Hi first time posting. I'm a shepherd in North Yorkshire. I have a Massey 240 that gets some work with a transport box and that's about it. I'm going through some potential changes in the way I farm and I'm looking at the possibility of using the 240 on the front of a relatively small sheep float say about 5 tonnes total, something bigger than a twin deck on the back of my Toyota. I accept this is probably going to be custom built and is not going to be used every day but it's potentially going to release a car and trailer driver at the breeding sales. I'm conscious of the trailer wanting braking for safety but my 240 is too old to have hydraulic trailer brakes so I was wondering if they can be retro fitted. I'm not wanting a newer tractor if I can help it and I certainly don't have room for anything much bigger without a lot of infrastructure work. What might other options be?
Mf 240 questions from a shepherd
- Thread starter That Jimny Guy
- Start date
Thanks. You may be right there. I have been reading the construction and use regulations, which is as exciting as you may think. In there it states that I can only tow 4 times the weight of the tractor so in my case about 8 tonnes without brakes. But it also states that the brakes can either be automatically applied or gradually by the driver so long as the control is to had and doesn't impede the driver maintaining control. So a single spool is definitely an option. This then ties in with Bateson's lt100 which is a 20ft 10 tonne which is readily available if plenty big enough.
startinghandle
Member
You have a newer version of the 135 , which did not have good brakes
If you press clutch pedal too far then you loose hydraulics
Proceed with caution
If you press clutch pedal too far then you loose hydraulics
Proceed with caution
- Location
- America's dairyland
other options would be electric brakes, or "surge" brakes as we call them that have a brake master cylinder in the hitch.
Jonny B88
Member
- Location
- ballykelly. NI
We have a 250, i know big man here! I wouldn’t be putting anything bigger than a standard 14ft trailer behind her. Theres a lot of weight in a full stock trailer pushing what is a very light tractor. Obviously you won’t be travelling fast but still on a hill i know it doesn’t take much for the rear wheels to just slide.
Don't know if this helps or not....750kgs is your maximum towing weight without trailer brakes.
A Bateson lt100 is 2200kgs unladen to start with. Would you really want much more than 2 tonnes inside it and 20ft long behind an updated 35?
Not according to the construction and use regulations 1986 as ammended. They expressly exempt agricultural vehicles from the main regulations relating to cars and specifically state that the towing vehicle must be not less than a quarter of the mass of the trailer or implement.
A good few years back (before the cops went nuts on them) I done a lot of tractor and dump trailer work with a 14t dump trailer, which was about as big as was available then.
Even though I had trailer brakes on the tractor I operated them through one of the spool valves out of preference as I felt I had more control over them that way.
So have no qualms about it being perfectly serviceable on a spool if you find you have to do it.
Even though I had trailer brakes on the tractor I operated them through one of the spool valves out of preference as I felt I had more control over them that way.
So have no qualms about it being perfectly serviceable on a spool if you find you have to do it.
Tractortech
Member
- Location
- Cumbria
Now Then...
This might be a solution,,,,,,,, https://www.hydrokit.com/en/produit...king-kit-for-tractors-xrp10241-xpr219517.html
I assume your tractor doesn't have a spool valve as most didn't..
This might be a solution,,,,,,,, https://www.hydrokit.com/en/produit...king-kit-for-tractors-xrp10241-xpr219517.html
I assume your tractor doesn't have a spool valve as most didn't..
That's the kind of kit I was thinking about, thanks for the link.
I do have 2 dual spools as I think the tractor was once fitted with gang mowers, according to the previous owner.
