Massey Harris 44

NY 986 · Mar 22, 2017

I decided to bring a discussion from the Oliver board over to the main page and throw in the MH angle to boot. They were discussing production tallies and in particular Farmall M and Oliver 70 relative to over all Oliver production. Anyhow, just looking through Tractor Data briefly shows that 84,000 Massey Harris 44 tractors were built which surprised me. I just did not think that they were that widely sold but then a person has to take into account Canada and the likely importation limits of US brands. If I remember the book John Deere's Company correctly it did talk about Deere's difficulty in entering the Canadian market for tractors and the decision to manufacture in Welland, Ontario. I think some JD M tractors were built there for a brief time but I don't know how much was made there and how much was shipped but then assembled at Welland. IH was still the export leader in terms of US made tractors going north or across the ocean.

rrlund · Mar 22, 2017

I wonder if the popularity of some of these tractors increased when you got farther north? There was a Massey Harris dealer in the next town north of me and a Cockshutt dealer too later on. Cockhsutt wasn't a rarity around here. Especially the later 500 series tractors.

NY 986 · Mar 22, 2017

I am thinking that with MH being a Canadian company quite a few of those 44's were sold north of the border. In this area if you go by the driving down the road survey Farmall H's and M's along with JD A's and B's by an extreme margin outsold MH 33's and 44's. I only ever heard of a couple of MH dealers that were any degree of active versus their competitors in this area. If we were talking later vintage tractors such as what was built during the 1960's and 1970's then I would say that there needs to be a consideration of what jockeys brought back from the Midwest such as it was with 4020's and 1066's. In the case of the older tractors I would say the jockey impact was minimal in terms of overall numbers.

David G · Mar 22, 2017

MH was quite popular in Iowa, JD, IH then Massey.

1206SWMO · Mar 22, 2017

44 Massey's were very popular in my area and theres still lots around..

Charles B Jackson · Mar 22, 2017

Here in south western KY there were few if any M-H dealers. In the early 50's I worked for a BTO of that time and
got to drive an new 44. I have liked Massey-Harris since that time. Some of the shows I attend my Massey Pony
is the only Massey there. I now have 2 33's and a Pony. In the last couple of years I bough a 444 for a friend and
help restore it. I found that tractor in Ohio. I am interested in a 44-6 for restoration as they are a rare model
of the M-H series in this part of the country.

GreenEnvy · Mar 22, 2017

Tractor data is far from being a reliable source. I'd only use that site as a last resort. For the topic on hand, Massey made a decent showing in my area with the 55/555. JD, IH, and Case were more popular but Massey wasn't far behind. For awhile the 55 was bigger then what JD and IH had. I own a 55 diesel Western Special. Massey dominated the combines sales during the 50s which probably helped the tractor sales. I've only seen two 44s. One of them is a rowcrop that my neighbor brought from MN that was his fathers and the other one is wheatland with a diesel owned by a neighbor of mine.

centash · Mar 22, 2017

Massey were sold worldwide, probably one of the most widespread companies 100 years ago with sales outlets in most all Common wealth countries and the US. A drive by in this part of Ontario will find lots....almost everyone had a 30 or a 44. However, the models were quite dated by the mid fifties and sales slowed, plus the merger with Ferguson did not give Massey their own high hp tractor til the mid 60's. Ben

NY 986 · Mar 22, 2017

Yeah, MF's timing along with Ford's was a detriment for taking market share in the large HP classes. Deere, IH, Case, and Oliver had strong entries in the 4-5 bottom plow class early on. MF and Ford could have overcome the others with strong entries but it was not to be. I am not sure what MF's problem was whereas Ford was losing interest in farm equipment as the decades went along. I can't imagine Ford did not see the horsepower race which was described by IH and Deere during the late 1950's which would have told them they needed a 90 plus PTO HP tractor by 1963-64.

Leroy · Mar 22, 2017

30 and 44 here and never anything bigger

Leroy · Mar 22, 2017

Cockshutt 30 & 40, pretty much dropped off with the 500 series.

Benj R · Mar 22, 2017

Massey 44s were very popular here in Saskatchewan. My father and me had a few, very good tractors.

