Long 680/reliability? suggestions?

[cmsedore]

I'm (sort of) unfortunately now in the market for a replacement for my Ford 1700 which gave it up earlier this week.

The local dealer we purchased it from now carries Zetor, Kioti, and Long. They only have smaller models of the Zetor and Kioti, but the Long tractors are carried up to the 680.

Is there a consensus on Long tractor reliability? Some searching on Kioti turned up reliability complaints, but I could not find much of anything about Long tractors. I liked the feel and some of the features of the Long, but reliability matters to me (this thing has to clear my 150' driveway for 4-5 months of the year, we get ~300" of snowfall annually). In addition to snow moving, I do a bit of log skidding, firewood processing, plowing/discing, hauling misc stuff around, etc.

It's been quite a while since I've looked at tractor prices, and I was a little shocked to see that I needed to spend $17-30k+ for a 30-60hp CUT with a loader. You can find the Long 680 for about $21k, and the specs are fairly impressive (~60hp, 4WD, FEL w/4000lbs lift) for those $$$. The longs run Mitsubishi diesel engines, which seem to enjoy a reasonable reputation.

I've looked at the Kubota L4310 and a couple JD models, but they're considerably more expensive for less capability (on paper anyway). I looked at the power-trac stuff (based on another thread on TBN), but I do wander into the woods quite a bit and the small (relatively speaking) tires concern me. I also have a fair investment in 3pt attachments I'd prefer to keep. The Ford 1700 I'm used to was only about 25hp, and about 1/2 to 1/3 the size needed for much of the work it did here for 20years. I'm hoping to get 20 years out of whatever is purchased this time around as well.

Comments and suggestions are quite welcome.

-Chris

[Anonymous Poster]

LONGTRAC 680





Tell the dealer you want to talk to a couple of existing customers that already own the 680...

Try to find someone that's had the unit for a period of time over 2 or 3 years {let that newness happy owner factor dissipate to real life...}

Check with other local dealer's in your area, be upfront and ask them..."I've got about $22k to spend... I need a 4WD 60 PTO hp tractor and loader... what do you have that fits the bill...?"

You can extend your range via the telephone with dealer's long distance from you... this should increase the options you have available to you...

[PaulT]

How DO you do it? You never seem to fail at coming up with a picture or two of the object in question. And not just a scanned magazine ad, either. Good quality, close up pics of the very article. We sure are lucky ot have you around here. Why don't you register?

[RichZ]

Paul, John IS registered. He just doesn't always appear as a registered TBN member. If he went on as a registered member for each of his posts, he would probably be in his own class. Actually he is anyway!![img]/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Rich
"What a long strange trip it's been."

[Woodbeef]

Take a look at the Valtra 100 series. The 600 or 700 should be about the size you are looking for. The are a very dependable,overly built tractor. Many of the ones in Scandinavia do forestry duty during the winter months. The option list is staggering,and you have a choice of 10 different colors,4 of them being metallic.

Try these sites for Valtra info

www.valtra.com

www.kolumbus.fi/juha.metsapelto

[Jeff396]

Okay, apparently noone else is going to ask the question.....why am I seeing grass where I would expect to see floorboard? Is it like the Flinstone's car?

Jeff

[Anonymous Poster]

Jeff,

I think maybe it's the camera angle... more a closeup of the dash area...

But then again... Flintstones... interesting...[img]/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[frank_f15]

YOU ARE AMAZING!!!! I KNOW A JOHN MILLER THAT IS JUST AS AMAZING, must be something in the name.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[jimmoore]

What happened to the 1700? Can't it be repaired or overhauled? I have a 1980 1700 that I have overhauled the engine and replaced the clutch, it didn' cost me that much as I did the work myself.

[cmsedore]

Jim,

I was out snowblowing when it made a couple of 'unfortunate' noises inside the engine. Subsequently, it barely runs and makes a rather disturbing clanking sound (not on every engine rotation, but once every one - two seconds).

When I spoke with our dealer, they indiciated that I should expect $2000-3000 in repair costs. I have thought about doing it myself (I've replaced heads and intake manifolds on cars, done a variety of other mechanical work, etc). Never worked on diesels, though.

I was planning to replace the 1700 in a couple years and figured that I'd rather invest the time and money in a new machine. It needs some other repairs as well (new radiator, seals in the front axle, etc). My original plan was to purchase another tractor and leave this one for lawn mowing (and possibly assisting if I the larger one was stuck .

-Chris