Any 4610 owners have problems with their tractors?

[CaptHowdy]

Sorry to hear that bad experience CaptHowdy. I'm very surprised you have starting issues there in KY. You say it "froze up even while running it." How cold was the air at that time ? Unless it was below 10 to 12 degrees or so that was not fuel gelling. Not exactly certain what you mean by "froze up." Here's my string of thoughts on your post/report:

Sure, run an anti-gel additive in the winter as a routine practice. It won't totally prevent issues but it can help.

I have a MF 2660 2011 model that started out with an unbelievable series of major problems which I won't repeat unless you want to hear it. I did a report on the 2660 which is still there in the ByNet reviews. It fit the lemon definition many times over. However, after the initial 3 years that it took me to get 99% of the problems fixed it is a great tractor. [I live over 300 miles from my farm and that tractor so I only use it monthly. My farm is not very far from LinemanLuke's.] Slowly but surely I love it. You put it SO WELL ! I too bought it new, at high expense, specifically expecting it to be trouble-free. Out of the box it was nothing BUT trouble. Mine has a Perkins engine unlike yours and that Perkins is pretty much the only thing on the tractor I never had even the tiniest problem with. Rock solid engine. It still has the original battery and starts with no problems in 20 degree temps even after sitting for a month at a time without running. You might want to check the glow plug procedure on your 4610 as it was not at all obvious on my 2660. Even after I found it, I rarely ever have to use the glow plugs. If starting/running in cold weather is your worst remaining problem, then I'd think that is VERY solvable. In case you run in below 10 or 12 degree weather (which is a little hard to picture in Kentucky...) you should try 50/50 #1 and #2 fuel. (e.g. mix kerosene in with your diesel fuel.) That's exactly what all the heavy equipment operators do in the northern tier states. At higher "ordinary temperatures" like 20's and 30's if you get stalling or sluggish running and hard starting, especially using an engine heater, there is something else wrong.

I am glad to see Phillip W fessing up to his unceasing devoted role of bashing MF. They can do no right according to him. He has his own real-world experiences and we need to hear the good and the bad.

About your weak power steering: That was THE primary complaint when the 4600 series first came out. I have a friend in WV who bought an early 4608 and he could not turn the front wheels in relatively shallow mud with a large round bale load on the loader. Once he had the power shifter adjusted (lurching) I think that was his only other complaint. I heard that Massey beefed up the steering boost (either a bigger cylinder or some such) in later models. Whether you can get a retrofit or not I do not know. I know one dealer in central WV who refused to accept any more tractors from MF until they did something about the 4600 series steering in those early days.

I assume you have heard the endless ranting of the Australian owner - name escapes me - who was on most of last year with a serial tirade on the life-threatening horrors of his 4610. In and out of court. Numerous shouting matches with multiple dealers, etc. He has quite a few YouTube clips out there as well. Brace yourself for a long day if you try to see all his complaints. Understanding his narratives is a daunting challenge. Try a search on TractorByNet for 4610 and I think his posts will easily show up.

Hey! Good luck and keep us posted.

I'm not here to bash a brand or just find every little thing I can to complain about. I'm just fed up after 3 years of numerous annoying things. I can't remember the temp when it "froze up running" but we were using it to put out hay and it would just stop and die. Now I will say, I'm not very mechanically inclined, which is why I bought a new tractor to begin with...to avoid hassles all the time. I mess around on my farm in my spare time and it's not my full time job. But after it died the first time I went ahead and replaced the fuel filter and then ran it again and it did the same thing after about 30 more minutes, if my memory is correct. I put the heater to blowing on it and it seemed to thaw it out after about half and hour and it restarted and ran fine to finish feeding. I do use an additive and I"ll be honest the name escapes me right now but I'll look at the bottle when I get home. I run the same exact fuel through my NH and my Kubota and they have never missed a beat. I've fought fuel issues with this tractor from day one. Summer, spring, fall and winter. It would always throw codes and then throw the fuel rail pressure code and put it in limp mode and I would have to idle it basically back to the barn. They replaced a few sensors and this last time seem to have it running better although it will still throw the one code, I believe it's 31. It's frustrating as ****. I'm at work here typing from memory so forgive me if I give the wrong info. The AC has never worked worth a darn. It just never seems to cool it enough, I've even thought about having the windows tinted. This thing is NOISY. Being new to tractors I didn't realize it at the time but **** this thing is noisy in the cab. My PTO light will flash and go all the way out sometimes and the dealer said that could be a sensor issue too. I also had a sensor of some sort go bad in the transmission that they fixed. There's too many sensors on these things anymore evidently. I love my NH workmaster, it seems simple and it's never given me a bit of problems. Just a good basic tractor. My Kubota is a CTL and I haven't used it enough but I've had no issues so far out of it. The only thing I seem to constantly fight with on my farm is the Massey Ferguson. Like I said I'm not here to bash a brand, just fed up with this thing. I did finally get it started last night though and it worked good enough to get hay out. But that was after trying multiple times and finally putting the kerosene heater on it again to warm it up. This is after having it plugged in too.

