new massey 2615 hard shifting

[crzybowhntr]

I have a new Massey Ferguson 2615 with FEL and 4wheel, shuttle. It is seemingly hard to shift into low range even when stopped and all controls in nuetral with idle set at lowest possible. Mostly I have to move ahead in high a little bit before it will go into low. Is this normal. Only 8 hours on tractor.

 

[new jersey mike]

I purchased a new NH1530 last year and I had the same experience. I called the dealer and asked if the low gear and 4 wheel drive shift needed adjustment and he mentioned it was just a new tractor, tight and just needs to be used. I have 35 hours on it now and he was right. It could also be that the gears are just not 100% lined up so move the clutch slightly and then try again and you will feel in my case the lower gear and 4 wheel shift drop in.

 

[crzybowhntr]

I called dealer and he said to give it a week of use or so and if it doesn`t wear in to please bring it in so they can make it right. He also said it doesn`t make sense that it is doing this. Main point, he wants to make it right and let me know he will.

 

[Mark Page]

My 2615 has the same problem. The hi-lo lever and the synchro shift lever both are very difficult to move.

 

[jeepcj7]

If you find it is easier to shift in 2wd than in 4wd it could simply a that the tire pressures are not correct. If the front axle is "pulling" the rear axle too much it can make the tractor hard to shift when the 4wd is engaged - puts the driveline in a bit of a bind.

 

[JWR]

My 2615 has the same problem. The hi-lo lever and the synchro shift lever both are very difficult to move.

I think because the range lever is not synchronized you have to have the gears in just the right alignment in order for them to slide in rather than argue with each other. I have an older Kubota (also unsynch) which has no such range lever issues. A very tiny bit of letting out on the clutch on your machine will change the relative gear positions and eventually allow an "easy shift" by cut & try. Yes, it gets easier with wear/use simply because the tolerances and spacings get slightly greater due to wear.

I doubt there are any "adjustments" for this issue.

Now to the larger problem: In my opinion MF has cave men for designers and darn near no testing going on at the factory or test facility, if they even have one. Us poor b***s out here are the testers at our expense. I have a much larger MF2660 and 8x8 shuttle transmission with only 87 hrs on it in 13mos. It has been "too hard to move the shuttle" from day one. It has failed totally (to the point where the machine could not be moved under it's own power) twice. Because I have never been able to get ANY feedback on any forum from another 2660/2670/2680 owner I have no clue whether the problems might be just a few lemons or the same across all of them. Dealers sometimes have comments & try to be helpful but Massey is for sure not going to answer that direct.

At least on the larger machines I have a very strong suspicion that the interconnect between the shuttle shift and the clutch is the culprit. You must have the clutch "all the way in" in order to shift the shuttle. Exactly how is that implemented internally ? Lord knows. It's a mystery and on my 2660 you cannot get the console out of the way in a reasonable amount of time to look-see how the thing really works works. The documentation is useless on the topic.

Some people expect that the "hydraulic shuttle" (or "power reverser" as John Deere copyrighted the name) is the final solution. The hyd shuttle/pwr rev is a thing of beauty (based on 10 yrs experience with a Deere) in terms of the shuttle action but then the tractor will not stay in place with the engine off and the thing in gear. That is a good trade off ONLY if you have a parking brake that works well.