Old MF 300

[LT.]

New member, first thread, though I've been lurking in the background trying to gain info on Massey Ferguson's MF 300 loader as well as other general info as this is my first track loader and I'll be using it for farm work, these M/C I know a great farm units, so many uses especially with the 4in1









Now I know parts for these M/C are rare, but she runs and has has really good undercarriage and was going cheep. I had a mechanic check it over and he couldn't belive how good the undercarriage was though he did pick up 3 links on one side and two on the other were old worn links and should be replaced, I plan to use m/c while I try to source more links. He also owns a mf200 and told me someone nearby had paid close to double for another MF300 and the undercarriage on it was pretty much totalled.

Here are a couple of shots when I first went to have a look at her






So after some deliberation the sale was made and transport was arranged

Here's what I knew was wrong with it at this point

Chain links 5 needed
Also one sprocket looks to have been cut and reheard, don't know why other side is not the same and if sprocket chain size has been changed, she tracks ever a slightly to the right

4 in 1 not open closing-split hydraulic line seller said

Tracks needed some tightening

No brakes-mechanic managed to get some brake and that it just needed some adjustment

That about it I think for now

About a week later it was on my property- 100 acres undulating with some steeps

 

[LT.]

Forgot to mention that I love old machines and that Massey have been good to me got a 50s petrol grey ferg, can't kill it, don't worry I've tried, it was given to me for free. Gave her a full service the other day out of pure respect
Olds cool

 

[DMiller]

Based on what little info I have the rails should be really close to FA FL6/FL7/FD7series 640mm rail, Deere 450/455/555 rails would be a close second dependent on the bushing diameter and rail width. The newer MF lines were relabeled Landini in EU and I suspect were the forerunners of the Fiat Allis FD/FL lines.

 

[hetkind]

A good welder, same plate, grouser bar will get the cutting edges back in shape on the clam, teeth and shanks are easily available, best of luck...I put 30 pounds of rod into a clam last week or so.

Howard

 

[Welder Dave]

The MF crawlers were very good machines. Some owners have said they were ahead of their time. My understanding is undercarriage is no longer made but something else may be able to be adapted. Minn-parr may have some parts. MF450S excavators apparently used the same track chains as the 300 crawler. Possibly somewhere in Europe there is better parts availability and/or undercarriage still available. Can we ask how much you paid?

 

[LT.]

Paid $6000 Au. Thanks guys, good to hear there may be some options for retracking down the line. If I can find 5 links I don't think I'll need to for a long time.
What I need to know is if they are genuine MF/landini tracks/sprockets or if they have already been changed to another brand, not sure how I'll work that out?
Also what priority should I be giving to changing these 5 links I need to replace seals on one track adjuster, the other adjuster is jammed but track tension look ok on that side so I think I'll just leave that for now.



Yes Welder dave, from the little I have read on the web guys that ran and operated them loved, 20 years ahead of there time is something I've read more than once.

Also I have red fluid I'm assuming dexron in the powershift, is this ok? Oil manufacturers recommend 10w torque these days oil looks good, no funny smell , I think it's been changed recently. Anyone know hat the old book calls for? I have no 2F/R it just seems to go back to neutral, this is a little worrying as it's both gears, probably don't need to be doing 4-5mph on it anyway.

Clamshell blade is least of my worries ATM, but white it's laid up getting this track adjuster sorted I may et some time to do that, where and how would I be adding growser bar to clam shell blade? I'm getting some welding done on the cage as it's a little low for me and it needs some strengthening after the delivery driver when he was unloading M/C managed to roll her of the low loader and on to her side



Don't ask me how? I wasn't there at the time, but lesson learnt I'll be there next time machinery is beind delivered, I don't think any real damage was done, I'll go into it more in my next post but alls good running wise-serviced her, gave her some fluids and waited a few days and she fired up in sbout turns with just a little puff of smoke so was pretty happy about that

Thank god driver was not seriously hurt or even killed and managed to wrap a chain and pull her upright within about 10 mins

 

[Welder Dave]

How the heck did the guy roll it? There should be manuals available on e-bay etc. An MF Ag dealer may have access to info as well. I think most of the MF industrial line was designed in Detroit and built in Italy. A former neighbor bought MF 450S excavators new in 69 and 70 and said they were one of the first really advanced excavators. Most MF equipment used M1129 fluid which was upgraded to a Perma-Tran version. Not sure about the transmission though. Look for part numbers cast into the rail links and do some measuring. First thing I'd do though is get the transmission figured out before spending money on anything else.

