2010 - Volume #34, Issue #6, Page #35
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Massey Harris 44 Repowered With Chevy V-6
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"My dad Merle and I got the idea from a story in FARM SHOW about putting a V-8 in a Massey for a loader tractor," says Pacha. "I found an old Massey 44 with a stuck engine sitting at an abandoned farmstead. I had a V-8, but it was too long for the frame. The fuel-injected V-6 from a 1987 Chevy Caprice fit just fine."
Initial plans were to replace the fuel injection system with a fabricated carburetor. Instead, Pacha decided to tackle the injection system. It took several years of tinkering to get the electronics and the fuel pump set right.
"With fuel-injected engines, the pump is in the fuel tank," he explains. "I went with an in-line fuel pump instead, mounting it after the fuel filter. It's kind of a submersible pump as it has to be in fuel at all times."
The computer controls for the fuel injection system sit inside a small stainless steel box that also holds the tractor battery. Pacha fabricated it from an old hog feeder and mounted it under the fuel tank, just ahead of the dash.
The fuel injection system required an oxygen sensor in the exhaust system. This required turning the exhaust manifolds upside down and reversing them to provide outlets pointing upward. That also meant fabricating header manifolds and running the exhaust pipes and mufflers up the sides of the hood. Pacha installed the sensor on the left side.
To get hydraulic power for a front-end loader, Pacha mounted a hydraulic pump from an old M6 Gleaner combine to the left front side of the engine. It's belted to the front crankshaft pulley. A hydraulic oil tank was fabricated from two old Freon tanks and mounted between the engine and the battery box.
A valve on the hydraulic pump also supplies oil to the revamped steering system. Installing the V-6 required removing the original steering shaft that ran from the dash to the front end. To replace it, Pacha pulled a steering system from an old 510 Massey Ferguson combine. He cut down the steering column and installed it over the transmission, attaching the orbit motor behind the dash. Lines run to a power steering cylinder from an old IH combine installed on a new Schwartz wide front end.
The double transmission gives Pacha added versatility. The rebuilt 3-speed automatic sits between the engine and the original tractor 5-speed. If either transmission is put in reverse, the tractor travels in reverse. Put both in reverse and the tractor travels forward, giving him the 16th forward gear.
The 3-speed has an extra deep transmission pan with transmission oil cooler that is mounted ahead of the radiator.
"There wasn't room for the original fan or the one from the V-6, so I installed an electric fan from an old Dodge Daytona," explains Pacha.
The pto shaft is connected to the drive shaft just ahead of the 5-speed. Downshifting the 3-speed slows the pto. If a pto-driven implement like a manure spreader plugs, Pacha simply puts the 3-speed in reverse, reversing the pto shaft.
"I thought the automatic would work like a shuttle transmission for loader work, but I've ended up not using the 44 with the loader," says Pacha. "I was afraid the 3-speed might not stand up. I have used it for everything from plowing to pulling harrows and wagons. The hydraulics only have about 1,200 lbs. pressure, but that's enough to handle a post hole digger."
To mount a digger and other implements, Pacha fabricated a 3-pt. hitch. It's attached to the old cultivator lift, original with the tractor.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ed Pacha, A&E Automotive, 3263 Highway 78, Brighton, Iowa 52353 (ph 319 694-4108; govenorbrn@yahoo.com).
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