Massey Ferguson Perkins Diesel Tractor Starter Motor | 12V 10-Tooth | OEM 1680065M1

There is a decent chance that more Massey Ferguson tractors have been started by Lucas M45 starters than by any other motor in agricultural history. The 1680065M1 is MF's reference for that unit, and the list of tractors it served reads like a history of small farming — the 35 and the 65 from the fifties and early sixties, the 135 that became probably the most exported tractor Britain ever built, the 165 on its Perkins A4.203, then the 133, the 230 and the 255 as the design ran on into the late seventies. Twelve volts, 2.2 kW when new, a ten-tooth pinion turning clockwise, mounted on the right-hand side of the engine: a specification so stable that a starter bought today would look unremarkable bolted to a tractor in 1962.

OEM and Search References

• Primary MF reference: 1680065M1
• MF revision cross-references: 1680065M2 / M3 / R3, 1808449M2, 1893611M91, 3539389M91, 3597426M2 / M3 / R2 / R3, 3930505R1, 887057M2 / R2, 898090M1, 9643382M1
• Lucas and Iskra codes: 26219, 26413, 27407, 27411, 27433, LRS215, S4544, Iskra 11.130.631, AZJ3205, MS385
• Buyer search terms: 1680065M1 starter, MF 135 starter motor, Massey Ferguson 35 starter, MF 165 Perkins starter, Lucas M45 starter 12V, tractor starter 10 tooth
• Ratings: 12 V, 2.2 kW, 10 teeth, CW, weight 5.17 kg — the aftermarket lists 2.0 to 2.2 kW across brands for this family; verify against the old unit

Fitment and Purchase Checks

Because the same basic starter served so many tractors for so long, the parts trade around it has grown tangled in a way that has nothing to do with engineering. The classic trap is the flange: 1680065M1 belongs to the 89 mm M45 line, while its G-variant sibling — the 1680064M1, with a 92 mm flange and a stronger winding — gets cross-listed against it in catalogues that should know better, and the two will not swap on an engine no matter what the internet says. The years add another layer, since a 65 left the factory in 1958 while a 255 was still being built in 1981, and dealers who only see the occasional classic MF are forgiven for hesitating between the numbers.

The way through is unglamorous and it works: pull the old starter, read the plate, count the pinion teeth, measure across the mounting flange if corrosion has eaten the stamping, and put all of it in one email. The quote that comes back will be firm rather than indicative — unit price, carton quantity, a dispatch window, warranty terms for the destination market — and if the plate turns out to describe something the cross tables have muddled, it gets traced through the MF parts system before anyone pays for freight.