Massey Ferguson 135 / 240 hydraulic lift not working: standpipe, O-rings and the order of checks

When the rear lift on a Massey Ferguson 135 or 240 will not raise, raises slowly or will not hold a load, start with what needs no spanner: the quadrant levers, the oil level and the implement. Next come the standpipe, which carries oil from the pump up to the lift cylinder, and its O-rings; the pump, control valve and relief valve come last.

Massey Ferguson 135 hydraulic lift problems: what do you check before taking anything apart?

The levers, the oil, the clutch and the implement. Massey-Ferguson’s workshop manual ends its trouble-shooting table with a note: some apparent hydraulic faults come from “failure to operate the system as it was designed to be operated”, others from maladjusted or badly worn implements.

The French operator’s book for the 135 describes three levers: position, draft and response. In position control the draft lever is parked at the top of its quadrant and the implement is raised by moving the position lever to “Transport”. Pulled to the rear, the book says, the response lever makes the implement rise and lower more slowly.

• Oil: the lift shares its oil with the gearbox and rear axle. The dipstick is on the right of the rear axle housing; the book has the level checked every 100 hours.
• Clutch: on the dual clutch, the first part of the pedal travel frees only the transmission. Pressed to the floor, the pedal stops the hydraulic pump too.
• Implement: lifted by hand and let go, the lower links “should fall of their own weight”. A load beyond what the system can handle opens the relief valve, and the operator’s book warns that this can, in the long run, bring the pressure down.

Where is the standpipe and what does it do?

“The stand pipe takes oil from the pump and up into the lift cylinder,” writes Vintage Tractor Engineer, a site on older tractors, about the MF 35. It sits below a small cap under the front right-hand side of the seat and pulls out once the cap is off.

Massey-Ferguson’s workshop manual for the MF 35, 50 and 65 calls that cap the transfer plate and counts three O-rings: one “on each end of the standpipe” and one in the plate. Vintage Tractor Engineer adds a back-up washer beside the O-ring and calls these O-rings “a common place for oil to leak”. Its advice to an MF 35 owner with a slow lift: “The next (easiest and least expensive) thing to check would be the o’rings on the stand pipe.”

Is the lift on a Massey Ferguson 240 checked the same way?

On the two sources we have, yes. Writing in 2020 about an MF 230, Vintage Tractor Engineer notes that “the top cover is very similar on the MF35, 100 series, 200 series, 300 series, 500 series and even the TE20 tractors”. On a tractor forum in 2023, an MF 240 owner whose pump gave no pressure was told the standpipe could be checked first: its O-rings sometimes blow, and broken standpipes have been seen. The same reply has the screen behind the bottom cover pulled out and washed.

We could not open Massey Ferguson’s own workshop manual for the 135 or the 240. The trouble-shooting table used below is from the MF 35, 50 and 65 manual; carrying it over to these two models is our inference from that likeness.

What if the lift works cold but not hot, or lifts in jerks?

A lift that works cold and fades as the oil warms up is losing oil inside. Warm oil, Vintage Tractor Engineer explains, is thin enough to get past a worn part: “if it gets worse as the oil warms up then the hydraulic fluid is leaking somewhere”. It names a slightly damaged O-ring on the standpipe, the rings on the lift cylinder and general wear in the pump.

For a jerky, uneven lift the manual’s table blames the pump: “One or more inoperative side chamber valves”. The pump comes out and the valve seats are checked for dirt. On a forum, an MF 135 that raised “shaky” at idle drew a similar first guess: a worn pump or its control valves.

The 135 operator’s book also has the suction strainer cleaned, and the oil changed, every 800 hours; it is reached through the right-hand plate that carries the dipstick.

Where do you look when the lift will not hold a load?

Through the inspection cover on the right-hand side, with the system working. Under “Implement will not raise”, the manual’s entry for a leak names four places:

“Remove inspection cover and check system while operating. Check for leaks at the ram cylinder, standpipe, control valve, and pump side chambers.”

Massey-Ferguson, MF 35, 50 and 65 workshop manual, hydraulic system trouble shooting

The table has no row for a lift that sinks under load; tying the leak entry to that symptom is our inference. A forum reply to an MF 135 owner whose lift “won’t hold the attachment up when the tractor is shut off” names the same places: stand pipe connections, lift cylinder, pump control valve. It suggests watching through the inspection port for “a stream or drip”, with a mechanic’s mirror to help.

What matters when the standpipe O-rings are renewed?

1. Arms down. The manual wants the lift arms “all of the way down” before the transfer plate comes off.
2. No lever under the plate. If it is tight, turn it while lifting.
3. Three O-rings. The two on the pipe and the one in the plate must be in place and “either new or serviceable”; fit the back-up washers too.
4. Cleanliness. The manual’s caution: keep dirt and grit out of the hydraulic system.
5. Try it. Raise and lower the implement several times; the manual does this to drive out trapped air.

Cap screw torque is in the tractor’s own manual. A broken pipe is ordered by part number, not by model name. Leaks in power steering pipes and hoses have an article of their own.

In what order does a mechanic check?

1. Levers and clutch. Draft lever at the top? Response lever left at the rear? Foot off the clutch?
2. Oil. Is the level right on the dipstick?
3. Implement. Do the lower links fall of their own weight? Is the load too heavy for the system?
4. Standpipe. Take off the cap, pull the pipe, renew the O-rings and back-up washers.
5. Inspection cover. Look for the leak from the right with the system working, hands outside.
6. Pump side. Control valve, relief valve, pump. Broken pump parts, the table says, “Will probably be indicated by a noisy pump.”