MF 3303 Digger
- Thread starter AyeCoff
- Start date
Yup, I have one and use it around the place. It's my main loader/lifter/shifter/crane and does the occasional digging job as well, ha ha.
Great machine, plenty of power, will lift the same as my old JCB3 but much nimbler/better turning circle etc. Multiple levers for the backactor took a bit of getting used to but i'm there now
Cab frame is a bit of a poisoned chalice though, its a mild steel box section frame bonded into/encapsulated in the fibreglass cab. The frame rots inside the fibreglass and everything gets a little floppy, with the fibreglass eventually supporting the steel! I plan to make up a fresh steel frame/galvanise it and then bolt/sandwich the fibreglass skin back onto it possibly with tigerseal to bond things together. If the frame was galvanised from new it would be perfect!
Cab door and rear window is vulnerable. The rear window is supported in the open position by the locking levers engaging in features in the cab roof. They can bounce out if you are over enthusiastic/the cab waggles with rot, and the window will come down on the back of your head! ha ha. A bungee cord solves this.
Great machines, good parts availability for the tractor, MF165, Perkins A4.212 (4.203 on the earliest machines up to about '67), Square back axle, expanding main foot brakes inside the trumpet with outboard brake shoes used for handbrake.
There are some parts that are tricky to get: The square seals for the slew motor being one (but if it doesn't have power slewing it may be the cleanable/dismantlable relief valves instead), use a transport bar to lock the slew when you are on the road, its much gentler on the slew and will make it last longer; Some ram seals can be an odd size, they changes sizes/stacks between the 3303/50/50B so you don't really know what you have until you have a ram off and stripped on the bench in front of you; The swivel knuckles for the hoses on the backactor are unavailable and when they wear they pour out. Replace them with short vertical hoses instead a-la 50/50B.
3rd service on the loader can be added easily with an extra slice in the spool. Buckets can be hard to source but they are out there.
Plus it keeps the fleet mainly MF, always a good thing
Great machine, plenty of power, will lift the same as my old JCB3 but much nimbler/better turning circle etc. Multiple levers for the backactor took a bit of getting used to but i'm there now
Cab frame is a bit of a poisoned chalice though, its a mild steel box section frame bonded into/encapsulated in the fibreglass cab. The frame rots inside the fibreglass and everything gets a little floppy, with the fibreglass eventually supporting the steel! I plan to make up a fresh steel frame/galvanise it and then bolt/sandwich the fibreglass skin back onto it possibly with tigerseal to bond things together. If the frame was galvanised from new it would be perfect!
Cab door and rear window is vulnerable. The rear window is supported in the open position by the locking levers engaging in features in the cab roof. They can bounce out if you are over enthusiastic/the cab waggles with rot, and the window will come down on the back of your head! ha ha. A bungee cord solves this.
Great machines, good parts availability for the tractor, MF165, Perkins A4.212 (4.203 on the earliest machines up to about '67), Square back axle, expanding main foot brakes inside the trumpet with outboard brake shoes used for handbrake.
There are some parts that are tricky to get: The square seals for the slew motor being one (but if it doesn't have power slewing it may be the cleanable/dismantlable relief valves instead), use a transport bar to lock the slew when you are on the road, its much gentler on the slew and will make it last longer; Some ram seals can be an odd size, they changes sizes/stacks between the 3303/50/50B so you don't really know what you have until you have a ram off and stripped on the bench in front of you; The swivel knuckles for the hoses on the backactor are unavailable and when they wear they pour out. Replace them with short vertical hoses instead a-la 50/50B.
3rd service on the loader can be added easily with an extra slice in the spool. Buckets can be hard to source but they are out there.
Plus it keeps the fleet mainly MF, always a good thing