Massey Ferguson Perkins Engine Starter Motor | OEM 1868285M3

The wide application list is what makes 1868285M3 worth a page of its own. Massey Ferguson put this Lucas M50-family starter on the 165 and 175 from the mid-sixties, the 255, 265, 275 and 285 through the seventies, the 365, 375 and 390 that stretched the 300-series into the nineties, and the 3050, 3060, 3065, 3070 and 3075 at the end of the line — and under the housing, every one of those tractors wanted the same thing: twelve volts, a direct drive swinging a ten-tooth pinion clockwise, about 2.8 kW on tap, and an 89 mm three-hole flange machined for a left-hand mounting, as Abilene Machine's listing spells out.

Abilene also notes that the unit covers the Hitachi and Delco starters fitted to some of the same tractors, which says a lot about how willingly MF mixed suppliers when two makers could build to the same drawing.

OEM and Search References

• Primary MF reference: 1868285M3
• MF family cross-references: 1868287T, 3930506R1, 909971R2, 963989M1, 3763-362-M91, 1868285M1 / M2 / R3
• Lucas codes: 27539C / D / E, 27572 / 27572B / 27572D, 27590B, 27598A
• Perkins and other crosses: 2873006R, 2873A031, 2873D002, 2873B072, Hella 8EA726027001, Landini 3597372M1
• Buyer search terms: 1868285M3 starter, MF 265 starter motor, Massey Ferguson 390 starter, MF 285 starter 12V, MF 3050 starter motor, Lucas M50 starter
• Ratings: 12 V, 2.8 kW, 10 teeth, CW, weight 15.12 kg, left-hand mount — aftermarket figures run 2.8 to 3.0 kW; the old unit's plate and mounting side decide

Fitment and Purchase Checks

With a family this long-lived, the catalogues will happily argue among themselves, and the buyer needs a referee. The years alone tell the story: a 165 built from 1964, a 175 from the same year, a 255 and a 265 from 1975, a 285 from 1974, a 390 not arriving until 1987, a 3050 from 1986 — three decades of tractors, one starter design, and revision numbers M1 through M3 accumulating across the whole span until two honest catalogues can disagree about which box belongs on which tractor.

The referee is the old unit. Its plate number, the tooth count on the pinion and the side of the engine it mounts on are the three facts that end every argument, and a photograph of all three attached to an enquiry is worth more than an afternoon with the parts books.

On that basis the quote that comes back is firm: unit price, carton quantity, dispatch window, warranty terms written for the destination market — and where a plate carries a number the cross tables cannot place, the MF parts system gets consulted before the order is confirmed, because the cheapest starter anybody ever buys is still the one that bolts on, engages and starts the first morning it arrives.