A direct solution

When you initially see this Massey Ferguson 35 from a distance it looks like any other tractor of this era built at Banner Lane, Coventry. When you look a little closer, however, you soon realise this is no standard four-cylinder model.

This particular 1958 FE 35 belongs to Richard and Steven McDonald from Comber, Co. Down, and has been modified by fitting a different four-cylinder engine. The Standard 23C unit has been replaced by a direct-injection Perkins 4.236 unit. Like so many 35s fitted with the 23C engine, the reputation of being difficult to start at any time has been well documented. These engines were reasonable performers, but the starting issues meant that they were not as popular or as sought after as the three-cylinder models produced by Massey Ferguson.

The MF 35 tractors fitted with the four-cylinder, indirect-injection engine have, over the years, been subject to many modifications to the cylinder head combustion chamber by mechanics and engineers, in an attempt to make them start better, with varying levels of success. Some even fitted the cylinder head from a Commer commercial vehicle, which used the same engine as the tractor. These were fitted with a cylinder head that incorporated four individual