Massey Ferguson 500 & 515 Combines

[blackbob]

Wasn't it about 1978 Kilmarnock closed? Your combine engines should be the same, including the starter, a more modern engine would have solenoid on top like a tractor's. The combines have obviously been kept inside until recently, bodywork looks good. Yellow combines seem to get exported don't they, never heard of that with MF's, apart from the engines which seem to sell on eBay. Oh well..

 

[John 1594]

mine has solenoid on top of starter,and an alternator instead of a dynamo, shes a 77 model

wonder how many ex MF combine engines now spend their time powering irragation pumps. Thye were ideal for the job as the combine engines had a different govenor setup to the tractor engines, the combine ones were designed to run at a constant speed all the time, ideal for a pump engine

 

[Lincsman]

Compare a 1964 MF 500 with the Claas offering of its day.. and you wonder where it all went wrong for MF.

 

[John 1594]

Compare a 1964 MF 500 with the Claas offering of its day.. and you wonder where it all went wrong for MF.

one word...........DRONNINBORG

 

[Refco]

one word...........DRONNINBORG

I'll agree with that. I've had both a MF31 and 36, and they both struggled with reliability issues. Fine if you don't mind a bit of downtime and the forecast is good. Not so good if you breakdown on the only good weather day of the week!

 

[two-cylinder]

Compare a 1964 MF 500 with the Claas offering of its day.. and you wonder where it all went wrong for MF.

In short early 70's.
The poor decision to simply stretch the 500 chassis sideways to produce the 620/625, and then bring in the 700 series from Canada and launch without proper testing.
The problems got ironed out in time- but MF lost disillusioned customers in the mean time.

But, I know of an MF employee who claims MF lost the plot in the mid 50's- playing about with the 735 when they should have been building a 780 replacement. This let the rivals in: the Ransomes 902, Claas Matador and Claeys M103 were all superior to the 780 and the ill fated 892.
MF could have had a 780 replacement out in 56/58 but with the 735 distraction it had to wait until the 500 in 62.

 

[SMID]

Industrial relations problems were an other thorn in the side for MF at that time you had to very careful of what you said at the factory.

 

[Cowabunga]

The engine used in the bigger combines, certainly my old 625 Super II, was the Perkins A6.372
This was, as far as I know, only used in MF combines. While the 354 has the same cylinder dimensions as the 236, the 372 is basically a six cylinder version of the A4,248 as used in the 185 188 and 590 tractors.

EDIT
Just noticed that this topic is fossilised. A rare find indeed.

 

[Exfarmer]

Think Masseys went wrong when they started building the 500 series.
they were just not engineered strongly enough.
It was all about style and innovation.
They forgot some poor sod had to drive them and keep them going.
There were Massey dealers everywhere got rich by selling parts for them.
in theory larger in capacity than the opposition.
What a relevation it was when we went to a John deere simple machines in comparison but they just kept going .
We did not need the dealer down the road. No wonder ours went bust

 

[Cowabunga]

The 500 and 600 combines were great combines in their time. Bit time passes and they proved too expensive to build, too complex and as a consequence too unreliable and expensive to maintain in the long term.Innovations like the rear straw separator and the triple sieves, saddle tanks and the returns rethresher were great in theory and in practice but made the combines uncompetitive compared to the opposition which built simpler machines with cheaper but still effective solutions.

 

[spin cycle]

mf515 was the first combine i drove....had a 100hp engine.....think masseys always had about 20hp less than equivalent competitors?

 

[Cowabunga]

Even the 625 super2 with power flow table only had 120hp and it did feel underpowered on hilly work.
That's another problem they had. The side mounted engines and low profile were great until drivers demanded cabs and a cleaner, quieter environment. They were noisy and hot and the main drive pulley and belt were up behind the dashboard.

 

[Red Fred]

Our 400 and 410 always seemed b+++gers to repair, as if they had gone out of their way to make them awkward. I remember Dad used to reckon the big curved engine cover made him think of Diana Dors for some reason.

 

[Cowabunga]

Combine drivelines have become simpler as years have gone by and are generally much more accessible these days.
One more example on those MF combines was the unloading auger. The tank was very expensively built with the load very low down to both sides of the walkers, Great. But that meant that the unloading auger had to be in three major pieces with two right angle bends. One auger needed to cross under the sieves to deliver grain from the far side to a vertical auger from the very bottom to the highest point on the machine, which was the unloading spout and auger itself. An extremely complex and power consuming drive, prone to wear at multiple points. It was a lovely design in theory and it was well built, but inevitably more prone to failure as the years went by than simple tanks as fitted to Claas and Deere. These were top-heavy but simple and their performance for the price was more competitive due to lower production cost. Class had an awful double-H control lever under the steering though. Yuk.