DH1's 1966 Massey Ferguson MF10

I picked up this 1966 Massey Ferguson MF10 garden tractor last winter from a friend, at the time I was looking for a parts tractor and he had a complete one plus another in pieces. When I picked it up noticed some different features mainly narrow wheels, tires and aluminum dash. Serial # 1446 005183 dates this to be a 1966 which is the first year of production.







I decided that this was one to fix up. The more I got into this the more I realized that it has a lot of unique features that the 1966 Massey Ferguson MF10 garden tractors came with.








The more obvious details are Starter/Generator, Aluminum dash, Sticker for serial #, Cast iron steering arm, Pointy numbers on the amp meter, No holes in the rear plate for tiller attachment, Rear fender guards with rubber edges, and the narrow wheel option. Also some other not so obvious differences are two sets of engine mounting holes, missing the center frame rib under the engine, PTO foot pedal non adjustable, PTO jack shaft has no grease fitting, Brake assembly is different, plus a lot of little things. They made about 6000 or so of these in 66 and if you search the "AGCO parts" books it tells you everything in there. For example when they used what parts on what serial number tractors. Tractor came with a 3 foot stack on it and no attachments.






Here is a couple of shots to show the differences between the frame of an early 1966 and a newer frame with the center rib:




First step was so see what worked and what didn't. The shifter was out of it and I figured transmission had water in it. Was locked up and being winter thought it was frozen, after some time in a heated garage, drained the fluid, not much water came out. Tried moving the shifter forks and found that they moved too easily, the detents were not working, transmission has to come apart to fix.


Next was to test the engine, found no spark caused by the points not moving because the little push rod was stuck, little bit of penetrating oil, got it moving and got spark. Cleaned out the carburetor and got it running. Right away I found a gas leak from the float bowl and an oil leak out of the breather tube. The engine ran pretty good, no smoke, a little noisy inside though. Tested compression and it was at 120lbs. Discovered the breather cover on upside down and that was the cause of the oil leak, drain holes inside the cover need to be at the bottom. Decided that it was good enough to use as is.


Next was a full disassemble, I broke the steering wheel trying to get it of. Started cleaning, repairing and painting everything. Pulled the transmission apart to fix the detents and also found a broken shifter stop inside. I pulled the spare transmission apart and it's shifter stop was good, also this transmission was much cleaner on the inside than the 66's, so I decided to use the spare as it was the best of the two. Had to replace the shifter detent springs in it as both transmissions detent springs were broken. Got the transmission back together, used the 66's brake unit, no choice here the frames are different, transmission mounts are different but the transmissions are the same.








When painting the motor I noticed the crank had some end play in it, figured this was the source of the noise inside so I ordered some shims and gasket set to fix it.


When starting reassembly I installed a bunch of grease fittings which I drilled and tapped in spots that didn't have any that I figured could use a bit of grease now and then. Adjusted up the variable drive assembly using the best belts I had. Put on new seat covers and foam, installed light kit with original style bulbs, including the tail light. Got everything back together tested and working but the steering wheel that I broke, couldn't find another one, so I had to use one I had that fit. The tractor is also missing the rubber strips on the rear fender guards. For the front tires I used wheel barrow tires, same size as originals which were shot, still looking for tires like the ones that were on it. Also picked up a pair of AG rear tires on rims same size as originals.






Its all finished, painted and everything works the way it should, has a slight knock in the engine. Pictures tell the story, this is not a perfect restoration but I got what I wanted, a good working tractor that has the unique 66 MF10 features.