Continental F-226 in a 44-6 Massey Harris

I am rebuilding my f226 out of a Massey Harris 44-6 and I am looking for some input on how to get a lot more power out of this engine. This is the second f226 that I have rebuilt and I am quite familiar with this motor but I am wondering if anyone knows how much I can bore this motor and how much I can shave the head without causing other issues. Has anyone bored and put bigger valves in? My idea was to take Oliver 70(DS202) connecting rods and offset grind the crank to get a little stroke and compression and shave the head to get a even more compression but I am not sure if that's a good idea or not. I'm wondering if there are other interchangeable parts like pistons, connecting rods, valves, etc.. Anyone's opinion or idea would be greatly appreciated. I'm just a youngin I wish I new what most older people forgot.

Welcome chonger! Good to have you here and asking questions, lots of wisdom to extract from these old knuckle busters!

What do you have in mind for your Massey?

If you are looking for a working tractor, something reliable and long lasting, I would not make any drastic changes to the engine. The best you can do is get a shop manual, study the specs and tolerances, find a reputable machine shop, and put it back together by the factory specs.

About the only improvement you can make would be some port matching and polishing.

Here's the problem... Everything you are looking to do for increasing the power has limitations on an engine like this. This engine, and the tractor it goes in, are designed for low RPM use. The cam has very little overlap, raising the compression will result in detonation problems. Changing the cam grind will raise the RPM of the power band. Raising the power band takes away from the bottom end torque, which is what you want for a tractor. Raising the RPM makes for a dangerous condition, as in broken clutches, transmissions, large moving parts that you are straddling!

Lengthening the stroke will give a little more power, but again, you will be making drastic changes. It takes a lot of research to be successful with such an endeavor. A big disadvantage to offset crank grinding is you will be welding up journals, and grinding through the hard surface. That makes for a short lived crank in real world hard use. You will also find this kind of work is very expensive. Not like dragging a small block Chevy out from under the bench and ordering what you need online. Tractor parts are one-off type work, special order, and you get to do all the engineering. If it's ordered wrong, you still gotta pay for it!

Now if you are looking to build a puller, something that will only get run for show, and you take the proper safety precautions, you can build something as radical as your bank account will allow! But before deciding on what you want to build, I would get with some experienced pullers, see what they like to build, what parts are available, what combinations have been tried and proven. No use making all the mistakes over again!

There are lots of project tractors out there, available at near scrap prices. I don't know if your tractor is a preferred model for pulling. Being a flat head, I doubt it. That alone makes repairing much more difficult, and limits the performance.

There is a puller section down below, if that is the direction you are wanting to go. Might talk to them anyway before jumping into anything that is beyond stock.

Hope this helps, let us know what you are doing!

might want to look at specs. for Kaiser car engines as I believe they used a continental 226 engine and some parts for auto version may be suitable for tractor engine power increase. head? pistons? cam? what is compression ratio of each version? these might be things to look at.

If you want more power, focus on your compression ratio. It's only starting at 6:1, so you can go quite a ways before detonation. There were some higher compression heads available, but finding one might be a challenge. It is the same basic engine as a Willys Super Hurricane so the engine itself can handle some Rpm.

If I remember right the Oliver 70 rods and the F-226 rod interchange in sets (pin bushings may be different as there was more than 1 rod) I know the rod bearings interchange.

Chonger.. PLEASE take an old man,s advise. YEARS ago when antique tractor pulling go hot, I thought I had really hit the gold mine. I found a 6 cy MH 44 and went to work on it. Had over 8 thousand dollars in the engine before I realized what was happening. We starched the block, stroked the crank, shaved the heads, manifold worked did ever thing you could think of. Just never could get the torque. Went to the 260 four cylinder supped it up and was not beat for several years, then I went to pulling an oliver 77 . I think you will just be wasting time spending money on a 226. My e mail is open send me a phone number and I will tell you all the tricks on the 226 but you will never make much out of it.

kKaiser Frazer used that engine in all their 6 cyl cars . 100 HP and more at 3600 RPM.
Later ones had a super charger option. More power still.
I saw one last summer at their convention with a turbo on it.

My number is 7158218512 give me a call sometime I would love to learn

Well I have one 44-6 already that I rebuilt 4 or 5 years ago and it runs beautifully and pulls pretty decent as well. I came across another 44-6 so I figured this one I would build up a little more and use this one as a puller and keep my other one for shows being it's really nice. Now I know the chassy,rear end,etc can take some Power because I dropped a 350 check in another 44 I have and I pull that as well and it holds together. And I have another buddy that has a big block Ford hooked to a 44 rear end and the rest is custom built and painted green so everyone thinks it's a John Deere. So I know it can take a little old 226 I'm just trying to see what the 226 can take without wasting a bunch of time and money for nothing. Thank you to everybody that responded there is a lot of knowledge out there and I'm just learning.

Hey jm it's chongerr my phone number is 7158218512 if like to chat sometime about that f226 you built I have some questions
Thanks