Buying Advice Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions

   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions #1  

asbmt

New member
Joined
Aug 13, 2014
Messages
2
Location
Bozeman
Tractor
John Deere X304
Hello,

This could probably be multiple threads but I'll toss it all into one and see what happens.

We own about 4 acres of ag/residential land in Montana. We have two horses, want to get a dairy cow, have basic trenching, foundation digging, fence post holing, material moving, a long gravel driveway to maintain, etc. The utility tractor with a backhoe, loader, and some implements seems to make sense. I also grew up with one back in the manual everything era, and can't tell you how many times the past couple years I just wished I had a tractor!

We also have access to some acreage to do small bail haying down the road. My plan would be to do plenty for our horses and cow, as well as have a little extra to sell. So the tractor has to be able to manage small bail haying. I don't want a huge tractor though for the utility work, so I'm looking at something with a PTO horsepower around 35 which the dealers and my research think will do the haying happily (the ground is mostly flat), as well will happily dig plenty deep and powerfully for my needs.

I looked at New Holland, Kubota, LS, Case, Deere, and Massey-Ferguson. Due to dealer locations, quality, features, etc., I'm now primarily looking at Massey and Deere. Both have well respected dealers within 15 miles of our place.

So Thoughts on Massey vs. Deere?

The Deere's seem more expensive for similar specs, and holy cow the lead time on ordering is horrendous. The dealer has a 4052M, which would save me the 3 months of waiting, for only $1200 more than what we worked out for the 4044M, but I don't know if I want/need the extra power. The Massey's have fewer gizmos that I probably don't need and could break. I read the quality survey stickied in the forum and Massey gets significantly lower reviews than Deere?

On the Massey front, the dealer thinks he might be able to still get a 1643 for me. Less money, not Tier 4, I like those advantages. Thoughts 1600 vs. 1700 for Massey? Also the dealer has a 1749 that again might be had for not much more than the 1742 Decisions!?

I grew up using a non synchronized manual transmission. It was all we had, and honestly it never bothered me. Now with the manuals with synchro shifted F and R, my gut is to love that, especially when haying, and save the $1200 extra for HST. Of course the Deere's can't be ordered yet with the manual sigh Thoughts?

Thanks all for the time!

Andrew
 
   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions #2  
Tier 3 MF 1643 would be a nice machine. But I am a little biased. Dealer support is a big thing but I think you've got that figured out.
 
   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions #3  
I'm on my 3rd tractor brand now, and I think Massey makes (or should I say, "re-brands" a very good tractor [Massey compacts are made by Iseki]). I've never owned a Deere, but they seem way overpriced.

But, I would put the quality of my 1648 at or near the top of the list of all the tractor brands.

With that said, I think the 1643 might be a little HP challenged when running a baler. I have 36.5 PTO HP, and I run out of power quite often (stump grinder). The 1648 (or 1749 & up) also runs the DL130 loader, which is stronger than the DL120 loader on the 1643.
 
   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions #4  
for your plans now and in the future you need a 45 to 50 pto hp tractor.the reason for that is so that you can pull a small square baler.
 
   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions #5  
For general purpose use on 5 acres, I'd want an HST transmission. I grew up on farm tractors with full manual gear trannies, but I'm now spoiled by HST for general use. If you just want a gear transmission, there's nothing wrong with that, and they are better for some purposes. But if it's the $1,200 stopping you from an HST, I would (and did) spend the extra money.

Also, haying equipment is expensive. You would be well advised to check out the cost of all the equipment you'll need, and the horsepower required to run it, before planning your tractor purchase around small-scale haying.
 
   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thank you all for the responses! I'm leaning now towards a 1648 if they can source it, or 1749/4052M. One of my issues is that I have two jobs to do before the snow flies that will require $3500 in equipment rental, so availability time-frame is going to drive this decision a bit. It seems that the higher horsepower, and thus heavier tractors probably are a better bet for small scale haying. The balers sure are expensive, but can be found quality used for about the same money as three years of hay for us. Long term that makes good sense to me, especially if I can sell any extra on the side.

I'm still not sure on the HST. $1200 still in my pocket is nice, but it's not the price driving the decision, I'm just not sure I'll like it for constant speed tasks. Too bad the local dealers don't have enough inventory to get seat time comparing them.

The right guy at the Massey dealer will be in on Monday to fill in the gaps as far as what is available. I appreciate your thoughts.
 
   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions #7  
Thank you all for the responses! I'm leaning now towards a 1648 if they can source it, or 1749/4052M. One of my issues is that I have two jobs to do before the snow flies that will require $3500 in equipment rental, so availability time-frame is going to drive this decision a bit. It seems that the higher horsepower, and thus heavier tractors probably are a better bet for small scale haying. The balers sure are expensive, but can be found quality used for about the same money as three years of hay for us. Long term that makes good sense to me, especially if I can sell any extra on the side.

I'm still not sure on the HST. $1200 still in my pocket is nice, but it's not the price driving the decision, I'm just not sure I'll like it for constant speed tasks. Too bad the local dealers don't have enough inventory to get seat time comparing them.

The right guy at the Massey dealer will be in on Monday to fill in the gaps as far as what is available. I appreciate your thoughts.

When I was test driving tractor and shopping earlier this year I looked at a Massey MF1759 (made a video of it as well). I did not like the gear set-up but my use is winding around trees, grading, material handling, and snow clearing. For me, the HST is simply easier to use. The Masseys have good hydraulics, are pretty tractors, and they are the right color.
 
   / Looking at Massey 1643, 1742, 1749, and Deere 4044M, 4052M. And questions #8  
I think the only tranny worth considering on a CUT is a hydro.
 
 
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