kennywest

[WIP] Massey Ferguson 1250 articulated tractor

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Hello,

As a farming material enthusiast, I present to you, the Massey Ferguson 1250 articulated tractor. This is how it looks like in real life:

800x570.jpg

Here's a video

I don't create a lot of MOCs and I am definitely not that talented as most people here, but I want to create a LEGO version of this tractor. I am also not a frequent builder, so progress on this will be very slow (my Ahlmann took me 3 years or so to complete :blush:). Today I made some progress and I have something that drives and steers. 

It all started with the wheels:

800x600.jpg

I want to include planetary gears in this MOC, which is quite easy, since the tractor is articulated and no complicated steering mechanism is required. After some fiddling, I came up with the following axle:800x600.jpg

This was the first version, with yellow rims. The MF has grey rims and I need the new version with 6 pinholes (instead of 3, which can be found in the 8110, for example), to fit my planetary gear setup. After ordering the necessary parts, I started to make some progress:

800x600.jpg

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The rear axle has pendular suspension, which is realized by a turntable. There are 2 functions passed through this turntable: drive and PTO. The model uses an XL motor for driving.

A large LA is used for steering. In the picture below I am using an L motor, but I think an M motor will suffice.

800x600.jpg

800x600.jpg

800x600.jpg

As you can see, the whole rear of the tractor is pendular and it will feature a PTO a three point hitch.

800x569.jpg

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Today I added the 3 point hitch:

800x600.jpg

I used ball joints for this, so this works and looks very much like the real thing

800x600.jpg

800x600.jpg

800x600.jpg

The real thing uses hydraulic cylinders here to raise and lower the hitch. I used a simple motor with worm gear, since I don't have much room here for a linear actuator, for example.

I also started to work on the front and body:

800x600.jpg

800x600.jpg

Starts to look like a tractor, no?

800x600.jpg

800x600.jpg

Bodywork still needs some work, but I'm very happy with the progress I made.

Until next time :)

 

 

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Great work man,can you post some pics of the transmission trough the steering point (pto and drive)? Thanks

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Nice build, but I don’t think you need the center diff. Like the 42030 and the 9398, no center diff because it will never be any speed difference between axles.

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Interesting, and cool that you're showing your progress. Those are the best topics :) Your model looks a bit wider than the original (from the photos) but that's mainly due to the wide wheels, so not much can be done about that.

What I really like is the planetary gearing, the way the axle is pendular, and the LA for the steering. It all looks quite realistic in terms of functionality. (Edit: But indeed, if the steering articulation joint is about halfway the axles, you don't need the center diff)

What I don't really understand is the "three point hitch" as you call it. The way I interpret the pictures, there's only one movement (up - down). Why are there ball joints? I could understand if there was a way for the attached, eh, "instrument" (how do you call the module that does the actual agricultural work?) to sway left and right, similar to a life axle. But that doesn't seem to happen, because from the worm-to-8t gear assembly there is perfect symmetry. There is only one input, as far as I can see, so only one degree-of-freedom. What am I missing?

Edited by Erik Leppen

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@Erik Leppen compared to the real thing, the wheels are probably wider, but the width of the model should be ok. This one has wider wheels, so should look more or less the same:

800x533.jpg

The problem also is the fact I don't have any blueprints. So pictures is all I have so scale might be off, here and there ;)
The steering pivot is indeed near the center of the vehicle, so a central diff should not be necessary. I didn't use a central diff in my Ahlmann either. But after doing some tests, I saw the necessity of a central diff. The rear axle has pendular suspension which resulted in a lot of stress on the drive train when the rear axle was swiveling. I am going to create a small LDD for the drive train, so you can see what I mean.

The 3 point hitch of the MF looks like this

800x567.jpg

In fact the same setup is used on most of the tractors

49_0.jpg

As you can see, below you have 2 lift arms. On top there's also a lift arm, so you can attach a plow for example and lift it of the ground. As you can see in the above image, you need to be able to move the lower lift arms sideways, so you can fit in the attachment. Modern tractors do this differently, but on older tractors (and also on smaller tractors, I think), this principle is always used.

