IRONREFERENCE

Honest comparison

Iron Reference vs the alternatives you've already tried.

You've been digging through TractorByNet threads, scrolling Yesterday's Tractors, hitting paywalls on AGCO Parts Direct, and ordering from Steiner because they sell the parts. Each of those is good at one thing. Here's what each does best, where each falls short, and the one job we built Iron Reference for.

What Iron Reference is, in one paragraph

Iron Reference is the OEM-to-aftermarket cross-reference platform for vintage tractor mechanics. Type any OEM number and get verified aftermarket alternatives across multiple suppliers in seconds. Free to start, paid for depth. Built mobile-first for the shop floor. Vintage Massey Ferguson is the foundation; expanding across every manufacturer and every year.

What we explicitly aren't: a parts vendor, a community forum, a service-manual archive, or a current-production OEM portal. Those are the alternatives' lanes, and they're better at them than we'd ever be.

Capability comparison

Filled circle (◐) means partial coverage — read the row note for what's missing. Sourced from our internal competitive brief, last updated 2026-04-27.

CapabilityIron RefYTTBNAGCOSteinerPDFs
Free anonymous search (no account)✓basic search✓◐✕dealer login required✓✓
Paid tier with deeper data✓$19/mo Pro✕ad-supported✕ad-supported◐via dealer✕vendor model✕
Vintage MF coverage today✓deep on MF 135✓◐subforum✕current production◐all brands, shallow per model✓
Multi-manufacturer roadmap◐planned, MF first✓✓✓✓◐
Structured cross-reference search✓✕✕✕✕✕
Multi-supplier aftermarket cross-refs✓✕✕✕◐Steiner SKUs only✕
Mobile-first UX✓✕◐◐✓✕
Typo-tolerant search✓Meilisearch✕✕✕◐—static PDFs
Diagrams / exploded views◐MF 135 only today✕✕✓✕✓static images in PDFs
Service procedures included✓232 procedures✕◐buried in forum threads◐◐tutorials section✓
Sells parts directly✕◐classifieds◐marketplace◐via dealer network✓✕
Community forum✕✓decades deep✓decades deep✕✕✕

When to use which tool

Yesterday's Tractors

visit ↗
Best for
Decades of community knowledge in forum threads. The place to ask 'has anyone fixed X on a 1962 MF 135?'
Weak for
No structured cross-reference search. To find a Wix-equivalent for an OEM oil filter, you're scrolling forum threads.
When Iron Reference wins
When you already know the OEM number and just want the verified aftermarket alternatives in seconds.

TractorByNet

visit ↗
Best for
Active vintage MF subforum, marketplace, and dealer directory. Strong on real-world repair stories.
Weak for
Cross-references live in unstructured forum posts. Good chance the answer exists; bad chance you find it in under 10 minutes.
When Iron Reference wins
When the lookup needs to happen on the shop floor, on a phone, in under 30 seconds.

AGCO Parts Direct

visit ↗
Best for
Official OEM portal for current-production AGCO/Massey Ferguson tractors. Authoritative on diagrams and current part numbers.
Weak for
Vintage coverage is thin to nonexistent. Many parts pages require dealer login.
When Iron Reference wins
Anything pre-1980. Anything where you need to compare OEM against an aftermarket alternative, not just look up the OEM.

Steiner Tractor Parts

visit ↗
Best for
Buying. Steiner sells the parts directly and ships them. Their catalog is excellent if you're committed to Steiner SKUs.
Weak for
Single-vendor view of cross-refs. If a Donaldson or Mahle equivalent fits and is cheaper, you won't see it on Steiner.
When Iron Reference wins
When you want to compare across vendors before you buy. We don't sell parts; we tell you who does.

Free PDF manual archives

visit ↗
Best for
Full factory service manuals as PDFs. Authoritative on torque specs, valve clearances, and disassembly procedures.
Weak for
Static documents. No search across part numbers, no cross-references, no way to ask 'what fits a 1965 MF 135 with serial 9A12345?'
When Iron Reference wins
Real-time lookups. The PDF is a reference; we're a lookup tool. Different jobs.

Where Iron Reference loses today

Three honest gaps. We're working on closing them. None of them changes the wedge.

  • Community depth. Yesterday's Tractors and TractorByNet have decades of forum knowledge. We don't have a forum and won't pretend to. If you need a human's opinion on a 1965 hydraulic pump rebuild, those are still the right places.
  • Buying integration. Steiner sells the parts; we don't. Long-term we may add affiliate links so you can lookup → click → buy without leaving Iron Reference. Today, you copy the part number and open Steiner / RockAuto / your favorite supplier.
  • Brand recognition. We're new. Yesterday's Tractors has existed since the late 1990s. Our answer is to be obviously useful in 30 seconds — that's the shortest path to earning the bookmark.

Try the cross-reference search

Type any Massey Ferguson OEM part number. See the verified aftermarket alternatives in seconds. No account needed for basic search.

Search by OEM number →See Pro pricing