biodegraded
Silver Member
Am researching MF tractors. The 1700 "premium" models most closely meet my needs, at least on paper. I am wondering if these are rebranded / subcontracted out or are made by Massey and where. Information welcome.
Where are 1700 series made?
- Thread starter biodegraded
- Start date
WilliamBos
Super Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2004
- Messages
- 5,316
- Location
- Innisfil, Ontario, Canada
- Tractor
- MF 1635 12x12 Powershuttle
They are built by Iseki, in Japan, as was the 1600,1500,1400, 1200, 1100, GC series and 4600 series. The quality is second to none, as is reliability.
OP
biodegraded
Silver Member
Thank you, Will. I am much obliged.
TSO
Elite Member
Actually, isn't the GC series built by Mitsubishi in Japan?
....
And I should add, I love my Iseki built, AGCO owned, Massey 1648. I've put 358 hard hours on her in the last 10 months and she's been perfect.
TSO
Elite Member
Disregard what I said earlier about Mitsubishi... I might have been thinking about the Mahindra max SCUT's. Looks like the MF SCUT's are Iseki as well. Which is a good thing, Iseki makes a great product.
murphy1244
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2011
- Messages
- 20,038
- Location
- Ohio
- Tractor
- Kubota 1120 RTV Kioti DK-40, MF-135, Ventrac 4500Y
Tim have you had any problems at all with that Big red Beast? Man you put a lot of hours on fast.
TSO
Elite Member
Hi Murph ... No, she's been flawless. Definitely met my expectations. I could use more HP at times still, but that isn't the tractors' fault.
Looking forward to giving her an easy winter just bringing in firewood and plowing my sub/driveway.
Paystar
Elite Member
That's a nice truck/trailer/tractor setup you have there TSO.
drizler
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2007
- Messages
- 699
I think a lot of the Iseki / mitusubishi confusion is brought on by the engine change with the 2014 model. They went to the Iseki tractor but switched from an Iseki engine to a Mitsubishi engine for the Tier 4 2014 1736 . I have to say no problems with mine really as far as the tractor is concerned. 110 hours since August and it purrs like a kitten and has all the power I need. We got the premium model due to the big 28% sale with their equine program.
From looking at them I don't see any real serious differences except the sheet metal body work besides plastic and the placement of the loader joystick. It's in a handier location on the premium tractor but you still can;t easily hop on and off that side. More importantly when you do you easily snag that lever and can make the loader do ugly violent things. Better to just stay out of there. Everything is pretty easy to get at on that engine and easy to clean as well. I do manage to accumulate a lot of brush and sticks behind the operators seat (open station). I just blow it out with the air compressor to keep it clean. The tractor starts as well at 3oF as it does at 80. I do plug it in though as I just hate forcing a barely broken in diesel to start cold like that.
Issue, the placement of the loader hydraulic lines where they meet on the rt side of the tractor. Because of the cat converter they had to move them outwards and box them in with a steel cover. Fine, no prob but those damned pull off QD connectors can snag a bush and come off, fine. Not so fine is that you can't push them back on without removing that cover's 2 10mm bolts. You should be able to but there is no way to get behind the foreskin on that mounted piece to hold it while you push the other on. You can get away with it most times with the ones on the top and bottom but not the middle two. Keep a 10mm wrench handy if you are in the puckerbush.
Issue, backhoe hydraulic remote link. The hoe runs and works splendidly just be careful if you have one and remove it to run a hog or mower ect. This only pertains to the machines with the backhoe option, disregard for the rest. Due to the rear remote set.up when the hoe comes off you have to use the short 2' hose and jumper it into the other remote to bypass the now missing hoe and complete the circuit. Simple enough but watch that hose carefully as it's one of those "yank me off " remotes I am soon going to get rid of. Like the dealer said " run it like that and it will grunt groan and eventually break something expensive like the pump. Well, not necessarily so says I, remember this is a new model and the dealers are as in the dark as we are. I'm here to tell you the tractor will hum right along with the remote dislodged slightly and the only sound is the hog dragging on the ground unable to pick up. So watch out for that as I'm sure you can easily enough blow your pump just like the book says. I have had mine dislodged cocked just enough to cut off the oil twice. Both times it was quiet as can be and could NOT be seen even looking at it for the issue until I gave it the real hair eyeball and gun barreled it. Part of the problem is the short hydraulic line the dealer put on to jumper the system,. It's straight and forms a curley loop to hit the remote. At the least I would recommend changing one end out to a 90 so it wants to hit that remote straight on. Having seen this issue twice with no provocation besides hitting some bumps I think I'll just switch to a locking remote. Too much to lose to easily and simple to correct.
I have the shuttle, just don't trust automatics in any vehicle but thats just me. I do find when loading a lot that I find myself between gear range choices quit a bit. A little too fast to move into a bank then a little too slow for moving dirt around over an area. I do wish the range set up was LO MID HIGH rather than MID LOW HIGH as it makes things a bit of a pain switching ranges and it's not my version of smooth by a long shot. More like low / hi 4wd on a pickup only a lot longer throw and it feels pretty wonky to me liking to hang up some in the middle even sitting still with the clutch in in neutral as the book says. It's a very long linkage I think. Not a deal breaker but more of an issue than I thought it would ever be. For a lot of guys it may well be the reason to go with the hydro tranny. Since I come from 20 years of ancient tractors I don't have a lot of experience to compare it to other modern stuff.
Anyways that's my experience with the 1736 so far. Remember, the dealer may well not have discovered any of the backhoe jumper issues or the loader hydraulic line issues yet because it's such a new model. Mine hadn't and they have been around a very long time.
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