So, to fit the attachment, you spread the lift arms and fit the pins of the attachment through the holes of the lift arms. Once attached, you put pins through the attachment's pins and also tighten the chains you can see on the left and the right lower lift arm. Tightening the chains will limit the horizontal movement of the attachment. So that's why I used ball joints for the lower lift arms, pretty much like the real thing.

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Today managed to find some time to work on the MF. I installed a battery box and s-brick to power all 4 motors:

800x389.jpg

We have 4 motors:

  • steering
  • drive
  • PTO
  • 3 point hitch

I also worked on the cabin and body work

800x389.jpg

Starts to look like an MF1250 :)

800x389.jpg

800x389.jpg

800x389.jpg

Still need some work on the details, but I like the progress I made.

 

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It is very nice to see that project is on rolling (again). Bonnet and cab shape looks very good IMHO, but (in chance you do not have it) best would be that you scale blueprint to tires you choose and see if eventually you gave to make some corrections 

Edited by I_Igor
I have just noticed on one upper image that you have BW blueprint copy

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Very nice indeed - i am a sucker for tractors, and Massey ones at that, so look forwards to the finished MOC.

@Erik Leppen - the three point hitch on real tractors is designed to allow the implement to sway from left to right as well as lift it up and down. The geometry of the two lower links and the top link is arranged so that lines drawn through (ie along the axis of) each link will converge at a point somewhere in the middle of the tractor. This means that when a soil engaging implement - a plough or cultivator - is working in the ground it will follow a straight line but can also deviate left and right for obstructions or as the tractor steers. If the implement were fixed to a rigid straight line, every minute adjustment to the steering would create large lateral forces and stress on the tractor linkage. This arrangement does mean that when the plough is lifted out of the ground it can freely sway from side to side, so 'check' chains, or adjustable stabiliser bars on modern tractors, are provided to limit the amount of sway.

@kennywest has got the lateral movement in the lower links - other examples (that i know of) are @TeamThrifty's claas axion 960 and @BondemandClausen's NH T8.420 - plus the lower links converging to a virtual pivot point somewhere beneath the tractor. For the lateral sway to work properly you also need the same degrees of freedom on the top link (check out Team thrifty's axion), or else the top link will take all of the stress resisting the sway allowed by the lower links....

And on that tractor nerd point, don't get me started on the principles of the Ferguson draft control system... :blush:

 

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2 hours ago, hpil said:

draft control system

OOO now you're talking!! I've thought many times about trying to replicate something in lego... now i know there's someone who'll appreciate it, its back on my to-do list!! :roflmao:

 

2 hours ago, hpil said:

lateral movement in the lower links

I like that idea quite a lot, may look at adding it to Xerion 2.0 before i dismantle it. It needs something to check the movement, chains i would have thought on the MF?

This growing tractor sub-niche is awesome. The cross-pollination of ideas is brilliant.

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Great progress on the Massey. I kind of lost track of this topic but luckily you updated again. Are you planning on building any implements for this MF?

And as said above great to see that all tractor fans are getting together :sweet:

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12 hours ago, TeamThrifty said:
14 hours ago, hpil said:

draft control system

OOO now you're talking!! I've thought many times about trying to replicate something in lego...

aaargh! what have you done to me? Woke up at 4am this morning thinking about this! However, i think i have two alternate solutions for a draft control system....

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Just now, hpil said:

aaargh! what have you done to me? Woke up at 4am this morning thinking about this! However, i think i have two alternate solutions for a draft control system....

I woke up about the same time because my cat was hungry :wink:

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Thank you all for the kind words. This is really encouraging ;)

About the sideways travel of the lower links ... correct, currently the top link will take all the stress, need to fix this.

I don't really have a blueprint, I only have pictures to work with, with makes it very difficult to get the scale right, but I like the looks so far. I think the cab needs to be wider. I am going to try that in the near future.

Indeed I want to add an implement as well, because this thing all started as a modern take on the 8859 and the 8859 has an implement ... so ...I am open for suggestions.

Cool to see there are other tractor enthusiasts as well, maybe we can start our own subsection on this forum :D

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