MF 30E Tractaire

[NoobFarm]

Hello fellow forumites. As my name suggests I am new to farming/tractors and I would appreciate a little patience to match my inexperience.

I have recently just bought my first tractor . A 1993 industrial Massey Ferguson 30E tractaire, front loader and rear compressor. Planning to use it to work the land and carry out road maintenance. Currently drives well with a sticky foot brake, loader works with a squirt from the dual spool as it pressurises and the compressor is to be removed for a three point linkage.

Any advice would be very welcome and appreciated. Is this a viable project or is converting to a 3pl more Hassle than it s worth? The tractor cost 2,500 and I would like to spend no more than that to get it up to spec.

Regards
Noobfarm

 

[Jim.ME]

Welcome to the forum.

What is your general location, it might help with where you might find parts if needed.

Photos will help to determine the feasibility of removing the compressor and adding the 3 point on. You may need to make several posts (5, I think) before the site will allow you to post photos. The compressor is driven by the PTO shaft, correct? Is there a visible coupling? Does the top cover have the rockshaft, for the lift arms, under/behind the seat? Is the compressor mounting connected to the loader mounts?

 

[NoobFarm]

(quoted from post at 14:47:42 03/03/20)
Welcome to the forum.

What is your general location, it might help with where you might find parts if needed.

Photos will help to determine the feasibility of removing the compressor and adding the 3 point on. You may need to make several posts (5, I think) before the site will allow you to post photos. The compressor is driven by the PTO shaft, correct? Is there a visible coupling? Does the top cover have the rockshaft, for the lift arms, under/behind the seat? Is the compressor mounting connected to the loader mounts?

Hi Jim, thanks for the welcome.

I m in Burns country, the idyllic rolling hills of Ayrshire in Scotland. I was guessing I would get parts online?

Correct, the compressor is driven by the pto and visually hard to see the actual coupling, will try to get photos. Try not to get to technical to quickly... what s a rock shaft? The compressor is mounted on the chassis at the very rear and I can see the two lower lift arm connection points at the underside of the rear axle, so I assume the third point will be present and more easily identified once the compressor is removed. Currently there are no hydraulics at the rear.

 

[DavidP, South Wales]

Hello Scotland, Wales calling. As I was
reading the word Tractaire I thought that
this was unlikely to be a posting from
the US. Tractaire machines also used IH
tractors as well as others probably. The
compressor is likely to be coupled
directly to the tractor and is likely to
be mounted on an extension of the loader
frame. It is unlikely that you will have
a hydraulic cover only a blanking plate.
If the tractor was destined to be a
compressor tractor as seems the case a
version would have been made with just
the essentials for it's intended life. In
addition to not having a hydraulic system
there would be no need for a dual clutch.
This can be checked by removing the plate
under the gearbox and checking for a
single or dual assembly. If it's a single
you might need to stick with this or
change the whole assembly and the
flywheel as well.
DavidP, South Wales

 

[NoobFarm]

(quoted from post at 15:56:28 03/03/20) Hello Scotland, Wales calling. As I was
reading the word Tractaire I thought that
this was unlikely to be a posting from
the US. Tractaire machines also used IH
tractors as well as others probably. The
compressor is likely to be coupled
directly to the tractor and is likely to
be mounted on an extension of the loader
frame. It is unlikely that you will have
a hydraulic cover only a blanking plate.
If the tractor was destined to be a
compressor tractor as seems the case a
version would have been made with just
the essentials for it's intended life. In
addition to not having a hydraulic system
there would be no need for a dual clutch.
This can be checked by removing the plate
under the gearbox and checking for a
single or dual assembly. If it's a single
you might need to stick with this or
change the whole assembly and the
flywheel as well.
DavidP, South Wales

Howdy David, thanks for the technical post. I can tell this is going to be a steep learning curve on this forum. The loader frame is connected to the chassis at the cab and the compressor is connected to the chassis that extends past the rear axle. I ll add photos once I m priveledged. I take it by only having a blanking plate this makes for a harder (or impossible) conversion to a 3pl? If I was going to replace the loader hydraulics, would I be able to add the rear hydraulics at that time? Sorry for a noob question, but why would it need a dual clutch? I will try to locate the gearbox plate once I m home from work.

