1260 Head Gasket Issue

[justintime2]

I want to get some opinions from others who have dealt with Massey compacts. I'm looking at a 1997 1260 4wd with a loader and a 3 cyl Iseki diesel. The dealer selling it is not a Massey dealer and really doesn't do many Massey repair work. I ran the tractor and everything worked and ran well. We then hooked it up to a dyno and his mechanic turned it up to 40hp on the pto which I believe is rated at 33hp. Coolant started pouring out from the back corner of the head which looked to be a blown head gasket? He offered to repair it or give me money off. I am leaning towards taking the money and having the local Massey mechanic put on a new gasket and having a local machine shop check the head for warpage and resurface it if needed. Has anyone dealt with head gasket issues on the Iseki diesels??

Thanks for your advice - Justin

 

[MFRED]

I certanly would not let the clown who wound that dyno to 20% more hp than the tractor is rated for do any work on that tractor. A compact is not a utility or ag tractor that you would normally see those hp gains on.

Now to your question. Depending on s/n, the head set is a couple hundred bucks. You should have the head pressure tested & planed. The block should be checked also.

Or you could just put a head gasket on and chance it. Probably if the guy hadn't pushed it that hard you would have never noticed. Don't get me wrong I love to run the dyno, but I too have broken stuff on the dyno, not operater fault but it will pull out a defect quicker than you can shut a tractor off for sure.

 

[justintime2]

Thanks for the advice - I was really not wanting him to touch it again. I have a local machine shop where I know the guys - they do that work on heads all of the time but don't remove or assemble. How hard is it to remove the head myself or should I let a MF dealer do it (is it worth the bother)? I am mechanically inclined and can follow a service manual, but I've never disembled a head before? I have torque wrenches and other standard tools of the trade and could rent any special tools I may need.