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Wow... That brings back memories. I remember driving a 590 FWD back in the late 90s carting corn on a farm in Essex. The tractor must have been fairly old then, struggling to pull a 10t grain trailer!
strange how people get on with stuff, when we sold up we were running 2 x 690 2wd, a 698t and a 699, along with a few other fergys ,none of them suffered with dreaded rust,(were all waxoiled from day 1 cab wise as the reputation was out there for that landini itallian cab ) and once a year afterwards , and we also washed down every friday,poss sat morn no matter how busy we were. all stored undercover at night. no mechanical issues either bar odd track rod ends, few bearings.
I run a 698 and we fitted a high speed starter as well and it’s a different tractor starts easily now I’ve got a bit of rot in the cab but not too bad actually it’s quite tidy for it’s age .👍
Great video. I drove two MF290s one a 1980 with a Duncan Cab, the other a 1982 with a Shankey Cab. They were both bought new and replaced a 1975 Flexi Cab MF188 and a 1976 Metal Clad Cab MF188 both bought new. Like your 690 the 1980 290 developed into a slow starter and had its engine overhauled. The 188s did exactly the same work and never failed to start or had any issues… even though they were basically the same mechanically. Keep up the good work.
Good morning Richard, have you ever thought of using the dutch barn to keep machinery in,like others have suggested..anyway have a lovely sunday with the family.
Morning sir.. hope your keeping well.. some tractors are just better replaced.. i spent lots of hours on a 698 4wd but preferred the 7700 q cab at our local agri collage when i worked there.. Question for you Richard.. did the lorry driver remove the escape hatch/sunroof before transport? As im sure i noticed daylight when he left the yard.. 😊.. stay safe 🏴
to be honest everything seemed to rust badly back in them days........we had a little ford 3610 with a Lambourne cab and the cab on that thing rotted out badly, also cars rusted out quickly back then remember my dads old vauxhall had holes in the wings big enough to put your hand through
I was thinking after the old photos you showed. Think when Harry and Jack have kids of their own. They have all these videos to show. A fantastic family history catalogue.
a lovely machine, but a good battery is always required and heating, then they will go. You had it in really good condition inside the cab, a credit to you.
Hi Funky Farmer. The McCormick CX 105 was the first ever video, I ever watched on your channel. Then the second video was you starting, the Massey Ferguson 690 before selling it. I do enjoy your content, so crack on. 👍
I vaguely remember my Fathers 690 before he replaced it. The starter in the cab didn't work and he'd have to start it from the outside. It was probably a rust bucket as well
We had mainly JD tractors but we had a MF dealership right in town, only 4 miles away. So we have had a few MF tractors over the years. The best by far was the MF 135. That little tractor did a lot of work for over 40 years on the farm. It got finished off as a scraper tractor. The daily manure just rusted it to the ground. The worst MF was a 3630. The 3000 series just never held up very well around here. They had a lot of clutch issue here. The agtronic system never worked very well from new. We sold the tractor after only having it four years. Nice motor but the rest of the tractor was junk. I have a MF 393 that I bought from a neighbor with only 750 hours on it. I really like it and I use it a lot doing hay work in the summer. Starts good and runs on very little fuel. It is also MFWD too. I always though it would be a nice loader tractor but we have bigger skid steers now so rarely use a tractor loader anymore.
Engines have a mind of their own, we had a 165 and the way it started was unbelievable, turn the key and it fired up immediately, ( within three of four seconds)no matter how cold it was. I drove a lot of different tractors over the years from when i was thirteen in the fifties but this one for whatever reason was the best starter. Just want to add with the possible exception of the grey Fergie, but that wasn’t diesel of course.
The acutal 690s were mechanicaly very good, poor starters that could be upgraded to eliminate laboured starts.. But the cabs and fenders were definately either a bad steel, or the steel wasnt sealed with the right paint.. But then you go to the 3000 series with the datatronics and the cabs fell apart in them also..
Lots of MF tractors here in Vietnam I'll check out the model numbers when they next pass by. The fields round us is planted either with Casava for MSG production or fast-growing soft wood for pulp. All the trailers are way overloaded and have the tractors rearing on their hind legs, lots of the trailers use truck rear axles, drive shaft and gearbox that they couple to the tractor with a PTO shaft. So, they have six-wheel drive on some units.
My neighbour used to joke that his 690 was so bad that it was made from steel that Alfa Romeo rejected for the Alfasud as ‘not being up to their standard’!
Landini built the same tractor when the Massey 690 went out of production, I believe they were part owned by Massey so basically built under liscence like the imt
I can see why you don't want it back 😂 sounds like it was a Lemon! Just not a good fit for your farm, but i do hope it ended up somewhere else (whether Africa or elsewhere) where it could be useful
Your right! Our little ford 3610 is a fantastic starter, I've left it outside in -7 or so frosts and it just fires up no bother. It has a standard battery on it but it is a lot bigger than a 135, possibly that helps?
600 series absolute scrap from New, Bad Tin worm, would eat headgaskets. Just all round rubbish tractor. However the 390 and 300 series are so much better. Definitely a modern classic. You can see that in the prices they go at sales and farm sales
I got the same tractor on farming simulator 22 as a mod i have to sell it because it has the same problem with it won't start all the time an x registration that is old
It’s an 80s suffix X reg where the year letter was at the end of the reg. Then the year letter was put at the start ( which would make x reg a 2000) 🙂.
