2014 Max22 HST Requesting your knowledge and opinion please

[jonrjen]

Need to do some light dirt work around our place, only 3 acres and could do it by hand, but at age 65 I have learned to work smarter not harder. I have come across a 2014 MAX22 HST with a FEL and 4' box blade sporting 35 hours on the meter. From the photos it looks new, with the exception of the seat cover having pulled from the metal frame. Tractor is listed by the owners son in law with an asking price of $8,900 OBO.

While I wouldn't mind the tractor doing double duty as a mowing machine it does not come with either the belly mower or a 3 point finish mower. However I guess later I could pop the cash for a 3 point finish mower.

I see a lot of EMax tractors listed, but darned if I can find the differences between the MAX and Emax models. Read a number of reviews, the greater number seem to favor the tractor and would recommend them.

If I drive out to take a look in the morning what do I need to pay special attention to? Need I have concerns of the age vs. low hours in relation to motor, transmission, and operating seals?

Any and all sharing of information is appreciated and thank you in advance,

 

[shovelmike]

I have eMax 22, which I bought a year ago for the same purpose you did..had some dirt and gravel to move around from time to time and needed to save my 68 year old back. It has been a very good machine, and has logged about the same hours as the one you are considering.
There is a video out there comparing eMax vs. Max. Not much difference except that early eMax had a single centrally mounted cylinder to dump the loader bucket, it didn't hold up well, and by the time I bought mine they had two cylinders like the Max.
I don't think the low hours vs time element would be too worrisome, it's not very old.
Concerning mowing, I bought a used King Kutter finish mower thinking I might use it occasionally. I mowed for a neighbor a couple of times, but strongly prefer my ZTR mower.
Look underneath to make sure the HST cooling fan hasn't been damaged, they are vulnerable where they are positioned, but no worse than competing brands. Check for leaks and other damage, otherwise should be good.

 

[jonrjen]

Thank you for your reply. I did take a drive out to take a look and ended up buying it. It does need a new seat as the cove has pulled completely free of the seat frame and some of the plastics suffer from Texas sun fade. Neither of these rated high on my negativity scale.

Not a drip of anything to be found, all the hoses in great condition.

It will take some getting used to the HST operation of the rocker pedal set up and being so close to the brake pedals. My right foot isn't used to doing much while on a tractor other than hitting the brake when required. On the other hand or foot if you will my left leg does appreciate being lazy with not having to use the clutch pedal for much other than pushing in to start the tractor.

All in, I think that it will be worth the $8,000 I paid for it.

 

[doneill127]

I’ve got about 450 hrs on a Max 22hst. It’s been a good machine and I think very capable for it’s size. It’s manufactured in Japan and has a proven MHI SL3 motor. There are a couple common issues that come to mind. The fuel shut off solenoids seem like they have a fairly high failure. Pretty easy fix. I haven’t had a problem but electrical connectors seem prone to water leakage and corrosion. OEM battery doesn’t seal well around posts and heavy corrosion on negative terminal and cable. Last one that also bit me is for some reason they used a fork spade connector on the glow plug bus. It works loose and suddenly you’re having trouble starting it but everything seems to be working. Replace it with a ring terminal.
Have a FEL,BH midmount mower, 54 flail mower,rear blade, ratchet rake and a MacKissic 3pt chipper shredder.
Hope this reinforces your decision to buy

 

[doneill127]

PS the Max doesn’t have an hst fan. There’s a common hst/Hyde system and there’s an aluminum cooler in front of the radiator

 

[duffer]

I've got a 84" PTO, 3 pt finish mower. Works great. Probably too big for your Max, but a 5 footer would probably work very well.

Depending on how level your land is, I also popped for a suspension seat, to replace the OEM - POS that came with mine. Well worth the $$.

 

[shovelmike]

PS the Max doesn’t have an hst fan. There’s a common hst/Hyde system and there’s an aluminum cooler in front of the radiator

Ah, good to know. That's a better setup.
jonrjen: I think you will really like the HST when using the loader.

 

[jonrjen]

Hey guys, Thanks for your input. I have only put 4 hours on it to date, but I am becoming more impressed with this little work horse with every tick of the hour meter. I sold my Mahindra 4005DI, but kept my 6' box blade figuring I would sell it since it would be too big for the Max22. I needed to move this box blade around today and was impressed at how the MAX FEL picked it up with out so much as a groan.

So far I have moved dirt, leveled some ground with the FEL, and used the 4' box blade to do some rear end dirt work.

I did replace the badly weathered seat that came on the tractor with a like OEM style, but nicer. I do wish I had went with an adjustable spring loaded suspension seat however. Maybe next month I'll upgrade the seat again.

Tomorrow I will be doing its first oil change with a total of 38 hours on the tractor. I know the hours are low, but the tractor is a 2014 model year and the oil has to be changed even though it looks like new.

 

[splitlife]

I’ve got about 450 hrs on a Max 22hst. It’s been a good machine and I think very capable for it’s size. It’s manufactured in Japan and has a proven MHI SL3 motor. There are a couple common issues that come to mind. The fuel shut off solenoids seem like they have a fairly high failure. Pretty easy fix. I haven’t had a problem but electrical connectors seem prone to water leakage and corrosion. OEM battery doesn’t seal well around posts and heavy corrosion on negative terminal and cable. Last one that also bit me is for some reason they used a fork spade connector on the glow plug bus. It works loose and suddenly you’re having trouble starting it but everything seems to be working. Replace it with a ring terminal.
Have a FEL,BH midmount mower, 54 flail mower,rear blade, ratchet rake and a MacKissic 3pt chipper shredder.
Hope this reinforces your decision to buy

Just bought a Emax 22L I see you have 54" flail mower. The unit has

16.9 hp to hp. Can it run with that HP? What type do you have?

 

[doneill127]

Here’s a link to my review

Woodmaxx FM54 Flail mower review

My new Woodmaxx FM 54 mower was delivered last week and after setting it up and putting in a couple hours cutting the lawn and some brush I thought I'd share what I've learned. Let me start by saying that I did a lot of research including reading the very long Flail Mower thread and couldn't...

www.tractorbynet.com