My 180 is about done

[Mike Fitz]

About a year and a half ago I took a chance on a Massey 180 at the scrapper it looked too straight to cut up, it has taken more time and money than I thought it would, but it has been a fun learning experience having never been around Massey Ferguson before. It seems to be a good running tractor and seems to be handy to operate. There are some details to finish but harvest is here so they will have to wait a bit.

 

[miangus]

That is one good looking tractor. Congratulations. Enjoy. It is hard to recall but at one time in this area the 180 was a serious tillage tractor. My first wife's grandfather had one and it was his big tractor.

 

[mrhud]

looks very nice . i have a 180 at the shop to do alittle work on for a guy and nneed to replace the cushions on the ride o matic seat where did you get yours

 

[Tom from Buckeye Lake]

Fantastic back to life project. You did good

 

[Mike Fitz]

Thanks for the replies! It's been a while but I think I got the seat cushions at all states parts, the bottom cushion is spot on the back cushion is a will fit and is not very accurate it will need work to make it better. My experience is with IH, Case,and Minneapolis Moline it will be interesting to see how it compares.

 

[mrhud]

any chance you have the seat part numbers to comare with cushions on tractorseats.com

 

[Powered By IH]

Thanks for the replies! It's been a while but I think I got the seat cushions at all states parts, the bottom cushion is spot on the back cushion is a will fit and is not very accurate it will need work to make it better. My experience is with IH, Case,and Minneapolis Moline it will be interesting to see how it compares.

Did the metal part behind the back seat cushion come with it, or literally just the cushion?

 

[Mike Fitz]

I can't find the part numbers right now, the seat cushion has a plywood bottom, the back is formed plywood as well, I'm going to try to make a filler plate this winter to dress the back up a little.

 

[mrhud]

is the grill new or was it that straight

 

[Mike Fitz]

The grills in good shape but needed some work, it was one of the things I noticed, good overall sheet metal.

 

[cushman]

In 1965 my dad bought a new 180 diesel,and we thought we had all the power we would ever need! Beautiful job!

 

[woodsplitter]

Nice Job on the restoration, mine is still in its work clothes, but they are great tractors

 

[Mike Fitz]

This tractor was in pretty good shape for being a loader tractor and I thought about leaving it as it was but thought it would be pretty sharp with a re paint so down the rabbit hole I went.

 

[woodsplitter]

I get that , lol it can be a pretty deep hole

 

[Richard G.]

Nice Job on the restoration, mine is still in its work clothes, but they are great tractors

Sir.
I would love to see more photos of you woodsplitter set up.
Thanks, Richard in NW SC

 

[woodsplitter]

Ok I will message you directly if I can figure out how to

 

[DanielW]

Two of my favourite tractors of all time are both 180 models, and actually quite similar: The Allis 180 and Massey 180. Perfect size & HP, perfect era for farm equipment (all the modern-ish features you need, yet still dead-simple). And those platform operator stations are great to run in the field. Nice to be sitting up high on a flat deck without that trans hump between your legs. I don't have a Massey 180 unfortunately - only driven one a few times. Have the Allis though.

Your Massey being a gasser makes it even more desirable to me (though I know some folks would disagree). I never saw any need for a diesel in a tractor less than 100 HP. The diesel might be 30% more efficient, but diesel is 30% more expensive. I'd much rather have a dead-simple gasser with a basic carb and engine that's stupidly cheap (and easy) to work on.

 

[Mike Fitz]

I agree on the gas part, if I were going to run it all day or heavy loads every day diesel is the way to go, for the ten to twenty hours it will actually get the gas is fine, although with gas being something of a outlier in this model it has made sourcing some of the parts something of a challenge.