I do have 2 dual spools as I think the tractor was once fitted with gang mowers, according to the previous owner.
masseybreaker
Member
- Location
- wakefield
do you know someone with the trailer that you are thinking of buying ? if so go and take it down a road empty but take a change of clothes with you so you can change after you scare yourself .
dont do it the tractor is too small wether you have brakes or not its dangerous
dont do it the tractor is too small wether you have brakes or not its dangerous
Been having a chat with my Massey fellow and I'm now working through the idea of a lightly used 5s125 which seems to be one of the better packaged tractor's available and an ifor stockmaster. Mind wateringly expensive but on top of the job dynamically. It also has the benefit of enough floor space to not need decks for sale sheep which helps with presentation. Just seems like quite a lot of tractor for 50 or so hours a year. Seems a bit one extreme to the other.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
Just use a haulier/ neighbour for the odd time you need more than you can manage with the Toyota. Or get a shot of a smaller box to tow behind the family car for the half loads.
That's what I'm doing currently, relying on friends and whilst grateful I don't like to think I'm outstaying my welcome if you follow. As for wagons I don't have good enough access, only last week the neighbors builder got a delivery truck stuck on my access lane, needed a wrecker service to get it out, it didn't have the tyres for the ground.
Why not buy a classic Massey Ford, JD etc with 40k gearbox. Be cheaper to buy, repair. Won’t depreciate.
Cowabunga
Member
- Location
- Ceredigion,Wales
In theory, if the 135 has Pressure Control, which most very late 1960’s and 1970’s 135’s do, then the links could be held mechanically in the up position and the pressure control used to give a relatively proportional control to trailer brakes connected to the tipping pipe [not spool valve]. The 240 will surely have it.
However, with the Girling drum brakes being pretty pathetic and it being only rear wheel braking, I wouldn’t use the tractor for this purpose at all unless on very flat roads. It just doesn’t have the weight and grip to be in control of any trailer weighing more than 2.5 tons in my opinion. I would hate to have it in front of a 14ft tri-axle Ifor Williams fully loaded, for instance. These kinds of loads behind a 135/240 are OK in ideal conditions but conditions and circumstances are often far from ideal.
An 80 to 90hp 4wd tractor with 40kph gearbox, proportional factory fitted trailer braking [so 1982 or newer] and four wheel braking [which all 40kph tractors will have] would be just the ticket. Or an old LR Discovery in good condition for an IW trailer with over-run brakes, also in good condition with functional brakes.
MF 135/240 is not a versatile tractor today and hasn’t been for a long long time. It’s a great tractor of its time and good for light work. Its time was over 50 to 60 years ago. Literally. It’s an antique. A collector’s item. Not fit for the proposed purpose.
However, with the Girling drum brakes being pretty pathetic and it being only rear wheel braking, I wouldn’t use the tractor for this purpose at all unless on very flat roads. It just doesn’t have the weight and grip to be in control of any trailer weighing more than 2.5 tons in my opinion. I would hate to have it in front of a 14ft tri-axle Ifor Williams fully loaded, for instance. These kinds of loads behind a 135/240 are OK in ideal conditions but conditions and circumstances are often far from ideal.
An 80 to 90hp 4wd tractor with 40kph gearbox, proportional factory fitted trailer braking [so 1982 or newer] and four wheel braking [which all 40kph tractors will have] would be just the ticket. Or an old LR Discovery in good condition for an IW trailer with over-run brakes, also in good condition with functional brakes.
MF 135/240 is not a versatile tractor today and hasn’t been for a long long time. It’s a great tractor of its time and good for light work. Its time was over 50 to 60 years ago. Literally. It’s an antique. A collector’s item. Not fit for the proposed purpose.
Unless I am missing something though, most older 40k tractors are quite big relatively speaking which is one of the pros of a 5s they are small for what they are. My land is not ring fenced and I only have one 6 acre field with anything like decent access everything else is a patchwork of paddocks with tight lanes or steep unsealed tracks. I once sold a lot off farm and they came with a cattle float on an older 150 hp Deere, to get in they spent a day cutting back hedges and had to temporarily remove 3 gate posts. Not so much for the swing of the trailer but just to fit the width of the tractor. If there is a suitable or similar sized tractor to a 5s then point me at it as it's increasingly difficult to make a case for using my 240.