 

[coatham]

[q









hi we have a 30e trackaire year about 1987 and not to far away in co durham does your tractor have a normal clutch or is it a torque converter ie is there a electric switch bellow the steering wheel for forward reverse ? as david says there will be no top link connection or casting for the hydraulic arms just a flat plate under the seat the ferguson hydraulic pump will still be fitted inside the tractor david will know better than than me he is a expert on masseys and very helpfull but i would think parts from a 200 or 600 series would convert it to standard why do you wish to disconnect the loader hydraulic system ?

chris














uote="NoobFarm"](reply to post at 08:20:52 03/03/20) [/quote]

 

[DavidP, South Wales]

Hello, lots of questions but at this
stage perhaps not many answers. I
thought that first of all we might have
been on different hymn sheets until I re-
read your original post and saw that it
is your intention to remove the
compressor and fit a three point linkage
system.
I do not have access to industrial
tractor parts books so can only give you
general answers in some things. Is the
loader made by MF or possibly Steelfab in
Cardiff? When outside firms added things
like loaders and compressors they used
loaders from firms like Cameron Gardner
which were semi-industrial. I think the
first question is to find out what you
have in the way of a clutch or converter
as mentioned and where the hydraulic pump
is situated. Is it mounted on the front
of the engine or internally? I doubt that
the Ferguson pump on it's own would be
sufficient. If after removing the belly
plate you can see that you have a dual
clutch unit then all well and good. If
the Ferguson pump is installed then
better still. Oil is normally transfered
from the pump to the top front rh corner
of the hydraulic cover via a pipe. It
passes through a valve which provides oil
for the 3pl in one position and external
services (loader) in the other. Regarding
the flywheel etc it depends on the
original specification of the tractor. A
single clutch might have been
satisfactory to drive the compressor so
might not require a dual unit. A dual
unit allows you to stop forward movement
of the tractor in the first stage of
pedal depression. This does not affect
the running of an implement...a mower for
example. IF a single clutch was fitted
and you wished to install a dual then
the likelyhood is that the flywheels will
be different.
As mentioned the tractor under the 30E is
likely to be largely a 250 or a 550 and
will share many parts with the exception
of components and systems designed to cop
with industrial use. Nothing is
impossible when it comes to a project
like this with perhaps luck in finding
the parts you need, if it can be done and
of course the depth of your pockets.
DavidP
Untitled URL Link

 

[NoobFarm]

Hi Chris, thanks for replying.

Yes it has a shuttle for engaging forward/reverse, with a gear stick for sped setting and no clutch pedal. I have learned what a dual clutch is and I m now wondering how to engage the Pto to run the compressor? Not that I would want to as there are missing and disconnected pipes. I m not planning on removing the loader bucket or frame as it works fine with a little hydraulic fluid leak at the spool levers. I am only planning on removing the compressor to see what the options are and I m getting a better idea about what the issue will be from previous replies.
David does seem to know a lot about his tractors, from reading through some of the other threads. Hopefully he ll take as much interest in guiding a noob as he has for the the more knowledgable posters here. I will have to take what I can from here and learn a little myself, going to be a slow process of restoring, learning and more restoring/maintaining.
Do you Find your 30 E useful? I ll be using mine for repairing a 1.5km dirt track and hopefully doing some work in my 12acre field, ploughing, cutting and other farm stuff...

