My name Is Cole and I am 19 years old and I love old tractors! I live in West Bridgewater Massachusetts with my family on a small homestead. When I was probably 10 years old I used to mow our yard with a 1973 Massey Ferguson MF14 garden tractor. It began to have some problems so it was set aside and we got a more reliable mower. It sat for many years and I always wanted to get it going again. In the summer of 2020 my dad and I pulled it out and got it started. I was happy to have it running, but I wanted to restore it it’s former glory. I began the long process of restoring it, and after a year I had completed it. It was very frustrating at times but in the end I learned an immense amount and decided that I was ready to take on another project. 

One day my mom sent me a listing of a Massey Ferguson 50 tractor that was not running and in need of some love. I had not considered a tractor of this size for my project tractor; I planned on another garden tractor. This tractor was more involved than a garden tractor, but after some thinking I was sold. 

On the Fourth of July 2021, my family and I went to New Hampshire to get the tractor. It was not running and had a loader on it so it was some work to load it, but we got it on the the trailer to bring it to it’s new home. Within a week my dad and I had it running. I started working through some general maintenance like changing its fluids and a few other things. The tractor is extremely reliable, it can sit for a month and yet still start right away. She is always ready to work. I want to restore it, but for right now, she has some work to do as well as celebrate the Fourth of July!

Cole Milbery
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts

Photo by Owen Milbery