The Massey Ferguson 399 was the most powerful tractor in the 300 series range built at

Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in T ...

Banner Lane Banner Lane was the site of a wartime shadow factory in Coventry, England, run by Standard Motor Company and dedicated to making Bristol Hercules aero engines. The war-surplus plant was taken over by Standard in 1946 to make Ferguson tractors ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, UK factory. The tractor was released globally in 1986.

Appearance

It was first introduced with a black cab that was similar to that of its predecessor range, the 600 series Massey Ferguson. Its brilliant red appearance stood out when the state of the art "Hi-line" silver cab was introduced in 1988.

Engine

The 399 was initially powered by a 97

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

Perkins Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid- and southern England. Another derivation com ...

A6.354 6-cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

as standard. The engine was uprated to a 104 hp 1006 series engine and the cab updated in 1991. The company never had such bumper sales with a series of tractor since it first started decades previously. The years 1994–96 were good for Massey Ferguson when

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and the UK had record sales of this series. The main reasons for this was its reliability, excellent cab, strong features and powerful engine the latter sometimes receiving dealer fitted

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

kits to boost the 399's power to the 100/105 horsepower mark, giving the farmer a lightweight, yet powerful tractor for field work where a larger tractor might damage the crop.

Transmission

At the start of production the 399 was available with a 12 fwd 4 rev synchromesh gearbox until 1991 when a 12 fwd 12 rev shuttle gearbox was introduced. Four years later an 18 fwd 6 rev speedshift gearbox was introduced, which was similar to multi-power gearbox fitted in the earlier Massey Ferguson tractors, both the latter two gearboxes were fitted until the end of production and were available as 45km/h speed versions and when revved it can reach speeds of 48 km/h.

Equipment

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Speedshift tractors were offered with front fenders, flashing amber beacon and rear wash wipe as standard equipment in two-wheel-drive form or

four-wheel-drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

form, the latter being the bigger seller of the two. The tractor remained in production until 1997, when the 4200 series was launched and the 399 was replaced by the 4270.

References

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