 

[Dickjr.]

LT. your on your way now. You have some excellent guidance here.

 

[LT.]

Cheers Dickjr, Dave I've read it's possible to check transmission clutches with air pressure, I'll have to look into that?
would you not be using it with only 1F/1R? I'm assuming previous owner was using like this? Guy had no idea M/C had no brakes when I looked at her and all it was was a simple adjustment. Just checked links MF 300 embossed on all links.

 

[LT.]

Transmission was just linkages, had a play and now I'm getting a click for 2F/2R phew! Yet to fire up a test but I was getting no click before, will fire her up and test soon, just gonna have a play with that track adjuster that won't budge.

 

[hetkind]

"Clamshell blade is least of my worries ATM, but white it's laid up getting this track adjuster sorted I may et some time to do that, where and how would I be adding growser bar to clam shell blade?"

The 4 in 1 bucket has three cutting edges, and since I got my JD 450B loader with the 4 in 1, getting the clam properly working has been an adventure...but in looking at the photo you posted in the original post of the bucket looking forward, the two cutting edges on the moveable part of the bucket, the clam look worn, and the back edge looks concave. This will prevent accurate grading, in the open position, but in the closed position, allow fine material to leak out. The wear on the cutting edge between the teeth is pretty clear, along with worn teeth, missing teeth and missing shank.

Medium carbon steel, the structural stuff is inexpensive, can be welded with a buzz box AC stick machine, and easily available, but has poor abrasion resistance. AR400 cutting edges and plate has very good abrasion resistance, but is hard to find, expensive and needs more advanced welding procedures, low hydrogen rod like 7018, and most likely pre and post heat to prevent cracking. A compromise solution is use medium carbon plate with a cutting edge of grouser bar welded on. Grouser bar is more commonly available, fairly inexpensive and welds just fine with 7018 AC on a buzz box machine. I just built a new edge for the inside part of the clam using 3/16 steel place, and grouser bar and about 30lbs of 7018 rod...

Best of luck, I spent the better part of a week on this job, in my copious spare time from my day job.

Howard

 

[DMiller]

Side slide and falling off a trailer is not uncommon but usually someone that has loaded/off loaded machines knows the risk and sets up the trailer better to alleviate the chances. Good friend's brother here perished after a side roll off, had a cage but flipped him out of the seat with the dozer slow rolling to its side, he couldn't get away from it and the ROPS basically crushed him. This is a warning to any and all that see it. SEAT BELTS are no longer a option, making certain the trailer is as level as can make it and not chancing bad situations is another no option. Steel grousers on dirt pull well, on wood or steel floors slip like skates on ice.

 

[Welder Dave]

It could have been someone without experience running equipment and if the brakes weren't working would have been a contributing factor. Slow and steady wins the race with trailers. MF300 on the links doesn't help much. I thought there was a chance they could have been aftermarket. Need to do a bunch of measuring to see what other rails will be close. Sprockets are probably the least concern because once you find a rail, you can likely get a weld on sprocket rim. A heavy equipment parts supplier may have weld on cutting edges. Here's a link to a repair manual and some undercarriage info I found in a quick search. It's few years old so don't know if still available.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Massey-Ferg...Angledozer-Service-Manual-800-4-/381085217061

http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=crawlers&th=91115

 

[Tones]

LT, Chris at Sapphire Coast Tractor Parts or Tony and Kevin at Gympie Track Service are all great people to deal with and may have the track parts you require on the shelf.
The track adjuster may only require a seal and the best outfit to get it from is Seal Imports in Brisbane. Most other places I have tried getting seals from go there and then put their markup on, some times 100%

 

[td25c]

Side slide and falling off a trailer is not uncommon but usually someone that has loaded/off loaded machines knows the risk and sets up the trailer better to alleviate the chances.

