Posted by Tim(nj) on March 14, 1998 at 19:58:59:
In Reply to: 98 Fergerson No Body Knows About this tractor posted by Gerald Mann on March 14, 1998 at 17:32:50:
: I have a 98 Fergerson and can not find anything about it, I know it is a oliver 990 3 cyl. detroit but would like to know how many made and why don"t Fergerson reconize this tractor is it because it is an OLIVER, I have one in good shape and would really like to get info. but can"t seem to Thanks Anyway
: Gerald Mann
Here's the story. In 1959, Massey needed a bigger tractor than the model 85. Massey had some production problems in getting a bigger machine on the market, so they contracted with Oliver to sell the 990 as the MF 98 in 1959 and 1960. 500 were sold. The reason MF doesn't acknowlege them is because of an advertising goof. MF claimed the two-stroke Detroit was more efficient and reliable than four-strokes, which meant the Perkins engines in "real" MF tractors were junk! Afer realizing what they had said, MF wanted to forget the whole thing. During 1958-1964, MF also sold a couple thousand Minneapolis-Moline tractors under the MF name, models 95 and 97.