 

[NoobFarm]

Thanks for the input and questions. I spent a bit of time on t internet last night and learned what and how a dual clutch works. Haven t had the plate off for a look yet, millions of stuff going on at the moment and as indicated above this is going to be a slow process of repair and learning. Hoping to do basic servicing and repair the hydraulic leak to allow me to use the bucket to shift planings for the road repairs and the forks for pallets of stuff. The rear adaptions are a longer term project for working the field next summer. Along with the tractor work I ll need to learn how to farm...
There is no shortage of luck here, so I imagine parts will fall out of the sky. Money on the other hand is tight, can t spend all our spare readies on tractor, hence a longer term approach for the 3pl adaption.
I will get some answers to your questions over the next few days after inspecting closer. And photos.

 

[coatham]

(reply to post at 03:43:31 03/04/20)

hi
our 30e has been a good machine with very little trouble but its main job is feeding cattle silage with a shear grab on the loader for loading repairing your road etc it will be ideal but with a torque converter i am not sure how well it will cope ploughing etc i believe if under heavy loading the oil can overheat as they are realy intended for shuttle loading operations but i may be wrong ? i dont want to give you duff information
the pto is hydraulically engaged the lever should be on the left hand side next to the seat so using the shuttle or changing gear should not affect the pto on the other side of the seat there should be a dipstick for the transmission and rear axle the 30e has the same 3 cylinder engine as a 135 but the heavy rear axle like a 275 675 the loader hydraulic pump is shaft driven from the engine front pulley the pump is in the nose of the tractor behind the grill

 

[NoobFarm]

The previous owner used it for silage transportation for 8 years with no issues, think he had tried to fix the leaking spool and just accepted it leaked. We re planning on leaving our farm in a better state than we acquired. The last few months I ve been clearing the farmers 80 years worth of detritus. Now it s time to fix the leaking spool, any advice? I wasn t sure whether to replace the whole unit or not?

Thanks for the additional info on locations of controls, pumps etc. Let s try and sort the hydraulics first, then the rest.

She s a beauty? Yes...

 

[coatham]

[qu
ote="NoobFarm"](reply to post at 03:46:33 03/05/20) [/quote]

hi it looks a tidy tractor the hydraulic valves often called spool valves are made up of slices which means for every hydraulic service there is a slice which the lever and hydraulic pipes are attached to which can be replaced individually all the slices are held together by long bolts which hold the slices and the end caps together if you clean the valves thoroughly you should be able to see were the oil is leaking from be careful hydraulic oil under pressure is dangerous as it can penetrate the skin and cause big problems if the oil is leaking between the spools it may just be o rings which are used to seal the spools in the worst case you can replace the slices you do not need to buy genuine items the slices are available from good hydraulic dealership also on ebay someone from Carlisle is breaking a 30e there is a good firm in darlington A5 hydraulics if you cannot find anything local i would not remove the compressor at this stage as without it the 30e will be light on the back axle and lose it traction tractors with loaders always need a counterweight

 

[Drainerdude]

hello, bit of a long shot but do you still have the compressor from the back of the tractor? would you be interested in selling it if so?

 

[NoobFarm]

(quoted from post at 14:06:31 12/18/22)
hello, bit of a long shot but do you still have the compressor from the back of the tractor? would you be interested in selling it if so?

I would be interested in selling although the compressor has missing pipe work and some damage. I could send pics if you like. Would you be interested in the whole machine, runs good and works apart from the leaking spool valve.

 

[Drainerdude]

Some pictures would ideal! Was hoping to not put too much work into getting it running, was really just the compressor I was after, budget might not stretch for the full machine!

 

[NoobFarm]

I ll get some pics after work today or when there is some light.

If you re interested would you disconnect and collect yourself? I paid 2,500 for it so anything around that mark would work for me. I ended up getting a DB 995 in fully working order that s rowed and baled 7 acres of meadow hay this summer. Great times.

 

[Drainerdude]

Yes I could remove and collect depending on the condition, might bring a helper but should all be ok. How much would you be looking for the compressor only? Full tractor is a bit more than what I can manage at the moment.
How many bales did you end up with off your field? Cracking year for hay making!