- Location
- Northumberlandia
Mostly just cosmetic its all there & not rotten to bits like lots are if not kept out the weather,
MF 1505 reg TVW 850R
- Thread starter Hawkes
- Start date
trebornella
Member
I would assume the label is relating to a 2nd hand dealer. The only name I can come up with is J.J. Westerby & partners Ltd in Sheriff Hutton north of York. A Google earth search shows a fair sized yard with machinery visible. I would still reckon on Eastern Tractors Chelmsford being the original supplying dealer. As previously mentioned, Strutt & Parker farm land in several areas and their own website lists six farms, one being Marshes farm on the Dengie peninsular in Essex. The name Deal Hall seems familar to me and this is shown in the same area. As Strutt & Parker are major players in farming, I would assume they would only keep tractors for relatively short periods before trading them for newer models, so your tractor could have been through several dealers in its life.
I assume MF preferred the CAT engine over the Perkins and they fitted the same engine to the MF1155 2WD tractor. Always liked the 1505, its what the 1200 should have been, a bit more basic / heavier in construction, but easier to work on.
I assume MF preferred the CAT engine over the Perkins and they fitted the same engine to the MF1155 2WD tractor. Always liked the 1505, its what the 1200 should have been, a bit more basic / heavier in construction, but easier to work on.
76masseyman
Member
- Location
- Lincolncestershire
1155 had Perkins.
"Always liked the 1505, its what the 1200 should have been, a bit more basic / heavier in construction, but easier to work on"
Now going back a lot of years and I may have dreamt this, but knowing a bit about 1200s when me and my superior colleague came across a 1505 for the first time it was a gearbox out job. I think the done thing with 1200s was to pull the box up into the cab then out the door, we got the box of the 1505 up into the cab but it wouldn't go through the door. Plan B drop the box down onto the floor lay it over and pull it out from under the frame, not enough clearance, ended up jacking up and blocking all four corners up by 6 or 8 inches then sliding the box out.
Happy days.
Yes and I’m sure I read somewhere that it had poor low speed torque characteristics. Anyway, they only made it from 1970 to 1972.
Chaps I helped with silage had an AV8 540 in an NH819 forager. With sharp knives it could go pretty well while making a hell of a racket. It did seem to bog down really easily to me and they stalled it quite a lot.
Very bad news in a NH forager.
76masseyman
Member
- Location
- Lincolncestershire
Not much more horsepower than the 6354 in the 1135, considering the V8 had two more cylinders, and another couple of hundred more cubic inches.
1155 was made from ‘73 to ‘78.
Yes sorry it was the 1150 that was made from 70-72. That had the 510 engine?
trebornella
Member
At least you could do a clutch without standing on your head in the cab. Room in front of the gearbox to pull it apart. PTO repair was easier if I recall, a plate on the side of the gearbox gave access. Never actually removed the gearbox as a complete lump myself.
I have had a few 1200's and a 1250 in the distant past to work. I dropped one complete transmission out of the bottom of a 1200 , the book says out through the cab. My 1250 ate its input shaft which was made of unobtanium at the time, so we put box out of our spares 1200 in to it. The 1250 was synchro and a much better design drive shaft between the engine and clutch. It was a great ploughing tractor.
The 1505 shares nothing with the smaller ones it seems. Very basic old thing by todays standards and the better for it!
@trebornella thanks , that is interesting JJ Westerby & partners , the more I look at the painted over label, that could be right. I will follow up the Eastern tractor lead as original supplier.
On my knees in the cab with a rope round the back of my neck trying to line up the clutch splines. 1200 clutches.
Not sure why the gearbox had to be out, might have been a broken selector fork. I was only the lad on that job.
Exfarmer
Member
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Did any of the 1805’s hit the UK shores?
76masseyman
Member
- Location
- Lincolncestershire
Only a very limited few. Never really advertised as available in the UK, but a few did make it, as there were
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My Student days farm had a new T reg 1505, supplied by Eastern Tractors. It was a good tractor traction wise, like the 1200. It had been designed as a North American drawbar tractor and so the 3 point linkage was little more than a bolt on extra operated by a spool valve. Mounted equipment had to be set up with depth wheels. The traction was improved in the first year by the addition of a limited slip diff. That made turning in the yard a little angry. As a student, I only drove it a few times but I remember the gear change was not easy and need careful double de-clutching when moving. Other than superficial appearance, it shared nothing with the UK Manchester 1200. The V8 Cat was, for some reason, disliked by some of the Eastern Tractors staff, implying it was one of Cat's discarded engines.
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Exfarmer
Member
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Neighbour had one of the follow up models 4600? They never took the dual wheels off meaning meeting to down a narrow road often with a large implement on the back was a bit of a nightmare
trebornella
Member
That would have been a 4840 or 4880. By the time they were introduced ,the MF 2000 tractor series was available and these were a more popular choice being more conventional and more versatile. Articulated tractors like the 4880 / Ford FW 60 (Steiger) became more of a contractors tool for jobs like deep subsoiling , moling etc.
Exfarmer
Member
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Hardly compare the two series but the big American artics would always have a limited market here until they started putting tracks on them
The two series might not compare but my old bosses replaced their 1505 with the largest 6cyl 2000 series based on cost and versatility.
Cab-over Pete
Member
- Location
- Kenilworth, Warwickshire
Anybody ever bumped into a 1505 with a Mercedes V8 slotted into it?
Going back over 10 years ago, my brother bought one with a rough Cat engine in it. He then bought a snow blower that had done about 15 minutes work in 25 years, took the Merc out of it, extended the engine bay on the 1505 and shoe-horned it in.
It worked a treat.
Going back over 10 years ago, my brother bought one with a rough Cat engine in it. He then bought a snow blower that had done about 15 minutes work in 25 years, took the Merc out of it, extended the engine bay on the 1505 and shoe-horned it in.
It worked a treat.
trebornella
Member
Seen plenty of 2680's hauling grain trailers, dont think i've ever seen one behind a 1505.
I rolled the silage clamp and pulled a 4wheel trailer with fertiliser load and a crane on the 3 point.