Traditional Farmer · Mar 23, 2017

Right many MH 44 tractors at one time in and around the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia,there is a pretty good looking non running standard 44 just posted in the Photo ads.

rrlund · Mar 23, 2017

MF's problem was that they put too much stock in the weight transfer ability of the 3pt hitch. They continued to say that you didn't need a lot of iron. They turned to MM and Oliver for their big tractors when the writing on the wall said they had to go big or get out.

Bob H from Missouri · Mar 23, 2017

Charles

I have a 44-6 in Southwest Missouri I was going to part but if you are interested in it, send me an email.

Bob

NY 986 · Mar 23, 2017

It has been said that MH-MF's financial situation was not good after the merger and really did not correct until the go times of the 1970's. Therefore they may not have had the money necessary for R & D. One of the blessings IH had when the 06 series came out is a lot of the R & D was already done but not applied to an individual model. The D361 which went into the 806 came out of the truck division and the D282 came from the 560. My understanding is that a lot of the engineering was already done other than the transmissions. Most of the two years IH spent chasing Deere was testing versus starting totally from scratch.

Interesting observation you make about MF and overvaluing the 3 point hitch. My understanding is that dad's father really took a dislike to Ford because the dealer kept insisting that all of his needs were through the hitch versus the PTO on the 9N. Grandpa said that there was no substitute for power at the PTO and no way a 9N was going to perform like a Farmall M for PTO or belt related chores. Had Ford come out with a 3 plow 35 plus PTO HP tractor around 1941 when grandpa bought the Farmall M then who knows what he might have bought. He certainly liked the hydraulic hitch but needed power under certain conditions.

NY 986 · Mar 23, 2017

I should also note that clearance for cultivation was a consideration in favor of the M for grandpa. It was not a deal breaker for the 9N but in the end every tractor he owned had its won cultivator. The cultivator for the M is still here but the ones for the 80 and 88 Olivers are long gone.

erskine2017 · Mar 23, 2017

The 44 was an inferior tractor. Most of the weight was on the front wheels rather than the rear axle where it belonged. There was even a short drive shaft that moved the engine over the front making it hard to steer. Also the Massey machinery was an oddball collection of strange implements. The Farmall M was a far superior machine.

centash · Mar 23, 2017

Wrong. More weight over the rear axle than front.....with good traction, it was not hard to get the front end in the air. Also, the MH self propelled combines were ahead of their time. Ben

centash · Mar 23, 2017

Right, but I cannot understand why they did not see the writing on the wall...after all, the 55 was the highest horsepower tractor you could buy for a number of years, so why did they sell the Super 90 which was no more powerful? Did it really take them that many years to realize that and introduce the 1100 series? Someone shoulda got canned. Ben.

GreenEnvy · Mar 23, 2017

The Case 500 and Oliver 99 were right up there with the 55 in terms of horsepower.

GreenEnvy · Mar 23, 2017

I have a MH, JD, and IH combines from the 50s and the only thing the Massey is superior at is being the most difficult combine to work on. Good combine nevertheless but they weren't ahead of anybody.

centash · Mar 23, 2017

Yes, almost all companies had one in the 65 plus hp range at the time, based on Nebraska test results.Ben

centash · Mar 23, 2017

In the 40's they were the one to have....Google Harvest Brigade. Ben

GreenEnvy · Mar 23, 2017

JD had a variable speed propulsion, retracting finger auger in the header, and a centerline design all features the 21/21A didn't have. Massey got to the SP market first but JD made them look obsolete with the 55.

Traditional Farmer · Mar 23, 2017

I'm not a big fan of MH or Farmall but I'd take the 44 to use anytime over the M

David G · Mar 23, 2017

44 will out do an M any day, much more modern also.

massey 333 · Mar 24, 2017

NO,The problem was HARRY and his mindset and his power on the board,that farmers didn't need big tractors because of HIS system.By the time they got rid of him the train had left the station and they tried to play catchup but it was too late by then and JD came out with their new line(1960)which put the hurt on everyone,but MF mostly because they HAD NOTHING even in the works.The 85s and 90s helped seal their death slid.

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