Massey 35 oil leak

Broncobob

New member
I'm new here, this my first post too. I need a little help solving an oil leak coming out of the bell housing through the drain hole. It's pretty bad it will leak 2 quarts in about 4 hours of bush hogging. I have already replaced the rear main seal it's the rope one. I put a new gasket on the rear main seal retainer. It's been leaking but not this bad. It's an old tractor I believe it's a 64 or 65 model. I've been fixing it up and have replaced a ton of parts. The transmission was leaking hyd oil or a better description it was being pumped out. 2 new seals stopped this problem and I thought I had solved the oil leak at the same time. So it looks like I'll be breaking it in half yet again. Is there anything else I have to do to stop the oil leak?

Thanks Bob
 

rlk

Member
Gold Site Supporter
I had the same problem as you with oil leaking out of the bell housing. I couldn't split the tractor by myself, so had to send it to the shop for them to repair.

Since the job is mostly labor, I told them to replace any questionable seals / gaskets while they had it apart. That was about 15 years ago, but I noticed the other day that I'm starting to see oil leaking when the tractor is parked overnight. Not bad, just a few drops.

Good luck with your repair. Mine is a 1963 and solid as a rock, other than my hydraulics will leak down in about 15 minutes after shutting down the engine. I have lived with this problem since I got the tractor in 1985 so I guess I can live with the hydraulic problem a few more years.

Welcome to the forum.

Bob
 

Broncobob

New member
Splitting the tractor in half is a piece of cake now that I've done it about 4 times now. I told my brother I've done so many times that I believe I could do it before my coffee got cold. ( Rtic 30 oz ) As soon as I get done bush hogging and food plotting I'll bust it apart again. If I find something amiss I'll let everyone know.
 

rlk

Member
Gold Site Supporter
If you can, when you split it, take plenty of photos to share with us. Thanks. Bob
 

Broncobob

New member
Will do if this old geezer can remember the camera. I ran it at about 1100 to 1200 rpm today bush hogging ( Low range 3rd gear ) and it still leaked around 2 quarts of oil in 5 hours. The power band on my brothers MF135 is around 1700 rpm and I've put tons of hours on it over the last 20 years ( in the thousands ) I've yet to find the sweet spot on my MF35 but in my defense I've only put around 20 hours on it, it's been a slow process to get all the last owner's chewing gum and baling wire fixes redone right with new parts.
 

rlk

Member
Gold Site Supporter
If your MF35 has a TractoMeter (see attached photo) on it, it will have a mark on it that that shows 540 RPM for the PTO. That mark is just below 1600 RPMs. I usually run mine between 1700 - 1800 RPMs when using the bush hog or the finish mower, especially if the grass is high or the blades are dull.

This is where my tractor seems to run best, uses the least amount of fuel, and cuts the grass the best.

Bob

PS: Sorry the photo is so fuzzy. I uploaded it from my phone and had to blow it up to show the numbers on the meter.
 

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