after that, though I can't confirm if it
was the valve guides or the rebuild in-general that fixed it.
Airy Creek Farm

he 6v eeds a starter drive and the whole electrical system is getting changed ver too 12 neg ground with the auto lite geny thats on it

 

[mrhud]

(reply to post at 18:53:50 02/17/23)

 

[44 standard]

Wilson starter part number 91-01-4310 12 volt 28MT

Is available and will fit

Just ordered on for my 44

 

[mrhud]

excellant i think my napa can get me that one