How to operate a MF 18 box blade

[AllDodge]

Tried in the Massey section but no good, maybe general area may have better luck

Bought a Massey Ferguson MF 18 box blade. It has ripers which come down somehow, and maybe its just has some rust and that's why its not coming down. Anyone ever work with one of these? The unlock bar moves easy enough, and the teeth start to go down but unable to get them all the way

 

[cglaser104]

Tried in the Massey section but no good, maybe general area may have better luck

Bought a Massey Ferguson MF 18 box blade. It has ripers which come down somehow, and maybe its just has some rust and that's why its not coming down. Anyone ever work with one of these? The unlock bar moves easy enough, and the teeth start to go down but unable to get them all the way

View attachment 622737
View attachment 622738

Not sure if it's an optical illusion but looking at your first picture the right side loop looks bent outwards which might catch and not permit the rippers to roll down all the way.

 

[AllDodge]

Its an Illusion sort of. The first pic is before I start trying to lower it. The hooks do start to drop, going up/down many times, but never get them to go all the way down. Might just be rust, but would sure like to know how its should work

 

[cglaser104]

I would spray some penetrating catalyst into all the moving parts and looks for any grease ends and pump them full. Penetrating catalyst works better if you apply and let sit and then come back and spray and let sit a little more to let it work. It could be as simple as corrosion.... hopefully it is that simple

 

[BukitCase]

Here's a bunch of pics from a couple different places; I would save 'em ALL before they disappear, if you look at all angles you may be able to figure it out. From what I see, the ripper beam pivots on both those outside brackets AND the draw pins. If there was any misalignment, that could cause the difficulty you're seeing

Massey Ferguson MF18 Box Blade BigIron Auctions

MASSEY-FERGUSON MF18 For Sale In Urbana, Illinois | TractorHouse.com

HTH... Steve

 

[AllDodge]

If seen those pics, and gee wiz I got a deal. They want 1500 for one without the teeth and I paid much less then that for one with all the teeth. :thumbsup:

 

[BukitCase]

Yeah, noticed that; now all you gotta do is figure out how it works. That's what I thought the extra pics might help. Seems to me like that part in between the toplink uprights is what latches the sorta pear-shaped piece either up or down, but I didn't see anything that'd actually MOVE the ripper beam. Maybe it was so cheap 'cause it's not all there? Dunno, but I'm rooting for ya... Steve

 

[GOATfarm1645]

3yo old post here, but I just DM'd the original poster, as I had the exact same problem with my 7ft MF 18 scraper. And for 3-4 years I couldn't find any answers either. The correct answer is amazingly and stupidly simple. So for anyone else that might have been similarly and possibly embarrassingly mystified, here is how it works and what I sent to ALLDodge.

Greetings, I had the exact same issue, and found your post online probably a year ago, but you didn't get any correct answers. I saw it again today, and thought I'd reach out, in case you were still struggling. We found a workaround way to fully lower and lock the scarifier bar. It worked but it was far more work and difficult than it should have been. We'd lower the scraper onto 2 cinder blocks, and then wrestle the bar into position, but I knew we were probably doing something wrong. It shouldn't be that difficult. The intended method is of course ridiculously simple and "effortless" according to the manual I just found. With scraper on the ground, lower (rotate) the scarifier bar with the trip lever, then reverse your tractor a few inches, the scarifiers will latch into lowered position. That simple LOL!

The manual also solved another mystery on the center pipe and spring pin over the blade. Hope this helps hit me with a DM if you want copies of manual.

 

[sresites]

Hadn’t seen this post before. Could’ve helped. I think mine was an MF14?? Once you trip that handle and start rotating the rippers - get your hand out of the way. That handle will whiplash itself back into locking position. Great box scraper, though.