By David Parr

I like my Massey Ferguson 180s — all five of them!

My first was the one my grandpa bought new in 1969. It has a narrow front, which is a rarity.

For some reason, Grandpa didn’t keep the tractor and sold it almost new to my dad. Maybe because Grandpa had a Minneapolis-Moline dealership when I was just a kid, and he liked yellow better than red!

The 180 wasn’t the first tractor I learned to drive, but it was the first tractor I actually did work with.

When I started farming with my dad in the ’80s and then bought him out in the early ’90s, the 180 narrow was in the deal.

I picked up the other four tractors over the past five years. Two of them were ready for the salvage yard.

I spent a great deal of time repairing any and all issues with the help of a neighbor, who is also a Massey man. He and I together have split the tractors and replaced clutches, fixed multi-power, replaced hydraulic and three-point lift pumps, fixed steering issues, completely rebuilt the engines on two, redone the brakes and lights, as well as made a variety of smaller repairs.

We also repainted all five tractors. I did the prep and the decals, and my neighbor did the painting

The 180 was built from 1964 to 1975. The price for the tractor new in 1975 was $7,600.

The most common and sought-after engine was the Perkins 236 diesel rated at 64 hp. Perkins and Continental also had gas engines for the 180.

The MF 175 had the same engine as the 180; the difference was the 180 had a flat deck and in the 175, you straddled the transmission. My five 180s all have the Perkins 236 diesel engine and the 12-speed multi-power transmission. These tractors are very handy and can do a variety of smaller jobs.

Today, all five tractors are working and are used on my organic dairy farm between La Farge and Ontario, Wis. I use them for raking and baling hay, cultivating, planting, spreading manure, pulling wagons, grinding feed and the list goes on.

They don’t have the horsepower to do any of the big tillage, but they are as handy and as fuel-efficient for light to medium work as any tractor.

To have your favorite tractor featured, email or send in a photo of yourself with your tractor, along with a 300- to 400-word write-up about the tractor, to: [email protected] or Wisconsin Agriculturist, P.O. Box 236, Brandon, WI 53919.