Tractor Repowered With “Hit & Miss” Hydrostatic Drive

Tractor Repowered With “Hit & Miss” Hydrostatic Drive ENGINES Tom Shell gets lots of attention with his McCormick-Deering “hit & miss” hydrostatic drive Massey Harris 30 It even has an electric start “A guy I knew was cleaning out his dad’s place and came across the old McCormick ” recalls Shell “The cylinder was stuck but I got it freed up and running ” Shell’s brother had an old Massey 30 and after looking it over Shell decided to replace the engine with the McCormick Initially Shell ran a drive belt from the McCormick to the belt drive on the 30 He connected an idler pulley to the clutch to start and stop the drive That changed with the addition of a hydraulic pump “I got a hydraulic pump and motor from an old tobacco harvester and mounted them on the 30 ” explains Shell “The McCormick powers the pump which runs the hydrostat motor that I mounted on the transmission shaft ” Shell initially ran a flat belt to the pump but switched to a V-belt to reduce slippage Although he could start the McCormick manually Shell decided to install an electric starter/generator from an old lawn mower He used a large pulley on the engine and the smallest pulley he could find on the starter Once the engine is running it recharges the starter battery “I hold the exhaust valve open on the engine through one compression cycle when using the starter ” says Shell “Once the fly wheels are turning I release the valve and the engine fires right up I can do it all from the tractor seat ” The Massey 30 can go slow or at full speed pulling itself along in fourth gear Shell uses it at shows and a local Christmas parade He notes that firing it up can pull people away from viewing $100 000 tractors It’s different from anything to be found at most shows Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tom Shell 1411 Hwy 158 Roanoke Rapids N C 27870 ph 252 537-4787