Where to start

Grandson inherited a reciently restored MF 135 bout 67 mod. It is a standard model,single disc clutch. Regulaiar basic early MFH modle. I don't know any history on it but I am suspicious that restoral consisted of a paint job. Lift doesn't work at all. What is the first step in troubleshooting? Oil level is proper and clean.

Could be anything but I would be inclined to think a relief valve is stuck open. I am facing that with a Ford 860 that sat for a couple of years. Sometime I need to pull it inside and pull the rockshaft housing.

I have an Allis 160 ,similar in that they both may have the 3cyl. Perkins diesel. The hydraulic pump for the three point on mine is on the right side of the engine. Mine leaks down if it sits too long and will not lift. I end up opening the outlet of the pump and priming it full with hydraulic fluid, sometimes takes a couple times. Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

The lift system on those is somewhat confusing. A shop manual will be very handy to have if it gets too involved. Here is a simple procedure that will get you started.

There is a round inspection cover on each side, below the seat. Remove the right cover. It may loose a little oil, if you want to block up the right wheel it will tip the oil away from the cover.

Inside the cover you will see a pair of tapered levers coming down from above, that push against a round spool on a lever that goes to the pump control valve.

It is possible the roller has gotten out of position and is in front of the levers. It needs to be behind the levers.

A couple words of caution, this involves starting the engine with the cover off! Do not reach in any further than the levers! Also watch the position of the arms. Bringing them up too far can break the top cover if the relief valve is stuck. Only operate the engine at slow idle, be careful!

If the lever/roller configuration looks good, have a flashlight ready, start the engine, let it idle.

Move the position lever up and down while watching the taper levers move the roller. It should move, but only slightly. Set the draft lever between the 2 dots, the lift lever to the up position.

Look inside the case with the flashlight. If there is oil pouring down from above, locate the source. If coming out of the end of the cylinder, the piston seals are bad. There is also a "stand pipe" that brings oil up from the pump to the cylinder. There are orings at each end. Oil broiling up from the bottom of the stand pipe indicate the lower oring is leaking. There is also a pressure relief valve in the side of the pump. Oil coming up from that area indicates the valve is bypassing.

If no oil leaks, carefully push the roller to the side and take control of the position manually. Watch the lift, see if it will move. Here is where you have to be careful not to raise it too far. If the lift moves when the roller lever is moved, the lever is out of adjustment. There is a nut on a long stud below the oil to adjust the roller lever. Don't reach down there with it running though! It is a touchy adjustment, trial and error.

If manually moving the lever still doesn't make it raise, chances are the pump is bad. Rebuilt pumps are available. Best take the old pump out first, there were many variations over the years.

If none of this pans out, again, get a shop manual to walk you through it. Nothing real hard about it, just better to have step by step with illustrations.

Thanks to everybody and Merry Christmas.

You may or may not know that the "Draft" lever must be full up before the "Position" lever will move the 3ph. Somewhat confusing if you're not familiar with MF. How are the rubber cups on the shift levers? If parked outside and torn they will allow water to enter the hydraulic system and give you a false full reading. Also, the hydraulic fluid should be at operating temperature to be checked. Otherwise Steve@Advance has typed an excellent troubleshooting process. I hope it's something simple, they are a great tractor. May want to post on the MF board too, lot's of posts about hydraulic issues.

Does it have a 2 spool relief valve on top of the transmission? If so, the left lever has to be locked back for the levers to the right of the seat to work.