The same, but different!
The Massey Ferguson 135 is often used as a benchmark for comparisons – everyone knows what it looks like and what it’s capable of. It is often compared to its main rivals of the day – predominantly the Ford 3000, David Brown 880 Selectamatic and International Harvester 434, but it is rarely measured against a Continental contender – in this case the John Deere 1020.
In the late ’60s, when these models were on sale, the 1020 was not a common sight in the United Kingdom – more often seen in mainland Europe. With this said, some were sold to British farmers, helping to give Deere a small percentage of tractor sales in the 135’s homeland.
It may seem that there’s not much to choose between them, but a closer look at them reveals their designers adopted different approaches to two tractors that were destined to be rivals in certain markets.
It is evident that MF was keen to extol the virtues of the Ferguson System in the 135, but it appeared that John Deere had a different philosophy when