 

[Phillip w]

Capthowdy, I don't think you bashing, I think your telling like it is. It has been pretty cold, and I'm convinced that mf is not a cold weather tractor. That being said, it is really sad that mf has been run into the ground. You might talk to you dealer about cold weather fuel options. On the old tractors before all these electronic whizzos, we used to mix alot of kerosene with the diesel to keep it running. Don't know for sure if that is an option on these new ones. I know they told me not to pop mine of with ether, so if it gets lower than 15-20 degrerd I don't have to worry about it cause the tractor won't start anyway. Pretty sad, I got 40+ year old tractors kicking the little massey rearend.

 

[CaptHowdy]

Capthowdy, I don't think you bashing, I think your telling like it is. It has been pretty cold, and I'm convinced that mf is not a cold weather tractor. That being said, it is really sad that mf has been run into the ground. You might talk to you dealer about cold weather fuel options. On the old tractors before all these electronic whizzos, we used to mix alot of kerosene with the diesel to keep it running. Don't know for sure if that is an option on these new ones. I know they told me not to pop mine of with ether, so if it gets lower than 15-20 degrerd I don't have to worry about it cause the tractor won't start anyway. Pretty sad, I got 40+ year old tractors kicking the little massey rearend.

Yep its frustrating. I miss the simple days

 

[Linemanluke]

I'm not here to bash a brand or just find every little thing I can to complain about. I'm just fed up after 3 years of numerous annoying things. I can't remember the temp when it "froze up running" but we were using it to put out hay and it would just stop and die. Now I will say, I'm not very mechanically inclined, which is why I bought a new tractor to begin with...to avoid hassles all the time. I mess around on my farm in my spare time and it's not my full time job. But after it died the first time I went ahead and replaced the fuel filter and then ran it again and it did the same thing after about 30 more minutes, if my memory is correct. I put the heater to blowing on it and it seemed to thaw it out after about half and hour and it restarted and ran fine to finish feeding. I do use an additive and I"ll be honest the name escapes me right now but I'll look at the bottle when I get home. I run the same exact fuel through my NH and my Kubota and they have never missed a beat. I've fought fuel issues with this tractor from day one. Summer, spring, fall and winter. It would always throw codes and then throw the fuel rail pressure code and put it in limp mode and I would have to idle it basically back to the barn. They replaced a few sensors and this last time seem to have it running better although it will still throw the one code, I believe it's 31. It's frustrating as ****. I'm at work here typing from memory so forgive me if I give the wrong info. The AC has never worked worth a darn. It just never seems to cool it enough, I've even thought about having the windows tinted. This thing is NOISY. Being new to tractors I didn't realize it at the time but **** this thing is noisy in the cab. My PTO light will flash and go all the way out sometimes and the dealer said that could be a sensor issue too. I also had a sensor of some sort go bad in the transmission that they fixed. There's too many sensors on these things anymore evidently. I love my NH workmaster, it seems simple and it's never given me a bit of problems. Just a good basic tractor. My Kubota is a CTL and I haven't used it enough but I've had no issues so far out of it. The only thing I seem to constantly fight with on my farm is the Massey Ferguson. Like I said I'm not here to bash a brand, just fed up with this thing. I did finally get it started last night though and it worked good enough to get hay out. But that was after trying multiple times and finally putting the kerosene heater on it again to warm it up. This is after having it plugged in too.

It was in the negatives and mine threw a code yesterday ( no block heater ) and I let it warm up for 30 minutes. Then I turned it off and restarted it and code went away and ran fine to feed cows.

 

[Linemanluke]

Yep its frustrating. I miss the simple days

Yeah. My dad has a 1976 ford 3600. Who knows the hours That's a simple reliable machine but like you said the simple days are gone

 

[CaptHowdy]

It was in the negatives and mine threw a code yesterday ( no block heater ) and I let it warm up for 30 minutes. Then I turned it off and restarted it and code went away and ran fine to feed cows.

Mine does that too sometimes. If you try to rev it, it won’t go past 1500 I think. I learned to do exactly what you did but I have to let mine run about an hour it seems. I don’t have time for that.

 

[Linemanluke]

Mine does that too sometimes. If you try to rev it, it won’t go past 1500 I think. I learned to do exactly what you did but I have to let mine run about an hour it seems. I don’t have time for that.

Yeah it does that so you don't damage a cold motor. I don't know if any other brands use that on there new machines or it's just a Massey Ferguson thing

 

[jeepcj7]

There is a fuel heater available for the 4600 series, it goes in the fuel filter head. It will resolve a lot of cold weather start issues. A block heater keeps the engine warm internally for faster starting but the fuel system is external of the engine.

 

[jeepcj7]

How much are you asking for the 1531?

 

[Phillip w]

How much are you asking for the 1531?

Where you located??? Kind of want to hang on til spring. It has a loader and I got a 5 ft woods blade and 5 ft king kutter brush hog. It is kind of a mechanics special, but if your handy at twisting wrenches, might work out for you. Good rubber on back an put new rubber on the front last summer.