Good point DMiller .

Always like a level trailer when loading & unloading if possible . Some jobs throw some wood on the ground to make life easier .

http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?263-Some-Holmes-750-action&p=2462&viewfull=1#post2462

Got caught off guard one time unloading the 16B . Pulled in to the job and was raining like hell in early spring , backed the lowboy off the side of the road and right side of the trailer sank in the ground .

Was leaning pretty hard and truck would not move it either way . We was stuck in a bad spot .

Fired up the 16 and slowly unchained it , hopped on and put in high reverse and full throttled it off the leaning trailer .

Back sprockets hit the ground just before the front idlers were just slipping off the side of the deck .

Sometimes ya have to move fast to avoid danger

Survived another moving adventure .

Nice looking MF 300 LT. :thumbsup

 

[LT.]

I know could have been a real tragedy, he was lucky to come away with only a few bruises and scratches and that the cage is fully enclosed on that side.
Younger Driver, older M/C, he wasn't familiar with controls. No brakes(I actually thought the M/C had some brakes the mechanic l had look at it on pre sale inspection told me that he had managed to get some brake but I would have to adjust properly once I'd purchased) and me not being there with at least some knowledge of that M/C and a parts book. All these factors would have contributed to her coming off the side of the trailer.

Had a bit more or a look at my track adjuster and have realised it must've been stuffed for a while as front idler already has shim blocks there both sides to set track tension, I'm jus gonna shim it some more for now and when I have the tracks off my to replace those 5 links I'll look at the adjusters too.



This is a shot after I first fired her up after her fall, put the 4in1 on the truck tray to replace a hose for the clamshell, went to test, leaver stuck. Got on the net and found solution on this site, was just a rusty spring on top a leaver assy, penetrating oil did the trick.
Also found a worn Oring suction side of steering/torque converter that was causing bleeding and occasional clutch issues, I suspected an old rubber connecting pipe for where you take of the suction pipe from trans was the issue but found the oring on the pipe was flat as and it looked like some gasket glue was there too.

Also dropped the oil out of the finals, holy crap how brown/black is this oil normally? mine was shades and shades worse than the Ganges, filled both with diesel, lifted M/C with bucket and rippers and rotated tracks for a minute or so, let soak and repeat, drain then I left to dry a bit, on return, as fill plug hole is quite large I could see a dark patch(old buildup) on the flat intake chute(inside final) which rubbed of easily with my finger if I had more diesel if I had another 10l of diesel I would have repeated process again(the tank on the M/C should have had 70+ litres in it, didn't think of that at the time) so I just poured about a little of petrol through each, let day and filled with 80w-90 which turned brown instantly, I'm assuming there was still some sediment possibly a smidgen of fuel trapped in the bottom, plan to run her for about 20-30 hours and then change final oil again. From what I could see through fill hole in the finals when they were empty they look really good no marking on any teeth and where I rubbed build up of the metal and all metal I could see looked pretty much brand new, amazing! Have read and was dreading finding grease in there��

So at this point everything is working bar a few gauges engine temp will have to be sorted asap (gauge is there just not reading anything)and the track adjuster,


The wealth of info and willingness of you guys to help someone in need is amazing,
Cheers guys, wish you all a merry christmas

 

[LT.]

LT, Chris at Sapphire Coast Tractor Parts or Tony and Kevin at Gympie Track Service are all great people to deal with and may have the track parts you require on the shelf.
The track adjuster may only require a seal and the best outfit to get it from is Seal Imports in Brisbane. Most other places I have tried getting seals from go there and then put their markup on, some times 100%

Cheers tones, I'll give them a buzz. I suspect more than seals as idler is shimmed out, looks like it been like that for awhile.